When the Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl last season, their remarkable run to the Lombardi Trophy was boosted by tremendous contributions from their rookie class. Grey Zabel started every game at left guard, Nick Emmanwori finished second in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting, Robbie Ouzts got plenty of snaps as a big fullback, while Tory Horton scored five touchdowns before going on season-ending injured reserve. Oh yes, and Rylie Mills’ quasi-redshirt year ended with him sacking Drake Maye
in the Super Bowl. It looked like the perfect culmination of an absolute heater of drafts for John Schneider.
With Seattle retaining most of its free agents and otherwise sitting out even the mid-tier of free agency, it was reasonable to think that the Seahawks would be relying on their 2025 class to shoulder more responsibility and be bigger factors in 2026.
It hasn’t happened. At least not yet.
Grey Zabel continues to be a solid starting guard (although I don’t believe he’s been as good as last season), whereas Nick Emmanwori has come back from his ankle surgery and looks to be his usual stalwart self as a SINO (Safety In Name Only).
That’s about where the good times end.
Elijah Arroyo isn’t much of a factor
Elijah Arroyo has one catch, one personal foul penalty on an interception in which he was the target, and that’s pretty much it for his 2026 contributions. He didn’t have a particularly eye-popping 2025 and was injured in the back-stretch of last season, but a very good preseason has not translated into the regular season. If nothing else, it now looks very curious as to why Arroyo played so much in the final preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs, when most would-be starters and main depth either didn’t play or maxed out at one series.
There have been rightful questions as to why Arroyo is listed as TE3 on the depth chart and otherwise does not outsnap Eric Saubert, a journeyman blocking TE who’s not known for his receiving abilities. A cursory look at the All-22 this season suggests that Arroyo is generally not trusted in the run game. When he’s asked to “block” it’s really just being on the opposite side of the concept, almost to the point where he’s not relevant to the play even if he botches any backside responsibilities. For whatever reason, Brian Fleury completely flipped the tendencies against the San Francisco 49ers, to mixed results.
As for his route-running? While there are opportunities that I believe were left on the table by Sam Darnold, the Los Angeles Chargers game alone is a microcosm of how Arroyo is being used: run very far.
If Arroyo isn’t trusted as a run blocker and is primarily used on vertical concepts, you’ve got a predictability problem.
Arroyo’s blocking was a known weakness entering the draft, but the idea was that they would work on that part of his game in the NFL and he’d otherwise be a mismatch hunter in space. We’ve yet to see that materialize consistently (honestly, if at all). At the moment, I think Arroyo is not a schematic match for an offense that goes so heavy on 12 and 13 personnel but requires its tight ends to be credible blockers.
The mysterious lack of Tory Horton
I cannot explain why Tory Horton was nearer to a healthy scratch than a rotational player on offense and special teams on Sunday. Horton playing 11 snaps against the San Francisco 49ers is about in line with his normal count this season, but only three of those snaps were on pass plays. One of those pass plays was a screen to Emanuel Wilson, so in effect Horton ran two routes all game.
But what shocked me was Horton losing kickoff return duties to Velus Jones Jr. Horton played zero special teams snaps, while Velus was the other returner alongside Rashid Shaheed. Jones does have a history as a kick returner dating back to college. You know what he also has a history of? Fumbling.
Your guess is as good as mine as far as Horton not getting more playing time, especially as Rashid Shaheed continues to be a minimal factor on offense.
The one thing I’d caution regarding Horton is that half of his career productivity in terms of receptions is just from two games against the Washington Commanders. The two games prior to last year’s Commanders game saw him shut out completely. He wasn’t a high target guy before the Rashid Shaheed trade and is even less so afterward. But when the ball is thrown his way, it tends to be an efficient outcome, as evidenced by six touchdowns on just 17 catches.
Rylie Mills is a rotational player who’s struggling against the run
I admit I peddled the Rylie Mills hype after watching him in training camp and preseason. Much of what I liked was as a pass rusher and not as a run defender. He was giving the starting offensive line a consistently hard time and his teammates praised his strength and effort. I don’t like what I’m seeing out of Mills as a run defender, which is going to keep him from getting snaps until that changes.
Mills’ pressure rate is also sub-10% and the worst of Seattle’s defensive line rotation, so he’s not providing a whole lot right now other than rest for one of Jarran Reed, Byron Murphy II, or Leonard Williams.
No Jalen Milroe package this season
Actually, I don’t really care about this. Year 3 will tell us a lot more about Milroe. I think he’s made enough of a leap from this preseason to the last preseason, though.
Injuries end Robbie Ouzts, Mason Richman’s seasons early
Then there’s just bad luck. Ouzts’ neck injury ended last season prematurely and continued to be an issue this training camp. It’s apparently not career ending, which is good news. Richman’s ACL tear in preseason mattered a ton, as he could’ve just as easily functioned as a backup guard over both Christian Haynes and Beau Stephens. Admittedly, Richman was Grey Zabel’s backup, but he has the versatility to play across the line and might have been a better option while Anthony Bradford remains out.
This is NOT to say the 2025 draft class outside of Emmanwori and Zabel is a write-off, but the promise from 2025 as a whole has yet to translate in 2026. Compounding Seattle’s issue is the awful luck of having their top three picks from this year’s class all on injured reserve, with Bud Clark not coming back until 2027.
If the start of Seattle’s season has felt a little “blah” despite the same 3-2 mark as last year, I think this is a major reason. Seattle is not getting enough (or anything) out of its last two draft classes—on the plus side, Nehemiah Pritchett is really stepping up for the 2024 class—which in turn is making the Seahawks look like a more top-heavy roster than last season.
