The Seahawks’ October to remember — a 4-1 record that stamped them as surprisingly legitimate playoff contenders — was rewarded with a whole lot of hardware Thursday.
Specifically, the team claimed three player of the month awards from the league — quarterback Geno Smith as the NFC Offensive Player of the Month, running back Kenneth Walker III as the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month and cornerback Tariq Woolen as the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month.
In continuing his stunning career resurgence at the age of 32, Smith completed 102 of 147 passes in October for 1,207 yards, nine touchdowns and just one interception, a passer rating of 111.7. He also rushed for 143 yards on 25 carries and a touchdown.
Walker, the 41st overall pick in the 2022 out of Michigan State, took over the starting job when Rashaad Penny suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the third quarter of an Oct. 9 game at New Orleans and rushed for 432 yards on 78 carries with five touchdowns in the month of October.
Woolen, a fifth-round pick out of the University of Texas-San Antonio, continued what has also been a stunning emergence as one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL, had three of his four league-leading interceptions in October as well as well as two fumble recoveries.
According to the Seahawks, it’s the first time since the league started handing out rookie of the month awards in 1996 that teammates have been honored in the same month. And according to the team, it’s also the first time a team has had a player of the month and two rookies of the month in the same month.
It’s only the fifth and sixth time in team history Seattle has had a rookie of the month. The others were left tackle Walter Jones (October, 1997), defensive tackle Rocky Bernard (September, 2002), linebacker Lofa Tatupu (December/January, 2005) and quarterback Russell Wilson (December, 2012).
Seattle last had a player of the month when Wilson won it in September, 2020.
The awards for Woolen and Walker also further illustrate the success of this year’s Seahawks rookie class. Six of the team’s nine picks are starters and Seattle leads the NFL in snaps played by rookies at 2,270 — next is the Chicago Bears at 2,101.