It would be unfair to compare just about any team to the 2013 Seattle Seahawks other than other championship teams. The 2013 Seahawks are in the conversation for a top-five defense all-time and unlike many all-time defenses http://www.seahawksauthorizedshops.com/authentic-michael-dickson-jersey , they also had a quarterback who is on a Hall of Fame path through his first seven seasons, a Hall of Fame caliber running back, and a receiver who could definitely be in the Hall of Slot Receivers and if he plays another 7-8 years at a high level ... who knows.Seattle’s 2018 team however had pretty much the quarterback, a hobbled version of that receiver, and the middle linebacker. They had some other nice pieces around them, an advantage here or there to the 2013 Seahawks, but if you actually compare them roster-to-roster you start to wonder just how in the hell this team went 10-6 and made the playoffs.Well, it’s because the 2018 Seahawks were a “playoff team” but as you’ll see in comparing position groups, they are nowhere near a “championship team.” In fact, if you think Seattle was close to resembling the 2012 Seahawks and are one year away from being like they were in 2013, I’d argue that after doing this comparison, they’re more like the 2011 version. Until they find out if Tre Flowers can develop like Richard Sherman, if they’ll have anyone close to the caliber of Earl Thomas, if Jacob Martin is on the rise, if they can add not one, but two really good edge rushers, another defensive tackle, if Shaquill Griffin can at least settle into being a Byron Maxwell type, then Seattle may be two years away from competing for first in the division rather than one. Much like 2012, the Seahawks had to get around a championship-caliber division-mate, and the LA Rams don’t seem likely to slow down that quickly.Now enough of the depressing stuff and onto the more depressing stuff.I’m comparing relevant players at each position. My judgment is just that: my judgment. It is not a fact, just an opinion, and in some cases it’s one that I could change with a good enough argument against it. When I went through each position, I came away with a score of 10 to 2 in advantage of the 2013 Seahawks and fittingly, I think you could make a case for 12-0. Even if you had it at 8-4 Bradley McDougald Jersey , most of those eight wins were blowouts.The Seahawks have gone through a lot of changes in the wrong direction over the last five years and yes, I’m one of the optimistic and bright-side Seattle writers! QB - Russell Wilson vs Russell WilsonAdvantage - 2018You could call it a wash if you want to. I think Wilson has certainly improved over the last five years and is a more “complete” quarterback with all the experience that comes with starting the number of games he has in that period of time. Consider that he’s also doing more with a lot less. If you factored in salary then you could make a stronger argument for 2012-2015 Wilson, but I’m not doing that here.RB - Marshawn Lynch vs Chris CarsonBackups - Robert Turbin, Christine Michael vs Mike Davis, Rashaad PennyFB - Derrick Coleman vs Tre MaddenAdvantage - 2013Carson actually averaged .5 more yards per carry this season than Lynch did during Seattle’s Super Bowl run, and he’s one of my favorite backs in the league, but there’s only one Marshawn Lynch. That’s kind of also the point: Carroll could more easily utilize a single-back system with Lynch, who played more downs, didn’t miss any games, scored more touchdowns, and had more receiving yards. Even including backup contributions, the better backfield seemed to belong to 2013.WR - Doug Baldwin, Golden Tate, Jermaine Kearse, Sidney Rice, Ricardo Lockette (Percy Harvin) vs Doug Baldwin, Tyler Lockett, David Moore, Jaron Brown, Brandon MarshallAdvantage - 20132018 Lockett might be the best receiver in the whole bunch, but this season also included a hobbled Baldwin and pretty poor depth that showed itself when they were called upon to do more because of Doug’s health. A healthy Baldwin and Tate were a more complete and consistent 1-2, while Kearse came up huge in the playoffs.TE - Zach Miller, Luke Willson, Kellen Davis vs Ed Dickson, Nick Vannett Authentic J.R. Sweezy Jersey , Will DisslyAdvantage - 2013Miller didn’t quite live up to the expectations of his free agent contract in 2011 but he alone was probably far more effective than Dickson and Vannett combined. Would have liked to have seen more of Dissly, but unfortunately for everyone that did not happen. The tight ends in 2018 were perhaps one of the most underrated weaknesses of the team.OL - Russell Okung, James Carpenter, Max Unger, JR Sweezy, Breno Giacomini vs Duane Brown, JR Sweezy, Justin Britt, DJ Fluker, Germain IfediBackups - Paul McQuistan, Alvin Bailey, Lemuel Jeanpierre, Michael Bowie vs Joey Hunt, Jordan Simmons, Ethan Pocic, George FantAdvantage - 2013 I have it as 2013, but I don’t know, Okung did miss half of the season. Both lines had their strengths at left tackle and center, but I’d think Unger is typically considered the superior player to Britt. I don’t think any of the other starters are particular “strengths” but at best it might be a wash.DT - Brandon Mebane, Tony McDaniel, Clinton McDonald vs Jarran Reed, Shamar Stephen, Poona Ford, Nazair JonesAdvantage - 2013Similar to Lockett and the receiver, Reed might be the best of the group but the depth in 2013 was so fantastically better. We all like Ford Youth Sebastian Janikowski Jersey , but he wasn’t even utilized that heavily until late in the year.DE - Cliff Avril, Michael Bennett, Chris Clemons. Red Bryant, O’Brien Schofield vs Frank Clark, Quinton Jefferson, Dion Jordan, Branden Jackson, Rasheem GreenAdvantage - 2013Either this or cornerback or safety is the biggest slaughter of comps, which emphasizes just how next-level the 2013 Seattle defense was. They will go down with a few Hall of Famers, a handful of Pro Bowlers, and a bevy of talented starters, some of whom were relegated to backup duty on that 53. Clark was a top-ranked pass rusher in 2018, but Avril, Bennett, Clemons, and Bryant is just sledgehammer after sledgehammer for opposing tackles and running backs. LB - Bobby Wagner, KJ Wright, Bruce Irvin, Malcolm Smith, Mike Morgan vs Bobby Wagner, KJ Wright, Mychal Kendricks, Barkevious Mingo, Jacob Martin, Austin Calitro http://www.seahawksauthorizedshops.com/authentic-barkevious-mingo-jersey , Shaquem GriffinAdvantage - 2013A couple of the names might be the same and Wagner is as good as ever, but Wright missed too much time, Kendricks was in the same boat, and Mingo’s not even as good as Smith, let alone Irvin. It’s another big advantage for 2013.CB - Richard Sherman, Brandon Browner, Byron Maxwell, Walter Thurmond vs Shaquill Griffin, Tre Flowers, Justin Coleman, Akeem KingAdvantage - 2013The number one corner is a blowout in 2013’s favor, the number two corner still has an advantage for 2013 though I think we are all hoping Flowers develops like Sherman did. You could maybe argue an advantage in the slot for 2018 but I’m not sure it would be a strong argument and this is another landslide for 2013.S - Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor vs Bradley McDougald, Tedric Thompson, Delano HillBackups - Jeron Johnson, Chris Maragos vs Maurice Alexander, Shalom LuaniAdvantage - 2013Moving on...K -Steven Hauschka vs Sebastian JanikowskiAdvantage - 2013Hauschka made 33 of 35 attempts in 2013 whereas Janikowski was 22 of 27 and had three missed PATs.P - Jon Ryan vs Michael DicksonAdvantage - 2018Woo, 2018! Some may argue Ryan over Dickson and I really would not care too much. Dickson is a first team All-Pro though and his net average 5.5 yards longer than Ryan’s was in 2013. The team may have been worse this season but Dickson only had four more punts this season than Ryan did that year.Seahawks defense banged up as 2018 NFL season opener looms We are just two weeks away from the Seattle Seahawks beginning their 2018 NFL regular season campaign against the Denver Broncos. There is obviously still one preseason game left to be played on Thursday vs. the Oakland Raiders, but there’s no remotely good reason for the first-team players to have more than one series. On the injury front, I think it’s fair to say that the Seahawks (and many other teams, to be fair) have come away relatively unscathed in terms of devastating long-term injuries to key players in training camp or preseason action. However, Seattle does have quite a few presumptive starters on the mend and with their respective statuses uncertain for Week 1.By now you’ve read that linebacker K.J. Wright is having his knee scoped, and is out indefinitely. If he can’t make the season opener, then rookie Shaquem Griffin gets the unexpected start. You may remember last year that Shaquill Griffin wasn’t supposed to have that many snaps in the opener against the Green Bay Packers, but Jeremy Lane’s ejection meant that in his own rookie debut Authentic Quinton Jefferson Jersey , Shaquill effectively played as if he was the actual starter. This is obviously a different situation, and Shaquem figures to be a downgrade from KJ, as opposed to Shaquill proving to be a clear upgrade over Lane.At the free safety position, Tedric Thompson is day-to-day with a combination of a rib injury and a neck stinger on a collision he had against the Minnesota Vikings last Friday. Earl Thomas’ holdout obviously isn’t over, so with him and Thompson not practicing on Monday, that shifted Bradley McDougald to FS and Delano Hill and Maurice Alexander split time at SS. That is not an ideal combination at SS, so hopefully Thompson’s “day-to-day” is exactly that, as hurt ribs and a stinger can’t be taken lightly.Staying in the secondary, we’ve not seen Byron Maxwell play due to a hip flexor problem, and Carroll says “I can’t tell you” when he’ll practice again. Seattle has used Maxwell’s absence to take a look at rookie CB Tre Flowers, and then you have Dontae Johnson back in the mix following his broken foot. Maxwell was the CB2 last year as a midseason pick-up when Richard Sherman went down, and was favored to retain that role in 2018 on a one-year deal. Hell, there’s no guarantee he makes the team depending on how they view Flowers and Johnson.On the front line, DE Frank Clark had just returned from wrist surgery, but evidently hyperextended his elbow in the Vikings game. Carroll said this was just a case of resting him on Monday, so that appears to be a positive. As for Dion Jordan, he’s making a push for Week 1 despite dealing with a stress fracture in his leg, but Carroll has not ruled out just placing him on the PUP list, which would render him unavailable for the first half-dozen games. Jordan’s impressive 2017 despite limited action gave fans some hope that he’d be an important part of Seattle’s revamped pass rush in 2018.Assuming Clark is okay, if you take the worst case scenario, Seahawks at Broncos could potentially see Seattle’s defense without its second-best linebacker (Wright), #2 cornerback (Maxwell), a starting pass rusher (Jordan), and its backup safety-turned-starter if Earl Thomas isn’t back soon (Thompson).It looks as if the strength of Seattle’s defensive depth is going to have an early test come September.