Seattle, 5-4 through nine games, released unofficial midseason honors on Nov. 12, 2026 that highlight standout performances from the first half of its 2026 season.
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With nine games behind them and eight games plus a bye week remaining, the Seattle Seahawks released a set of unofficial midseason honors on Nov. 12, 2026, acknowledging that the awards are “very unofficial” and selected by a writer who cautioned readers to take them “with a grain of salt.”
Head coach Mike Macdonald said Seattle added All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson two weeks earlier but made “no additional moves” prior to this week’s deadline, adding that he believes the current group of players can still grow and improve as the season continues. “I love our team,” Macdonald said. “The guys that we have to go from here on out, I’m very optimistic. We have work to do, we have room to grow, and I believe that we can and we will.”
On offence, the unofficial Offensive MVP was wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, whose first-half production included league-leading 1,036 receiving yards and nine touchdowns on 71 receptions. The team noted he became the third player in franchise history—joining Steve Largent and Tyler Lockett—to post 1,000 receiving yards in three straight seasons, and that he reached the mark for the second straight year only nine games into the season. It also highlighted that Smith-Njigba accounted for 49.6 percent of Seattle’s receiving yards and nine of the team’s 15 receiving scores.
On defence, the unofficial Defensive MVP was linebacker Ernest Jones IV. The club’s breakdown credited Jones with 88 tackles so far in 2026, the most in the NFC and fourth in the NFL, along with 3.0 sacks tied for second on the team, five passes defensed (second on the Seahawks), and one interception.
The Seahawks’ unofficial Special Teams MVP was punter Michael Dickson, whose first-half numbers included a 42.8 net average, 15 punts downed inside the 20, and two touchbacks. The team also pointed to Seattle’s two turnovers on muffed punts and said opponents managed eight returns for 39 yards all season long.
As a “Top Newcomer,” Seattle named running back Emanuel Wilson, noting the return of Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price had reduced his role after Week 8. The team credited Wilson with a rushing total of 403 yards and three touchdowns across the first seven games, including a 100-yard, one-touchdown performance in a win over the Chiefs, a 120-scrimmage-yard, two-touchdown game against the Chargers, and 92 rushing yards in a Week 2 win over the Cardinals.
At quarterback, the unofficial Best Relief Performance went to Drew Lock during stretches when starter Sam Darnold missed games with injuries. Seattle said Darnold went down with a glute injury on the first series of the opener, missing the remainder of that game and Seattle’s Week 2 game in Arizona, and later suffered a quadricep and rib injury in Week 8 that caused him to miss the following game as well as Seattle’s next matchup against the Raiders. The team credited Lock with starting or playing the majority in all three games won during that span, completing 71.1 percent of his attempts for 597 yards, five touchdowns, no turnovers, and a 116.0 passer rating—stated as the league lead if he had enough attempts to qualify.
The Seahawks’ unofficial Best Play, Offence was an 82-yard touchdown from Lock to Smith-Njigba, described as Seattle’s longest play from scrimmage in the season. The team said it occurred on the second play from scrimmage in Seattle’s Week 2 win at Glendale, Ariz., and came as Smith-Njigba recorded a season-high 155 yards and three touchdowns.
For Best Play, Defence, Seattle highlighted a play by Nick Emmanwori in a Week 6 win over the Chiefs, when he was described as rushing the passer and later pressuring Patrick Mahomes as the game was still close. The club’s account said Emmanwori used closing speed to hit Mahomes as he released the throw, resulting in an interception by safety Ty Okada, with the Seahawks taking a 10-0 lead on a subsequent Smith-Njigba touchdown en route to a 20-3 win.
The unofficial Best Play, Special Teams was described as a team effort involving Dickson and Nehemiah Pritchett on a punt versus the 49ers. Seattle said the punt was slipping through the hands of 49ers returner Jacob Cowing before Pritchett’s hit knocked the ball free, and Eric Saubert recovered it, setting up a short-field touchdown run by Emanuel Wilson.
In team trends, the Seahawks labelled “Trend To Continue” as strong defensive play, pointing to their ranking through nine games as first in total defence (244.2 yards per game) and passing defence (155.1), second in opponent yards per carry average (3.4), fourth in rushing yards allowed (89.1), tied for fifth in takeaways (13), and fourth in scoring defence (18.0). Seattle also said the scoring defence figure was influenced by opponents scoring two defensive touchdowns and adding other points off short fields created by takeaways.
Finally, “Thing To Clean Up” was turnovers. The club said Seattle is 15-0 under Mike Macdonald over the past three seasons when it wins the turnover battle, and 5-1 this year when committing one or no turnovers, but has committed 11 turnovers in its four losses, including 10 in losses to the Commanders, 49ers and Broncos. Seattle said it is coming off a Week 9 performance against the Cardinals with no turnovers.
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