Who is the most underrated Seahawk?

Which player deserves more respect than they're currently getting? Seaside Joe 1915

At a time when they can’t seem to offer their number one receiver an acceptable contract extension, the San Francisco 49ers locked down a player on Wednesday who at the moment would only be their number four receiver. The 49ers agreed to a two-year deal with restricted free agent Jauan Jennings that includes $10.5 million guaranteed; I’m not sure if that’s fully-guaranteed at signing or still needs to be earned by staying on the roster in 2025, but in any case it will end up as a lot of money for a former seventh round pick who has 963 yards and seven touchdowns (only two in the past two seasons) since entering the league four years ago.

Clearly, head coach Kyle Shanahan has a deep appreciation for Jennings’ abilities as a blocker, a leader, and a teammate because he couldn’t possibly be rewarding Jennings as a wide receiver or a special teamer. (Jennings has played in roughly 10% of SF’s special teams snaps in his career.)

What this deal appears to give the 49ers is their preferred number three receiver under contract for the next two seasons, a role that will be cleared up when San Francisco decides they’ve gotten a good enough trade offer for either Brandon Aiyuk or Deebo Samuel. Though Jennings would not usually be one of the first SIX names you think of when you run down San Francisco’s weapons (Aiyuk, Deebo, Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Ricky Pearsall, Kyle Juszczyk), he’s getting a bump in visibility by signing a contract that puts him on the same salary tier as players like Kendrick Bourne, Marquise Brown, and Robert Woods.

Underrated on Tuesday, overrated on a Wednesday: The Jauan Jennings Story by NFL Films

Who could be the Seahawks version of “Jauan Jennings”?

This was my initial thought for a newsletter topic, in terms of players who might need to be PAID soon, however I don’t think the Seahawks have any underrated workhorses who do the little things right and are about to become free agents. Anybody who seemed to be an underrated workhorse isn’t due for an extension: Jake Bobo won’t face any negotiations for at least two more years, probably more like three or four before that becomes a possibility.

Any restricted free agents or 2025 free agents who you might be intrigued by like Myles Adams or Tre Brown, have we really seen enough yet?

In my opinion, no. Darrell Taylor and Mike Jackson were restricted free agents this year who came to terms on new deals, but neither are close to the commitment that the 49ers just made to Jennings. I wrote about Taylor’s situation on Tuesday and neither of those deals is even much of a commitment at all. The Seahawks could decide to move on from either of them before the 2024 season.

So instead of writing about players who might get a Jennings-level contract extension, why not just focus on some of the underrated players on the Seahawks and turn the question back to you: Who is the most underrated player on the Seahawks, whether that’s being overlooked by the national media or even by Seattle’s fans, reporters, and content creators?

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Who is the most underrated Seahawk right now?

As I always say with these “You pick ‘em” topics, there is too much gray area for there to be right or wrong answers. I mean, we are going into this arena without empirical answers, a good lawyer or debater or Facebooker could make a convincing argument that anyone on the Seahawks is either overrated or underrated.

Geno Smith is a perfect example and that’s part of the reason he’s so divisive: I could see the argument for Geno being overrated just as well as the argument for him being underrated because there are so many fans on either side.

Therefore, it should be easier to argue that DK Metcalf is “overrated” because he has a lot of fans and that Dee Eskridge is “underrated” because he has none. However, maybe Metcalf is underrated (if we’re talking about Metcalf getting paid less than Cooper Kupp and DeVonta Smith, two players I suspect he should out-gain this year) and Eskridge is overrated (merely by still having a job in professional football).

There should be no easy answers. Some should still stand out more than others.

RB Kenneth Walker III

Category: 2024 breakout incoming

The reason I would highlight Walker over Jaxon Smith-Njigba (a player I expect to be marked as “underrated”) is that my belief in JSN is still only hypothetical. We saw glimpses last season of what made him the 20th pick, but it’s time to prove it consistently, week after week and play after play.

Walker has given Seahawks fans plenty of moments to cheer about over his first two seasons and I’d like to start with this comparison:

Kenneth Walker III’s first 2 seasons: 447 carries, 1,955 yards, 4.4 YPC, 17 TD, 43.2% success rate

Shaun Alexander’s first 2 seasons: 373 carries, 1,631 yards, 4.4 YPC, 16 TD, 43.2% success rate

These are two vastly different running backs who had vastly different offensive lines and running schemes, but a) it’s interesting how closely they are aligned here and b) it’s another piece of evidence on how patience and persistence can pay off at the running back position. Alexander was made to sit behind Ricky Watters as a rookie, then led the NFL in rushing touchdowns in year two.

Walker’s situation is almost opposite, he was put into a starting role during his rookie season (even though he started the season injured and missed vital practice time) and now he’s being asked to share the backfield with Zach Charbonnet. I don’t doubt that Walker, who still doesn’t turn 24 until October, has his best days ahead of him. A lot of best days. And I think the same for Charbonnet, he’s just in the same boat as JSN in needing more time to prove it on Sundays.

Not being in most people’s top-15 list for the running back position, my view of him as a player capable of being in the top-5 definitely qualifies Walker for my “most underrated” Seahawk.

C Olu Oluwatimi

Category: Needs chance to play

This is way more “going out on a limb” in terms of underrated. However, Oluwatimi is the favorite to take over as Seattle’s starting center and if he wins that competition over Nick Harris, he’ll be setup to be the Seahawks snapper for the next three seasons. How many players can say that they’ve never been named a starter before and now they can earn three more seasons on the job with a strong training camp and 2024?

Smith-Njigba can say something like that, but he was a first round pick. Nobody’s not-noticing JSN. Conversely, Oluwatimi is a fifth round pick trying to prove he’s as good as the centers who get picked in the first, second, and third.

CB Riq Woolen

Category: Mountain, Valley, Mountain?

I wrote about Woolen last week as a player who could see his stock up in a year if he has a rebound season with Mike Macdonald. Woolen was underrated as a draft prospect in 2022, maybe a little overrated based on his six interceptions as a rookie, and now he’s dropping back into underrated territory following a 2023 benching by Pete Carroll.

It makes sense that a player who is as uniquely gifted as Woolen, and someone who still doesn’t have that many practices under his belt as a defensive player, is also someone who could continue to get better in the next few years than the cornerback he was last season.

QB Sam Howell

Category: Not setup to start at all

We have examples above of starters, first-year starters, and rebound starters, but what about players who are buried on the depth chart and unlikely to emerge unless there’s an injury? Sam Howell wasn’t anyone’s first choice this offseason (except mine maybe) and yet he gives the Seahawks a backup quarterback who is a) younger than some of 2024’s first round picks, b) signed for two more years, and c) played a ton of football last season after leading the NFL in pass attempts with the Moons.

Remember, the litmus test here is “underrated”, not “good”. I have no idea if Sam Howell is going to be good for the Seahawks, but I’m at least as comfortable with him being Seattle’s developmental QB as I would have been with Bo Nix, Michael Penix, and J.J. McCarthy. That could just be me and a few others, including John Schneider and Ryan Grubb, it seems.

As far as other candidates—and as I said earlier, there are dozens of options!—I’ll leave that to you in the comments. Tell me who belongs in a poll about underrated Seahawks because if I just put up five names like Howell, Walker, Woolen, Oluwatimi, and “Other”, I’m surely leaving off someone who is likely the “right answer” for you.