The 10 most important players on the Seattle Seahawks
1. S Earl Thomas (40 points)
2. DE Michael Bennett (31)
3. CB Richard Sherman (30)
4. T Luke Joeckel (29)
5. LB Bobby Wagner (27)
6. WR Doug Baldwin (20)
7. S Kam Chancellor (19)
8. RB Eddie Lacy (12)
T-9. TE Jimmy Graham (11)
T-9. C Justin Britt (11)
Earl Thomas claimed four of the Seahawks' first-place votes. The fifth: Luke Joeckel, who led off a fascinating ballot (Jones) that featured offensive linemen in spots one through five. After Joeckel, Jones ranked, in order, George Fant, Justin Britt, Germain Ifedi and Mark Glowinski as the keys to Seattle's season.
Joeckel also nabbed a second- (Feldman) and third-place vote (Single), but the rest of the O-line struggled to crack the ballots. Only Ifedi, with a pair of 10th-place votes, earned a nod from multiple voters aside from Jones.
Jonathan Jones defends his top-five vote for Joeckel: I listed the entire Seahawks offensive line in my top-five because you can't ask the defense to hold every team to 0 points. Joeckel is most important because he's the left tackle who's not a former basketball player trying to make it at that position.
Other Seahawks receiving votes: DE Cliff Avril (nine points), G Germain Ifedi (nine), T George Fant (nine), G Mark Glowinski (six), RB Thomas Rawls (five), LB KJ Wright (four), T Oday Aboushi (two), WR Tyler Lockett (one)