It’s fun to do mid-season awards for a team that is overperforming. And the Seattle Seahawks, picked by many to finish fourth in the NFC West this year, are doing just that. The only real problem is choosing between multiple deserving candidates.
So we’re going to spread the love today. Not the Julian Love. He doesn’t figure into these awards, though I have this feeling he is going to make a triumphant return before this season is through. (And even if he doesn’t, he’s still having a better year than his namesake Jordan over in Green Bay.)
No, we’re going to limit each player to one award, even if some (Hint: JSN) are deserving of multiple honors. I promise that within the next week, we will also have some more grounded, glass-half-empty takes on the first half of the 2025 season. But, hey, Seattle is 7-2. We can afford a little unbridled exuberance.
Who are Seattle’s best performers in the first half of 2025?
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### Offensive Rookie of the Year – Grey Zabel, Guard
Tory Horton made a late push with a couple of touchdowns in Week 10 against Washington. His six combined touchdowns are more than Tyler Warren and Quinshon Judkins, tied with Emeka Egbuka, and one behind Cam Sakettebo amongst rookies. Not bad for a backup.
But that’s just it. Horton is a future cornerstone. Grey Zabel is one right now. He has been from day one. Zabel is not the best guard in the NFL. He still has some developing to do. But he was expected to lock down the left guard spot from the moment he was drafted, and that is exactly what he has done.
### Defensive Rookie of the Year – Nick Emmanwori, Safety
I’m calling him a safety, but since returning from an early-season injury, Nick Emmanwori has played all over the field. As with Zabel, that is exactly what was expected of him, and the South Carolina phenom is delivering.
In his most recent game against Arizona, Emmanwori was credited with nine tackles, four pass defenses, and a half sack. He primarily played in the slot, but also lined up at linebacker, at free safety, and at cornerback, and even lined up as an edge rusher a handful of times.
Emmanwori’s versatility is helping to usher in a second coming of the Legion of Boom. It’s still too early to give them the title, but just wait and see what this unit looks like next year.
### Offensive Free Agent of the Year – Sam Darnold, Quarterback
This is a bit of a no-brainer. Seattle has – at least for now – solved its single biggest roster issue with a 100 million dollar QB who is playing like a 200 million dollar quarterback.
Darnold tops every QB in the league in the Pro Football Focus (subscription required) player grades. He leads the NFL in yards-per-attempt, yards-per-completion, and total QBR. There are always going to be doubters who need to see Darnold perform in the postseason before declaring him one of the best in the game. That’s entirely fair. But let’s not sleep on how well he is playing right now.
### Defensive Free Agent of the Year – DeMarcus Lawrence, Edge
Well, he was just chosen the NFC Defensive Player of the Week after scoring two touchdowns against the Cardinals. Never mind that one reporter thinks the award [should have gone to one of his teammates.](https://12thmanrising.com/nfl-gives-major-award-to-wrong-seattle-seahawks-player)
Lawrence, like all the players mentioned so far, has done exactly what was expected when John Schneider signed the veteran away from Dallas. He plays the run. He plays the pass. He is an excellent team leader who works as hard in practice as he does on game day, thus setting an excellent standard for Seattle’s younger players to emulate.
### Coach of the Year – Karl Scott, Defensive Passing Game Coordinator/Defensive Backs
Injuries have limited Devon Witherspoon, Julian Love, and Nick Emmanwori to fewer than fifty percent of Seattle’s defensive snaps this season. That’s two Pro Bowlers and this year’s second round draft pick all missing significant time.
Nonetheless, the pass defense presided over by Scott ranks in the top ten in the league in completion percentage, touchdown percentage, and opposing passer rating, and in the top five in yards-per-attempt and interceptions.
He has presided over the apparent resurrection of Riq Woolen and the growth of a bunch of other players who, within the past year, were considered anonymous backups. Josh Jobe has thrived. Derion Kendrick and Nehemiah Pritchett have developed into serviceable reserves. Ty Okada has played a vital part in what must be the league’s deepest, most athletic group of safeties.
Over the last four games – since the meltdown against Tampa Bay – Scott’s secondary has faced 158 passes and allowed a mere 751 yards. That works out to 4.8 yards per attempt, which would lead the league if maintained for an entire season.
### Offensive Player of the Year – Abraham Lucas, Tackle
OK – stay with me on this for a moment. There’s one player still to come who is arguably more deserving of this award. And Sam Darnold has already gotten his recognition. Kenneth Walker has been great at times, but consistency is still an issue. Charles Cross is probably the best lineman Seattle has, and he has been since he joined the team.
But I really wanted to single out Lucas, who is playing the best football of his career and is staying healthy. That was a concern entering the season because he had missed major time in each of the last two years.
Right tackle was a revolving door in 2024, and as much as Zabel and center Jalen Sundell have helped to stabilize the interior of the line, I think Lucas’s ability to be a quality bookend with Cross has been the single biggest factor in the offensive line’s improved play this season.
### Defensive Player or the Year – Leonard Williams, Defensive End
Seattle’s defense is developing into the dominant force that fans hoped they’d see under Mike Macdonald’s leadership. It isn’t there yet but as players get healthy and more comfortable in the system, it is scary how good they could become. Obviously, any such defense relies on a lot of very good players.
We’ve already mentioned how good the secondary is becoming. Ernest Jones is a force in the middle, and he is ably supported by both Drake Thomas and Tyrice Knight.
But this defense still lives and dies with the big man up front. If Leonard Williams isn’t quite as dominant as he was in what should have been an All-Pro year in 2024, that may only be because he has so many other outstanding players around him now. He doesn’t have to be the center of everything. But he is nonetheless.
Williams still has the ability to take over games all by himself – one of the few players in the league who can do that. What I am truly interested in watching in the second half of the season is whether he holds onto his alpha status on the defensive line – because Byron Murphy II is hot on his heels for that title.
### MVP – Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Wide Receiver
Sam Darnold has always thrown a good deep ball. He has always had the courage – or stubbornness – to stand in the pocket and wait for deep shots to develop. But this year with Seattle, he has an offensive line that can protect him. He has a running game that can relieve the pressure on him.
He has an offensive coordinator who can keep opposing defenses off balance. And best of all, he has the best receiver in the NFL running under those deep shots.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba has been a very good receiver since entering the league in 2023. His plus athleticism and excellent route running have made him one of the better slot receivers in the league. But this year, no longer in the shadow of DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, he has emerged as a complete receiver, capable of making plays all over the field.
He is still an outstanding possession receiver, but now he is also one of the best big-play wideouts in the league. We detailed [just how dominant he has been](https://12thmanrising.com/seattle-seahawks-star-shows-no-signs-slowing-chases-history) in another recent article, so I will just leave it at this.
JSN is catching more than 74% of his targets and averaging 16.5 yards per catch. Those two numbers simply don’t fit together. That is a possession receiver catch percentage and a major downfield threat’s YPC.
That’s why he is the best receiver in the league, and that’s why he is the Seahawks’ midpoint MVP.