Seattle Seahawks: 3 Early breakout candidates for 2019 season

The Seattle Seahawks have their fair share of star players, but several more will be establishing themselves in 2019.

It’s hard to predict how the Seattle Seahawks will perform in 2019. Not much was expected of them, especially with Kam Chancellor no longer being able to play and Richard Sherman leaving for San Francisco. Still, the Seahawks took a Wild Card spot last year, but looking back at some of the games they lost, they easily could have had a better record.

One year later, no one is underestimating the Seahawks. They have a playoff caliber team, but there’s uncertainty as to how far the current roster can go.

If the Seahawks want to make it past the first round this season, then the team needs some young players to step up. These three players having breakout seasons would go a long way to getting Seattle over the hump.

Germain Ifedi, RT

Ifedi has been deserving of any criticism thrown at him to this point. I always hoped Ifedi would produce more and become a reliable starter, but he has struggled to find stability at any position Seattle plays him. The Seahawks not picking up the former first-round pick’s fifth-year option shows the team doesn’t view him as a must-have player.

Now, set to become a free agent next year and with more experience at the right tackle position, I think Ifedi is finally set to take a big step forward in 2019.

To be fair to Ifedi, he has been steadily improving since entering the league, but he was still a below average starting tackle in 2018. A combination of factors will come together to help uplift Ifedi in 2019, including his gained experience at the right tackle position and being in the final year of his deal. I think that these two specific factors not only play to Ifedi’s strengths, but they will also make sure he is more motivated than ever to succeed.

Ifedi does have a lot of ground to gain though if he wants to be a starter for a team in 2020. Some people are strong defenders of Ifedi, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s been consistently under-performing.

However, Ifedi’s pass blocking is headed in the right direction and he’s starting to capitalize on the physical gifts that made him a first-round pick, to begin with. If he focuses on fixing his run blocking this offseason, then we could see a huge uptick in Ifedi’s production. Solidifying the right edge would be huge for Seattle’s offense, and I’m sure that’s just what Ifedi plans to do.