​Every year, the official NFL YouTube channel releases season previews for every team in the league. If you’ve got a spare 15 minutes, you can check out the link to the 2026 Seattle Seahawks season preview here. I took the liberty of grabbing a screenshot of the most surprising moment (to me) from the video. One of these things is not like the others.
What in the world happened to Bucky Brooks? Brooks, who joined the Seahawks as a scout after his playing career ended in 1999, has generally been favorable toward Seattle. In this preview, however, he projects a dramatic decline, predicting the Seahawks go 7-10 and tying their 2021 record. It’s a bold stance—Jim Mora or Mike Macdonald could be the debate here, but the choice seems obvious in this moment.
Perhaps Brooks just had an off day. He and John Schneider have a long history together. Brooks was a Packers player in 1995–1996, while Schneider was there, and they also overlapped in Seattle in 2000 when Brooks returned as a scout. It wouldn’t be surprising if Schneider sent a text that read, “Brother, thanks for the bulletin board material,” as a light nudge after Brooks’ provocative take.
During an interview with Brock and Salk on Seattle Sports, Brooks defended his audacious prediction. “Well one, the division is hard,” he said. “But before we get to division, this is a thing I think everyone has to understand—and the 12s have been through this before—it is really hard after you win a title to sustain yourself the next year. Normally that next year you come back there’s a few different things. There’s some natural complacency that seeps in, the team is never the same, and the energy that you face from everybody is drastically different. With a team that’s still on the young side, the maturity that is required to handle that is going to be a lot early.
“And then with the changes that you have, Klint Kubiak, who I think is one of the top five play-callers in football, he disappears. You lose the Super Bowl MVP in Kenneth Walker. You have some change that, to me, I just wonder can you catch your lightning in a bottle all over again in a division that is increasingly tougher with the Niners and Rams loading up?”
Brooks also noted that the Seahawks don’t “feel like a 7-10 team.” Yet he stuck to his argument, pointing to the historical rarity of teams winning back-to-back Super Bowls at the quarterback position and the Hall of Fame-level quarterbacks who have accomplished that feat. The interview added another dimension to the official preview, and the rest of the NFL’s video largely offered upbeat assessments, with most teams predicting double-digit wins. Brooks’ contrarian take stood out in sharp relief against that broader optimism.
As the new season approaches, there’s no shortage of fodder from the “doubters” to fuel the Seahawks’ motivation. The video and Brooks’ comments have given fans plenty to discuss, debate, and rally behind as Seattle eyes a potential rebound year. If you’re chasing SEO-friendly angles, this contrast between a cautious, measured outlook and a widespread preseason optimism provides rich material for headlines, analysis, and fan engagement across platforms.