@ThatWiiMaster asks, “Is there a player who maybe didn’t have the biggest regular season that you think could prove to be an X-factor in the playoffs?”
A: It’s hard to decide where to draw the line between big regular season and eligible to be an X-factor, but at the very least let’s remove everyone who was a Pro-Bowl (Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Sam Darnold, Rashid Shaheed, Devon Witherspoon, Leonard Williams & DeMarcus Lawrence) or All-Pro (Smith-Njigba, Witherspoon, Williams, Ernest Jones IV & Michael Dickson) selection this year. Taking those players out of the equation, there are still a lot of really good players who will be expected to step up in the playoffs. But if you’re talking about players who maybe didn’t put up big numbers who could do more, a few names come to mind. On offense, I’ve been saying this for a while, but I still feel like we’re due for a big Cooper Kupp game. Kupp has not seen nearly the volume of targets as he did during his time in Los Angles, in part because of the season Smith-Njigba is having and in part because the Seahawks threw the ball at one of the lowest rates in the league this season, but when the ball does come his way, he has been really good, displaying the traits—route-running, hands, yard-after-catch ability, toughness, ability to come through in clutch moments—that made him one of the league’s top receivers in his time in LA. Kupp’s modest numbers—47 catches for 593 yards and two touchdowns—don’t come close to illustrating his importance to the team this season, both on the field and throughout the week, and it would be fun to see him break out with a big performance in the playoffs. If he’s activated from IR this week, tight end Elijah Arroyo could be another name to watch on offense thanks to his athleticism and ability to stretch the field. Also, I know I disqualified Shaheed with the Pro-Bowl selection, but it’s my mailbag so I’ll make up the rules as I go along, and since that honor was for special teams, I’ll mention him as another X-factor on offense.
On the other side of the ball, it’s hard to call anyone a potential X-factor based on how well everyone has played on that side of the ball. Earlier in the year, someone like Drake Thomas could be seen as an X-factor after taking over a starting role, but can we really say that about somebody who had 96 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, eight passes defensed and a big interception to help close out Seattle’s Week 18 win over the 49ers? Probably not. I could also see Riq Woolen or Josh Jobe coming up big, but again, they’ve done too much to meet that X-factor definition.