Everyone knows about power rankings in the present tense; a ranking of NFL teams (typically from best to worst) based on how they are playing week in and week out. However, ESPN recently came up with a more creative version of your typical power rankings where they try to predict the future. In these “future” power rankings, ESPN focused on which teams are primed to be among the league’s best from the 2027-2029 seasons. That also means that ESPN was not looking at the outcome of the 2026 season at all when doing these rankings.
The formula ESPN used had four different analysts rank each team’s quarterback situation, non-quarterback roster, front office, and coaching staff. The quarterback situation made up 20% of the calculation, while the rest of the roster made up 30%, the front office 25%, and the coaching staff 25%. With all that being said, where did ESPN rank the Seattle Seahawks?
In a rather happy note, the Seahawks ranked first in this “future” power rankings exercise. ESPN gave the Seahawks an overall score of 88.7, which would rank on the high end of the “very good” scale. (To earn the highest score of “elite”, a team would need to score 100+, while a “great” score would need anything from 90-99. “Very good”, has a score from a score of 80-89).
ESPN gave Seattle a “very good” or higher score in each of the four categories. The lowest score was quarterback, which earned the Seahawks a 82.25 score, good for 16th in the NFL. Next was the front office which earned a score of 87.25, good for second best in the league. The overall roster outside of the quarterback was ranked first in the NFL with an elite score of 91.25, while the coaching staff earned an elite score of 92.25, third best in the league.
The reasoning given for these stellar rankings was the presence of head coach, Mike Macdonald, along with players like Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Sam Darnold, and Charles Cross. However, arguably the reason the Seahawks are in the best position for the future is because of general manager, John Schneider. Schneider has been on a heater of late with his recent draft classes providing blue chip players like JSN, Devon Witherspoon, and Byron Murphy II. However ,Schneider has been able to find gems late in the draft or as undrafted free agents (AJ Barner, Jalen Sundell, Ty Okada). On top of that, he has made big trades that have helped shape this team as well (Ernest Jones, Leonard Williams).
One note in the summary is Seth Walder’s bold prediction: Sam Darnold isn’t Seahawks quarterback in 2028.
Bold prediction for 2027-29: Darnold will not be on the Seahawks in 2028. He started last season red-hot and finished fairly strong in Seattle’s Super Bowl run. But from Weeks 10 to 18, he ranked 27th out of 30 quarterbacks in QBR. The Super Bowl win certainly will buy Darnold time. But if he stumbles in 2027, I don’t think there are guarantees that he will be re-signed. — Walder
Time will tell if ESPN’s future power ranking is accurate. For Seahawks fans, hopefully it will be, and hopefully that will result in a few more Lombardi trophies.