Seattle Seahawks: 5 Players facing the most pressure in 2018

1. Russell Wilson

Of course Wilson is here — this selection is a no-brainer. He carried the Seahawks last season and was thrown around in the conversations for MVP because of his play and importance to the team. Now that the Seahawks have had another offseason to address the offense the expectations placed on Wilson will increase. People will want him to repeat and improve upon his play in 2017, which is asking for a lot.

While Wilson has the talent and ability to continue improving, forward movement is never a guarantee in the NFL. The Seahawks themselves will be relying on Wilson heavily again in 2018 and for the rest of their rebuilding process. If he falters at all the team’s postseason hopes will be dashed.

Again, this goes back to the Seahawks being stuck in between a new and old era, I guess you could call it a partial rebuilding state. There’s still a big push for the team to make the playoffs even though they’re cycling in and developing a bunch of new players. All of that extra stress, pressure, and responsibility falls on the shoulders of the team’s quarterback and MVP candidate.

Apart from worrying about the team winning and playing at an MVP level, there’s also the risk and worry about injury. Wilson has never missed a start in his career and he better hope that streak continues because his backup options are not impressive. The only player in the NFL who you could even argue has more pressure on him constantly from his own team is Aaron Rodgers.

Besides him, Wilson is easily the most relied upon player in the game today. If the Seahawks ever hope to win another Super Bowl with him at quarterback, they need to find a way to move him off of this list and make the game as smooth as possible for their star quarterback.