Out of the 11 rookies the Seattle Seahawks drafted, a few of them will win starting jobs before the 2019 season ends.
The Seattle Seahawks did a great job trading back in the 2019 NFL Draft and added a ton of assets in the mid to late rounds. Considering that most of their selections came in the fourth round or later, most of Seattle’s rookies will simply be filling depth needs or seeing times on special teams.
However, there are a few players who should start right away and a few more who could play their ways into major roles before the 2019 season ends.
L.J. Collier, the Seahawks’ first-round selection, should be penciled in as a Day 1 starter. Collier, while not among the most well-known names in the draft, had a late-first to late-second round grade. Now, he’ll be asked to step into Frank Clark‘s shoes immediately and try to fill at least some of the production Clark picked up over his four years in Seattle.
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Clark recorded 32 sacks in the last three years, including 13 this past season. While it seems unrealistic to expect Collier to put up those numbers right away, even Clark only had three sacks his rookie season, the rookie will still have a significant role along the defensive line.
At wide receiver, both D.K. Metcalf and Gary Jennings will have opportunities to break into the starting lineup. If Doug Baldwin is indeed unable to return to the field, then we might see Tyler Lockett, Metcalf and Jennings on the field as the team’s top three receivers. David Moore served as the team’s third receiver last year, but he’s on a one-year deal and didn’t do anything in 2018 that made him look irreplaceable.
While Lockett is a straight speedster who had a breakout campaign last year, Metcalf can also serve as a downfield target for Russell Wilson. At 6-3, 228 pounds, Metcalf has the size to out-jump or simply out-muscle corners and safeties for jump balls. The Ole Miss product averaged 21.9 yards per reception last year, meaning he’ll be getting downfield and leaping over guys for big gains.
Jennings‘ game is different. The 6-1, 214-pound receiver averaged 17 yards per reception last year, but he caught 97 passes for over 1,000 yards on 11.3 yards per reception back in 2017. That kind of short possession game is what the Seahawks will miss without Baldwin, meaning Jennings could be asked to step up and fill a specific playing style in the offense.
It’s unclear what role rookie safety Marquise Blair will play. I wouldn’t rule out seeing him start at some point this season, but Seattle already has two young safeties. In all likelihood, Blair will see snaps but not be a starter during the early portion of the season.
Fourth-round selection, Ugo Amadi won’t be a regular starter, but he will likely see snaps as the slot corner, taking over Justin Coleman‘s old position. Phil Haynes was a good fourth-round selection who adds depth to the guard positions. If Mike Iupati goes down, Haynes might see some snaps, but don’t anticipate him getting any starts this year unless multiple players along the line really struggle.
The Seahawks took two linebackers, Cody Barton and Ben Burr-Kirven, in the draft. I don’t anticipate either of those guys starting as long as Bobby Wagner, K.J. Wright and Mychal Kendricks are available. Jacob Martin, who was drafted last year, also produced some nice numbers last year. I think Barton and Burr-Kirven are insurance policies if the team can’t get a deal done with Wagner this offseason or if any of the starters suffer injuries like they did last year.
At a first glance, Travis Homer, Demarcus Christmas and John Ursua aren’t even guaranteed to make the final active roster. I believe that Christmas has a lot of potential that Florida State never found and the Seahawks did trade back into the draft to get Ursua, but these three rookies will have to fight for their places in the league.