The Seahawks have some shiny new toys to play with on defense this year, particularly a new head coach who appears to be even better than the offseason hype suggested. Even though it's only been one preseason game, we've seen enough to believe that Seattle is going to be more than fine on that side of the ball.
On offense, the pecking order remains the same in the passing game even though they have a new playcaller in offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb. Specifically, that means DK Metcalf remains at the top of the depth chart at wide receiver. Let's see what ESPN is projecting from number 14 and the rest of Seattle's receivers this coming season.
Seahawks 2024 WR projections
- DK Metcalf: 118 targets, 70 catches, 1,082 yards, 8 touchdowns
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba: 113 targets, 76 catches, 894 yards, 5 touchdowns
- Tyler Lockett: 101 targets, 70 catches, 771 yards, 4 touchdowns
- Jake Bobo: 22 targets, 15 catches, 158 yards, 1 touchdown
- Laviska Shenault: 11 targets, 8 catches, 77 yards, 0 touchdowns
- Dee Eskridge: 5 targets, 3 catches, 39 yards, 0 touchdowns
This looks like the right order of things as far as the receiver room goes. However, fans shouldn't forget that running back Ken Walker and tight end Noah Fant will also take up significant portions of the passing game. Here's what ESPN is projecting for the top backs and tight ends as receivers.
Seahawks 2024 TE/RB projections
- Ken Walker: 40 targets, 31 catches, 232 yards, 1 touchdown
- Zach Charbonnet: 45 targets, 36 catches, 248 yards, 1 touchdown
- Noah Fant: 62 targets, 46 catches, 458 yards, 2 touchdowns
- Pharoah Brown: 17 targets, 12 catches, 124 yards, 1 touchdown
Rookie tight end AJ Barner is the only other Seahawks player on the list who's projected to catch a touchdown pass this season. That comes out to 24 touchdowns total, 20 of which they're expecting from Geno Smith and the rest from Sam Howell.
