Instead of a 53-man roster projection, let’s rank the players most likely to be on the Seahawks’ regular season roster.
Earlier this week, Field Gulls deputy editor John Gilbert made his initial 53-man roster projection for the Seattle Seahawks. We’ll have plenty of those in the weeks and months to come as the roster adjusts and we have a little more intel on players and their progress toward making the team. I’m not sure how we’ll be able to function as a site if John’s wish of two Kansas Jayhawks on the squad actually comes true.
On the latest Pulse of the Hawks edition of the HawksZone Rundown podcast, yours truly and Bryce Coutts did a position-by-position (sans special teams) breakdown separating the “roster locks” and “should make it” players from “on the bubble” and “camp bodies/likely to get cut.” Here’s what we came up with for offense and defense:
Roster locks/should make the Seahawks roster
Quarterback: Sam Darnold, Jalen Milroe, Drew Lock (should make it)
Running back: Kenneth Walker III, Zach Charbonnet, Damien Martinez (should make it)
Fullback: Robbie Ouzts (should make it)
Wide Receiver: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Cooper Kupp, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Jake Bobo (should make it), Tory Horton (should make it)
Tight End: Elijah Arroyo, A.J. Barner, Eric Saubert
Offensive line: Charles Cross, Olu Oluwatimi, Christian Haynes, Sautoa Laumea, Josh Jones, Grey Zabel, Abe Lucas, Bryce Cabeldue (should make it), Mason Richman (should make it), Jalen Sundell (should make it)
Defensive line: Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed, Johnathan Hankins, Byron Murphy II, Rylie Mills (should make it, could start on an injured list)
EDGE: Boye Mafe, Uchenna Nwosu, Derick Hall, DeMarcus Lawrence
Inside linebacker: Ernest Jones IV, Tyrice Knight, Drake Thomas, Josh Ross (should make it)
Cornerback: Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen, Josh Jobe (should make it), Nehemiah Pritchett (should make it)
Safety: Julian Love, Nick Emmanwori, Coby Bryant, D’Anthony Bell (should make it)
Of the notable bubble players, we have Noah Fant, Anthony Bradford, Mike Morris, Michael Jerrell, and Kenny McIntosh as having their roster spots in jeopardy. Why Fant even though he’s the most experienced receiving tight end on the roster? I believe he could be a trade target.
Mookie: “He either makes the team or he gets traded, I believe. I think it might be a little more likely he stays on because you are asking quite a bit to have your top two tight ends be a rookie and a second-year player, and Fant is at least a veteran player who’s had some productivity but not consistent productivity over his time in Seattle. One of the things that often gets parroted among Seahawks fans as far as Fant’s potential is that all the offensive coordinators didn’t know how to use him. I will concede [Ryan] Grubb. But in 2022, Shane Waldron heavily used 12 and 13 personnel. They were really sharing the targets with Colby Parkinson, Noah Fant, and Will Dissly, and it still just hasn’t been anything spectacular. I think Fant has the tantalizing physical tools, but he’s just a guy. And at that cost I’d rather not keep him, but for Fant it’s just ‘are you going to be on the roster as TE1, or are you going to be a trade target?’”
Wide receiver is tricky given the additions to the squad. The tougher decisions are on the bottom end of the depth chart and how many receivers they do keep. Bryce sees a rookie battling Jake Bobo for the final cut.
Bryce: “I think Ricky White and Bobo will be the ones fighting for that last spot. I think they’re going to carry five receivers because they’re going to have a Robbie Ouzts on this. I think there’s a good chance they’re going to carry four running backs even though we said Kenny McIntosh is on the bubble. Seattle has had a history of losing running backs (Kenneth Walker III being one of them) throughout a season. All of a sudden you’re down down to two running backs instead of three. I think there’s a chance Seattle could basically keep five backs in the backfield and go five receivers in this system because of the fact they’ll run a lot of two tight end sets.”
Tell us what you think in the comments! Our whole breakdown starts at the 15:03 mark of this clip.
Video
Follow HawksZone Rundown hosts on Twitter (X)!
Bryce Coutts: @brycecoutts_HZR
Ryan MacMillan: @RMac1090
Subscribe to the HawksZone Rundown podcast!
Head to the comments section to leave your answer and join the conversation! You can sign up for a commenting account here and we have full-time moderators to enforce the Community Guidelines.