Seahawks Player Rankings: Nos. 21-25
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Every player is somewhere on their journey, whether that’s coming off of a devastating injury or his best career season or entering what could be his final year in the NFL….or his first.
Today’s entry into ranking every Seahawks player prior to training camp has a slice from all of those lives.
In case you missed or want to review:
Player Rankings: Nos. 81-91
Player Rankings: Nos. 71-80
Player Rankings: Nos. 61-70
Player Rankings: Nos. 51-60
Player Rankings: Nos. 41-50
Player Rankings: Nos. 31-40
Player Rankings: Nos. 26-30
Here are the next five entries onto Every Seahawk Ranked 2026:
25. RB Zach Charbonnet
Were it not for a knee injury and his projected return timeline, Charbonnet would be an intriguing option for a top-20 spot on this list even with the addition of Jadarian Price. For those who care about analytics, Charbonnet had a higher Rush EPA (expected points added) and Rushing Yards Over Expected than Kenneth Walker did last season:
The EPA probably has something to do with Charbonnet’s 12 to 5 touchdown advantage over Walker. Charbonnet had 31 carries inside the 10-yard line, compared to only 10 for Walker; for what it’s worth, from that range Walker scored a touchdown at the same rate (30%) as Charbonnet.
Walker also had better stats in Seattle’s own territory, averaging 6.1 yards per carry on 104 attempts compared to 4.4 YPC for Charbonnet on 72 attempts.
So even if Charbonnet wasn’t recovering from a torn ACL, the Seahawks would have wanted to pair him with a player like Price anyway. When Charbonnet returns to the field, fully back to his old self or not, he is best suited as a complementary running back. Still, he’s one of the best complementary backs:
Charbonnet’s 10 touchdowns on goal-to-go carries was tied for the most.
Mike Macdonald said “anything is possible” regarding Week 1, but that’s a long ways away from being an encouraging update. It’s unlikely that he avoids starting the season on PUP, as the typical timeline from the day Charbonnet had surgery would keep him out until October, at least.
Fans strongly backed Charbonnet’s value, voting him as a finalist in the survivor’s bracket in last month’s “most important Seahawks” Tournament. That’s something I took strongly into consideration when ranking him at 25.
24. DT Jarran Reed
If you go back to 2020, Reed’s last season with the Seahawks prior to his two-year leave, he was arguably one of the three best players on Seattle’s entire defense. Being ranked 24th now is not so much an indictment of Reed as it is an indication of how much better the defense has become since then.
He’s not bad, he just has a lot more good players around him.
My wife and I like going to the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesar’s Palace because it’s rated as the best buffet in Las Vegas. They’re known for their crab legs. But when we go there, I don’t go for crab legs with every new plate because we’re not at the “We Only Have Crab Legs” restaurant. There’s also prime rib, and tacos, and a dessert station that seems endless.
That’s sort of like the Seahawks defense.
Jarran Reed could be crab legs and people love crab legs. Seaside Jay likes the crab legs more than I do, and I’m more of a dessert guy than she is. It just depends on taste.
Reed had 31 tackles last season to go with 2.5 sacks, and his greatest value could be as a teammate, helping others make plays while passing on knowledge to younger guys about how to be successful. Something he should know about given his longevity: Over two-thirds of the players drafted in the 2016 second-round have since retired.
However, there have to be age-related questions that speak to durability and what’s left in the tank. Last season, Reed played 398 snaps, down from 680 snaps in 2024. It was the first time in Reed’s career that he played under 47 percent of the snaps in the games he was available for, and now Rylie Mills is hot on his tail to take away even more.
Some will think this is too high, others too low, but no matter where you stand…don’t be too crabby.
23. RB Jadarian Price
This is one where Seaside Joe had to go rogue. Although Price won his first-round matchup (as an upset no less) thanks to your votes, and then won another matchup in the “second chance” tournament, I’m not ready to put a rookie into Seattle’s top-20 over so many proven talents.
Not just before his first game, but before his first day of training camp.
Price has yet to even win the starting role and all signs since the draft point towards a running back by committee anyway. ESPN’s Brady Henderson recently acknowledged this after reports last month that George Holani is taking first-team reps ahead of Price:
“The Seahawks worked Price in with their No. 1 offense behind George Holani,” said Henderson, “and that was not a surprise. They did not draft Price with the thought that he'd become a high-volume starter right away. He will share time with Holani and Emanuel Wilson as Seattle waits for Zach Charbonnet to return.”
They’re working Price in with the 1s too, but he won’t be the only one and unless we get through a few weeks of camp and there’s an apparent (and large) gap between him and everyone else, the Seahawks won’t lean on their first-round pick like they were leaning on Walker in the playoffs.
It’s a common misconception that running backs usually hit the ground running in the NFL because “all they have to do is run through the gaps very fast”. This assumes the Seahawks can consistently create those gaps, which if that’s the case, Seattle could survive with a number of their backs.
So far, I have the backs ranked fairly close:
Price, 23rd
Charbonnet, 25th
Holani, 35th
Wilson, 51st
If the Seahawks rely on variety and abundance to replace Walker, that could be the best path forward next season.
22. P Michael Dickson
This one also feels like maybe it’s more for me than it is for everybody. If you think 22 is too high for Michael Dickson, just imagine if he was on the 2009 Seahawks; in that case, Seattle’s elite punter might be the fifth or sixth best player on the entire roster.
Dickson’s punting was so good last season that he was worth at least one win. Come playoff time, pinning 10 of his 15 punts inside the 20 (5-of-5 in the NFC Championship), and allowing a total of eight return yards, Dickson became the Seahawks’ secret weapon.
And if I wasn’t taking fan votes into consideration at all, I would rank Dickson above Jason Myers. Dickson is a better punter than Myers is a kicker. Myers plays the more valuable position, but Dickson might be irreplaceable.
If Dickson plays 10 more years with the Seahawks, it won’t be enough, but fans voted Myers over Dickson in the tournament by a convincing percentage and I’ll respect your wishes. Somewhat.
21. LB Drake Thomas
Though some fans sneer at a list that ranks players, one of the things I like the most about this exercise is wondering where I would have ranked someone last year knowing that he’s since improved his stock dramatically. That’s why setting the groundwork in 2026 is going to pay big dividends in 2027.
And one of the best success stories on the entire roster is Drake Thomas, a linebacker who I can only imagine would’ve ranked somewhere 50-60 as a primary special teamer prior to Week 1.
A year ago, Thomas had 41 career defensive snaps in two seasons, but served as one of Jay Harbaugh’s most-used weapons on special teams with 318 snaps in 2024. And going into Week 1, his role hadn’t obviously changed much from the previous season.
Thomas played 15 snaps in Week 1, then seven snaps in Week 2. But there was a shift in Week 3, as Thomas played 36 snaps in the blowout win over the New Orleans Saints. A few days later, Thomas got his first career start and his first career sack on Thursday Night Football against the Cardinals:
Following the game, Mike Macdonald addressed the elephant in the room for Tyrice Knight:
"It's the same thing that we've been saying here for a few weeks. Drake's playing really good football and he's playing winning football. When you do that, you're going to play for us. It's really that simple. It's great, we have multiple spots where we have guys that can play and go help us win games, which is great for our team."
From Week 6-Week 18, Thomas played 82 percent of the snaps. In those games, he averaged 6.5 tackles per game and was flying all over the field with seven pass breakups and an interception. Moving forward, Thomas will need to improve his tackling as he had 15 missed tackles, including two in the playoffs.
Coverage stats are tricky, especially for linebackers, but Thomas’s were among the best in the NFL:
It’s still early in his career, but among recent Seahawks linebackers, I wouldn’t rank Thomas up there with K.J. Wright, the player who set the standard for the “sidekick” to an All-Pro. However, a year ago, I probably would have ranked Thomas outside of the top-50 and now he’s knocking on the door of the top-20.
So maybe this isn’t even his peak, but a stop on the way to the top-10 next year.
Well, dang, I voted Drake Thomas as being ranked too low. However, I wanted you to ask who is ranked too high, and I was going to vote for Charbonnet, because there is a pretty good chance he won't be fully recovered and playing well below what we have come to expect from him, and i think Wilson is ranked way too low relative to the other running backs. Charbonnet may never see the field this year and then he would probably have to take a mighty low second contract or he will be gone. He is not a feature back and Wilson may actually perform even better than we have come to expect of Charbonnet. I hope Price earns a lot of play time and justify his draft spot. In which case, it will be higher for Price and Wilson next year, and Charbonnet will probably not be on our team at all. In fact, i will predict that right now. Reed is probably going to fall off this list completely because he is the next most likely in my opinion of not being on the team at all next year. Those are my thoughts and why I have them. Good luck to all of them, though.
I’m with you on Dickson. Meaning, if you were to tell me either of them had just retired, I’d be substantially more worried about who’s our next punter than who’s our next kicker. Although I must return to your unique perspective on special teams: Seattle has made it a point of difference, and having Dickson and soon Myers in the top 22 says it all!!