2013 Seattle Seahawks Awards Projections

On Sunday the Seahawks face the Carolina Panthers to kickoff their 2013 NFL season. It’s possibly the most anticipated season of all-time for Seattle fans and the expectations couldn’t be higher.

The loss to the Atlanta Falcons in last season’s NFC playoffs was the definition of an emotional roller coaster. The historic comeback, followed by a last second field goal victory by Atlanta left Seahawks fans hungry for more success. There are no excuses for the Seahawks to match expectations and get to the Super Bowl. Chris Clemons is the only key player currently sidelined by injury and he should be 100% early in the season.

Percy Harvin will miss significant time. Originally he was thought to miss the majority of the season, if not all of it. A recent tweet by Harvin suggested he might return as early as week 7. Even with the superstar being a non-factor for now, he wasn’t a part of the Seahawks last season. His absence shouldn’t have an effect on what we should expect from the offense. Golden Tate, Sidney Rice, Doug Baldwin and Zach Miller all return along with a quarterback that is now in his second season and has a full 16 games under his belt.

It really is Super Bowl or bust for this years version of the Seattle Seahawks.

That being said, let’s take a look at who I think will earn team honors when the regular season comes to an end.

Most Valuable Player

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Marshawn Lynch

2013 Projections: 1,550 rushing yards, 13 rushing TD’s

Beast Mode has the most important role on the Seahawks. Not only is he expected to carry the workload in the ground game for the Seahawks, a team that even with Russell Wilson has a run-first mentality. Lynch is also going to be responsible for alleviating some of the pressure that Wilson will undoubtedly face with opposing defenses keying in on the second-year Pro Bowl quarterback. If that wasn’t enough, he’ll have to do it with a new lead blocker.

Runner Up: Russell Wilson