Seattle Seahawks: Ranking top 10 players of the past decade

4. Earl Thomas, FS

Seattle’s X-factor, Earl Thomas quietly mastered his position as Sherman captivated the media with his words, and Chancellor awed crowds with his ferocious hits. Among the three core members of the Legion of Boom secondary, history may remember Thomas as the greatest.

The 14th overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, Thomas and Okung kickstarted Seattle’s ridiculous draft hauls from the early decade. While Okung became an inconsistent but respectable player, Thomas took over as a cornerstone of the franchise.

Thomas spent nine years in Seattle, including 2019 when he landed on IR after only four games. However, he’d already posted three interceptions by that time and seemed primed for a fourth First-Team All-Pro selection.

In just under a decade, Thomas intercepted 28 passes for Seattle. He also registered 664 tackles, 11 forced fumbles, 71 passes defensed and three touchdowns. Thomas earned the seventh Pro Bowl selection of his Hall of Fame career with Baltimore this past season.

3. Marshawn Lynch, RB

In early October of 2010, the Seahawks traded future fourth and fifth-round picks to Buffalo for Lynch. The talented but troubled running back had already made the Pro Bowl in 2008 but didn’t produce much in 2009 or the early part of the 2010 season.

While Lynch only averaged 47.8 rushing yards per game during his first season in Seattle, he did author one of the greatest runs in NFL history. Beast Mode’s Beast Quake run helped the 7-9 Seahawks upset the defending champion New Orleans Saints in the Wild Card Round.

Lynch’s explosive Wild Card rumble set the tone for the next four seasons. During that time, he amassed 5,357 rushing yards and 48 rushing touchdowns to go along with 1,091 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns. He made four consecutive Pro Bowls, and the Associated Press selected him as a First-Team All-Pro in 2012.

Unfortunately, injuries limited Lynch to seven games in 2015. Following the season, he decided to retire. Of course, Lynch returned and spent two years in Oakland before joining Seattle for an ill-fated playoff run in 2019.

While he only ranks fourth in franchise history in rushing yards and second in rushing touchdowns, Lynch set the tone for Seattle’s offense during the early 2010s. He, not Wilson, was the heart of that unit.