Seattle Seahawks: 5 Bold predictions for the 2018 regular season
By Samuel Teets
Shaquill Griffin will make the Pro Bowl
This would be a huge boost for the Seahawks secondary, especially since they don’t have a Pro Bowl player as long as Thomas stays away from the organization. Griffin showed he was capable of playing with NFL receivers during his rookie season, but now he’ll be asked to take another step forward and become an elite player.
Griffin was a third round pick in last year’s draft and started 11 of the 15 games he played in during his rookie season. He was targeted often and intercepted only one pass but did record 15 passes defensed. I really think Griffin has the potential to be a starter in the league for a while, it’s his growth rate and ceiling that I’m not sure about.
One big reason why I think Griffin might step up is because he will need to. If the Seahawks are going to make the playoffs the defense will need to be able to hold its’ own against tough opponents. Griffin will inevitably be tested, and tested a lot. He’ll either gain experience and learn really quickly or he might be crushed by the burden.
Out of the five predictions on this list, this is the boldest. Even when he played well last season, Griffin did not outright display Pro Bowl skills. But a lot of players experience significant growth after their rookie seasons, just look at a player like Chris Harris. Not all players enter the NFL as stars, some grow into it.