Dee Eskridge is back, but not really

The Seattle Seahawks had a lot of high hopes for rookie wide receiver Dee Eskridge, but he had a truncated training camp and preseason due to injury and then suffered a bad concussion in his regular season debut. Obviously head trauma and anything to do with the brain is not to be messed with, so Eskridge’s concussion was serious enough that he was out of action until after the bye week.

There was hope that Eskridge’s return could spark a sputtering Seahawks offense, especially since the few touches he got against the Indianapolis Colts showed off his speed and explosiveness. Well…

16 offensive snaps, 2 targets (for -4 yards). That’s it. His “target” was one of those pop passes that got blown up because whenever the Seahawks try to do something other teams do well, it looks like a physical comedy routine. Turns out John Schneider was bluffing.

I think we have to acknowledge that especially for a rookie, that missed practice time is extremely valuable. His lack of playing time may be linked to both easing him back in after such a serious injury and the fact that he’s a WR3 who’s unlikely to be all caught up on the playbook.

But also consider that the injury he suffered against the Colts occurred in the 4th quarter on his 12th snap, so even in that game he wasn’t on the field often.

If these snap counts don’t pick up soon, then sadly the Seahawks’ already sparse rookie draft class will have contributed very little this season. Stone Forsythe has played no offensive snaps, Tre Brown was a bright spot at corner but he played in just five games, and Eskridge at the moment has 28 snaps over three games played.