PFT’s 2026 preseason power rankings place the Seahawks at No. 1, with the top spot “as close as it’s ever been”

As the NFL moves deeper into its 2026 exhibition stretch, Pro Football Talk released its preseason power rankings for all 32 teams, and the Seahawks were slotted at No. 1. The ranking’s central theme is not just who is on top, but how little separation exists at the very beginning of the season’s positioning game.

The premise is straightforward: reigning champions typically receive early benefit of the doubt in preseason evaluations, and the Seahawks arrive there again. In this edition, though, the publication framed the race for the top spot as particularly compressed, describing the margin as “as close as it’s ever been,” which implies a narrow distinction between Seattle and the group immediately behind it.

Because preseason power rankings are inherently comparative, the practical takeaway is about expectations, not certainty. A No. 1 label can serve as a narrative marker for how a team is expected to perform, but the ranking also indicates that other contenders are considered close enough to threaten that positioning even before the regular season starts.

The timing matters. By publishing once the full exhibition calendar is running, the rankings function as a baseline for how teams look once training camp evaluation has progressed beyond installations and into game situations. That timing also matters to fans watching the rotation of quarterbacks, the development of young players, and the readiness of each unit for Week 1, even if power rankings themselves do not replace actual results.

Still, there is a built-in caveat with any preseason list: it is assembled before the season’s full set of tests. Injuries, lineup changes, and late camp performance swings can quickly make preseason ordering feel outdated. That is part of why PFT’s own framing of a “close” gap at the top stands out, because it hints that multiple teams could plausibly claim the same overall tier by the time the regular season standings stabilize.

For the Seahawks, being placed at the top also creates an expectation ceiling. In a landscape where the publication suggests there is no runaway lead, Seattle’s challenge is to convert preseason perception into consistent play once outcomes start counting. For the teams clustered behind them, the implication is that the opening weeks carry extra leverage, since early performance can quickly reshape how “close” the separation actually is.