Seattle Seahawks: Predicting stats for 2019 rookies

The Seattle Seahawks added 11 rookies through the draft and some of them will have legitimate chances to start and record significant statistics.

With the Legion of Boom era in the rearview mirror, the Seattle Seahawks are focused on returning to championship form. One way the team seems focused on doing this is through the draft. The Seahawks have dropped after 31 players in the past three drafts, with 11 being taken this year.

While many of these players are young and still developing, a lot has been asked of players from the 2017 and 2018 drafts. 2017 draftees Chris Carson, Shaquill Griffin, David Moore and Tedric Thompson have all started part or full-time since joining the team.

Likewise, Michael Dickson, Will Dissly and Tre Flowers all saw significant time as starters last season. With additional positions opening because of free agent departures and injuries, we will see a heavy dose of this year’s rookie class this coming season.

It’s hard to say whether any of the Seahawks rookies will start in Week 1, but as things progress during the season it’s almost a guarantee some rookies will work their ways up the depth chart. Seattle spent two draft picks at each level of the defense, three on wide receivers, one on a guard and one on a running back.

The draft class is fairly balanced with six defenders and five offensive players. The two biggest takeaways from the draft were Seattle trying to rebuild their receiving corps with the knowledge that Doug Baldwin was done and the team working to add talented defenders capable of contributing at all levels.

Based on the current roster, the wide receivers and high-round defenders are the most likely members of the 2019 class to see snaps throughout the season. It’s just a question of how much action they’ll see and how effective they will be.

L.J. Collier (No. 29)

In the first round, the Seahawks picked TCU defensive end, L.J. Collier. Like Rashaad Penny last year, Collier wasn’t guaranteed to be taken in the first round. The Seahawks did have an impending need at defensive end since the team wasn’t able to sign Frank Clark to a long-term deal. However, the team also added a handful of free agents at that position. Specifically, Ezekiel Ansah and Cassius Marsh have joined the team. Quinton Jefferson, a starter from last year, is also returning.

While Ansah’s availability may be affected because of injuries, it will be interesting to see how Collier, Jefferson, and Marsh divide work before Ansah returns and presumably takes the right defensive end spot. Collier is one of the players I think could see fewer snaps at the start of 2019 and then move more into a full-time starting role towards the end of the season.

Projected 2019 stats: 25 combined tackles, seven tackles for loss, four sacks