The Seattle Seahawks have announced their initial 53-man roster, this time a solid two hours after the 1 pm PT deadline. How they’re able to keep everything to tight-lipped that most of their cuts don’t leak before they release it themselves is actually remarkable.
It’s been a long day and there is little rest for the weary, as the Seahawks and the rest of the NFL still have the waiver wire to sift through and practice squads to form. Here are my early thoughts on the second initial 53-man roster
of the Mike Macdonald era.
Biggest surprise cuts: Brandon Pili, Patrick O’Connell
I thought Pili was a lock for this roster when he was held out of the preseason finale against the Green Bay Packers. When Mike Macdonald noted that Pili had been injured, it jogged my memory that Pili had a chest issue against the Chiefs the previous week. I still felt that he’d done enough to make the roster, but that was not the case.
O’Connell looked to be another odds-on favorite for the 53-man roster after missing out over the last two seasons. His quality preseason play had me confident that he’d be the fourth inside linebacker on the team. His lack of any regular season defensive snaps has me confident that he’ll still clear waivers and go to the practice squad.
Biggest kudos: Jared Ivey and Connor O’Toole
Ivey’s Pro Day performance sunk him all the way to UDFA status. When your Relative Athletic Score is roughly the same as a mediocre GPA, you’re going to fall heavily. Based on camp and preseason, Ivey clearly plays better on the field than he tested at his Pro Day, and while the Seahawks have him listed as an outside linebacker, I’m confident he’ll be be more of a defensive end than a pure EDGE guy.
O’Toole was an intriguing UDFA pickup whose preseason showings (much like Ivey’s) were very good and didn’t necessarily show up in the box score in terms of tackles and stats. He might have been someone the Seahawks didn’t believe would pass through waivers.
The Seahawks will surely be looking for linebackers, nose tackles on Wednesday
Only three inside linebackers (Ernest Jones IV, Tyrice Knight, and Drake Thomas) on the team? I know that Nick Emmanwori can play as a WILL in certain formations, but rolling with three true linebackers while Tyrice Knight isn’t even a guarantee for Week 1 is a giveaway that there will be some additions made to the roster soon.
Brandon Pili and Quinton Bohanna getting waived while Johnathan Hankins is on the NFI list means the Seahawks have no true nose tackle. Are they really going to have Jarran Reed and Byron Murphy II take those snaps? Absolutely not. Either Pili (or Bohanna) get some elevations soon or they’re looking for someone off waivers. Nose tackle is not a high snap count position but I’d like to think the Seahawks still want a really big body on the roster.
There is zero chance the Seahawks keep five TEs on the roster
Not to be a buzzkill for him personally, but Nick Kallerup making the roster was certainly a shock and a half. There was nothing to indicate that the Seahawks would keep any tight ends beyond A.J. Barner, Elijah Arroyo, Eric Saubert, and FB/TE hybrid Brady Russell. It’s not that Kallerup did anything wrong; the Seahawks seemed set at tight end.
It is common to have someone make the initial 53 only to get waived as soon as a waiver claim is made. In this instance, I suspect that if/when the Seahawks scour the waiver wire and place at least one claim, Kallerup would be right at the front of the line to be let go.
‘Our guys’ get the nod on the offensive line
I am not using “our guys” as a direct quote from anyone on the Seahawks staff, but instead as a descriptor for Bryce Cabeldue and Mason Richman making the roster over Sautoa Laumea and Michael Jerrell. When you’re talking about the bottom end of the OL depth chart I’m not sure Cabeldue and Richman are substantially better than Laumea and Jerrell, but I do know that the current offensive coaching staff were involved in the selection process of Cabeldue and Richman. Laumea and Jerrell were a Ryan Grubb and Scott Huff ago and were probably on the bubble the minute Cabeldue and Richman were drafted.
Christian Haynes struggling for playing time with both coaching staffs has me believing that there was a concerted effort to make it work with Haynes in a more familiar blocking scheme, but it hasn’t materialized and now he’s starting the year on injured reserve.
Offensive line coach John Benton surely had input on who he wanted from the draft who could fit his scheme, and I think it’s part of the reason the 2024 late-round picks got the boot in favor of the 2025 late-round picks.
More wide receivers than you probably anticipated
This is a run-first offense, why keep six receivers? Well, I firstly doubt that the Seahawks will be so run-heavy that they’re looking like the 2018 Seahawks offense. Secondly, it’s not unprecedented. We needn’t look further than the 2023 San Francisco 49ers, who were last in pass attempts, middling in early down pass rate, and rostered six receivers.
Cody White’s inclusion was well-earned and I suspect that even though he may not get many offensive snaps this season, he’ll replace Steven Sims as a kick returner. Dareke Young fought like hell to outlast Ricky White and others to retain his spot for one more season, and while targets may be scarce for him his special teams value is another checkmark in his favor over Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
The MVS debate is easy to me: you cannot be a low-volume target with a low catch rate, a tendency for drops, and play no special teams. Ted Ginn Jr carved out over a decade in the NFL with similarly inconsistent hands and great downfield speed but he was also a dangerous returner in his prime. If you tell me MVS is a bigger, worse version of Ted Ginn without any special teams abilities then that doesn’t sound like someone I want to be an important part of the offense. Give me the upside of Tory Horton every day and let him develop.
