The Seahawks are 3-1 through the first quarter of 2026, and the record only tells part of the story. Seattle probably should be 4-0 if not for the Week 3 loss to the Washington Commanders and backup quarterback Marcus Mariota. Even with that blemish, Mike Macdonald’s team is moving back toward the playoff picture.
Seattle has also survived two games without starting quarterback Sam Darnold. Drew Lock filled in well enough that he could be playing his way into another team’s QB1 job next season, even though he doesn’t land on this list.
New offensive coordinator Brian Fleury is still in the evaluation stage, too. The Seahawks have put points on the board in their last two games, but the short-yardage issues remain a problem if they’re going to defend their Super Bowl title.
At the quarter mark, a few names have clearly helped shape the season - and a few others have left questions hanging.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba has been the headliner on offense. He isn’t leading the league in receiving yards, but he did top 122 yards in each of Seattle’s first three games.
He does lead the NFL in receiving touchdowns with six, and he also owns the season’s longest pass play at 82 yards. Whatever doubt existed about whether his huge 2025 was a one-year spike has basically been wiped away.
Defenses know the ball is going to him a lot, and he’s still been nearly impossible to slow down.
Emanuel Wilson has been just as important in a different way. With Zach Charbonnet still working back from a knee injury suffered in last season’s playoffs and Jadarian Price out since Week 3 with a chest injury, Seattle needed someone to stabilize the backfield.
Wilson has done it. Twice already, he has handled 21 carries in a game and turned each of those into at least 81 rushing yards.
In the Week 4 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, he added two touchdowns, including one as a receiver. It’s not much of a stretch to say the Seahawks might not have won that game without him.
On the other side of the ball, Rodney Thomas II has turned a temporary opportunity into something more interesting. Ty Okada missed the first four games with a hamstring injury, and Thomas - who started the season on the practice squad - stepped into the role and held up well.
He has three passes defended, has allowed eight completions on 15 targets, and has missed just 7.7 percent of his tackle attempts. He may not be Seattle’s long-term answer, but this four-game stretch could have opened a door elsewhere.
Nehemiah Pritchett has made a similar leap. After two seasons that didn’t do much to move the needle, he’s earned more work and is now up to 56 percent of snaps, with that number still climbing.
He has started one game, but the bigger story is how he’s performed with the extra reps. Seven of the 12 passes thrown his way have been completed, he hasn’t allowed a touchdown, and he’s picked off one pass while breaking up three others.
His quarterback rating allowed is a very low 48.3. That’s the kind of tape that gets attention.
Not every notable name has come out of the first quarter looking better. Dante Fowler Jr. has not produced enough for what Seattle needed from him.
The coaching staff may keep talking him up, but the snap counts tell a harsher story: every other top-four edge rusher on the roster has more than twice as many snaps. Fowler has just four quarterback pressures, no sacks, one tackle, one missed tackle and one run stuff.
That’s thin production for a veteran brought in to help replace Boye Mafe, who left for the Cincinnati Bengals in free agency.
Tory Horton hasn’t done anything wrong, but he also hasn’t been given much of a chance to do much of anything. He has been targeted only four times in three games and caught all four passes.
Two of those catches came on tough grabs, and one went for a touchdown on a sharp slant. Still, he’s only played 26 percent of the snaps.
The problem isn’t his play. It’s the lack of opportunity.
Good things have happened when the ball has gone his way, and he needs more of it.
Anthony Bradford rounds out the list of concerns. The starting right guard is in the final season of his rookie contract, and this was supposed to be a year where he proved he deserved a second deal from Seattle.
Instead, a knee injury has limited him to one game, and in that appearance he gave up three quarterback pressures in 28 pass-block reps. His replacements, Christian Haynes and Beau Stephens, have held up just as well, if not better.
By 2027, one of them - probably Stephens - could be the one starting at right guard, while Bradford is trying to find his next team.
In Other News...
Seahawks 49ers Clash May Come Down To These 3 Battles
The Seahawks and 49ers have spent the last four seasons turning their meetings into one of the NFC Wests most familiar grudges, with the rivalry carrying all the extra weight that comes from seeing each other so often, including in the playoffs. Seattle brings an offensive line that has been a real strength and a pass rush anchored by Leonard Williams and Derick Hall, while San Francisco still leans on the kind of centerpiece talent that can shape a game on either side of the ball.
What makes this latest matchup so intriguing is how much of it may come down to a few individual showdowns rather than broader trends. Fred Warner remains the kind of problem every opponent has to account for, and when the 49ers are at their best, Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle are usually part of the pressure they create. Seattle has reasons to feel good about its own fronts, but in a series this familiar, the margins tend to shrink fast and the key battles can decide everything. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Front Could Put Brock Purdy Back Under Real Pressure
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Seattles pass rush has given opposing quarterbacks little room to breathe, and the challenge only gets sharper when the defense can get pressure with four and still keep the back end intact. George Kittle has already acknowledged the quality of the Seahawks defense, which only adds to the sense that Purdy will need to be sharp in a game where timing, protection and quick decisions may decide a lot. For Seattle, it is the kind of matchup that can validate the work it has put into building a front that can affect a game without chasing the quarterback all over the field. [Read more 🡒]
Sam Darnold Enters 49ers Showdown With Seahawks Fans Watching One Issue
Sam Darnolds start in Seattle has already come with a little of everything, from an injury that kept him out of the opener to a stretch of uneven play once he returned. The Seahawks are 1-1 in the two games he has played, and turnovers have been a central part of the conversation after he threw multiple interceptions in both outings.
Now comes the kind of game that tends to sharpen the focus fast. The meeting with the San Francisco 49ers is more than just another division matchup for Seattle, because it gives Darnold a chance to steady the offense, clean up the ball security issues and help shape the early NFC West picture in a way Seahawks fans will be watching closely. [Read more 🡒]