Seattle Seahawks: Predicting stats for 2019 rookies

Marquise Blair (No. 47)

Utah’s Marquise Blair was Seattle’s second overall pick in the 2019 draft. Blair played like a strong safety in college, but he’s better suited for the free safety position in the NFL and he’ll pressure Thompson for the starting spot this season. This is a less a case of Blair being an overwhelming talent as it is Thompson simply being replaceable. It should also be noted though that Pete Carroll hasn’t ruled out playing Blair at strong safety.

Thompson was not drafted to take over the starting free safety job, but he was pushed into the lineup when Earl Thomas went down in Week 4 last season. The Seahawks also have Delano Hill who can play safety, but there doesn’t seem to be a serious chance of him winning the starting job.

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Blair plays a style that is familiar to Seattle. He’s a hard-hitting safety whose game is built around his versatility and physicality. Initially, there were some comparisons to Kam Chancellor‘s playing style, but Blair is nowhere near being the physical freak that Chancellor was.

While Blair can play downhill and be a factor in the run game, he’s only 6-1, 195 pounds. I do expect him to land some vicious hits in the NFL and fit with the Seahawks general mentality, but he isn’t the next Chancellor.

I’d like to see Blair wrap up more in the NFL, as he missed a lot of tackles in college when trying to land hard hits. He also takes bad angles to ball carriers at times, but these are both issues that can be easily fixed. His pass defensive skills are solid, but he will be going through a bit of a scheme change going from Utah to Seattle. Overall, Blair has the chance to develop into an X-factor and enforcer in the secondary, but I don’t expect we’ll see that in his rookie season. Blair and Thompson will likely end up splitting starts late in the season.

Projected 2019 stats: 40 combined tackles, seven passes defensed, one interception

D.K. Metcalf (No. 63)

We know how physically gifted D.K. Metcalf is, but he is not a great intricate route runner. He takes too long to slow down and come out of breaks. This playing style usually results in deflected passes or even interceptions.

At the same time, Metcalf is large and quick. His size, speed, and strength would make him a nightmare on deep routes or jump balls. How much of a splash Metcalf makes as a rookie will be determined by how the Seahawks utilize him and what routes they ask him to run.

As for the wide receiver position as a whole, the Seahawks only have one returning player who has a guaranteed spot and that’s Tyler Lockett. Moore is also returning along with Jaron Brown, but I wouldn’t say either of them are safe from sliding down the depth chart. Because of the amount of turnover at the wide receiver position and the general lack of talent, I think it will be hard for Seattle to keep Metcalf on the bench for long.

Projected 2019 stats: 25 receptions, 450 yards, six touchdowns