(Editor’s note: Everyone please welcome Josh Hite to the Field Gulls staff!)
What kind of players does Mike Macdonald want to draft? We only truly have one draft to go off of. In Mike’s first season with the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks he came in late, relying upon John Schneider and the scouting staff to truly draft the players in the 2024 draft. In 2025, we caught our first glimpse of the kind of players Mike wanted: High character. Tough. Athletic. Of course, football players are, in general,
athletic, so that last point should come as a shock to no one. What I mean by that is, in general, the players they drafted had high Relative Athletic Scores (RAS). Take for instance their first two picks, Grey Zabel and Nick Emmanwori. Grey had a RAS score of 9.90 as a Guard, and Nick scored a perfect 10.00. Even Bryce Cabeldue, their 6th round pick, had a RAS of 9.91. It seems clear that Mike uses analytics to help assemble his team. They are not the end-all-be-all. A few of the players they drafted last year did not have an RAS, whether it be due to not testing enough for there to be a RAS score to be able to be calculated, or injury which prevented testing in the case of Rylie Mills, but it seems to be a factor that Mike takes into consideration. With that in mind, I looked at the current roster of the Seahawks, went position by position, and averaged out the Relative Athletic Scores of the different position groups. Here is what I found: Offensive Line: 8.33
Running Back: 7.37
Fullback: 6.68
Wide Receiver: 6.13
Tight End: 7.63
Quarterback: 7.49
Defensive Tackle: 6.52
Edge: 7.30
Linebacker: 7.00
Safety: 8.71
Cornerback: 7.15
Team Average: 7.30
What does this all mean? Well, in the grand scheme of things, probably not too much. Let’s take the rewind machine to Kam “Bam Bam” Chancellor. You see the man play and hit dudes in the prime of the Legion of Boom era, and I bet you ask any of the men he hit, they would say he is an athletic freak who hits harder than just about anyone. Want to know his RAS? 3.22. RAS scales from 0 to 10. A 3.22 is a bad score. Yet, I do not think you would hear Pete Carroll, or anyone from that era of the Seahawks call Kam anything but one of the most athletic members of that defense. So, the RAS scoring system is not perfect, but it is a tool to be used as a starting point to continue the evaluation of players.
You may be asking yourself, “Josh, you just spent all that time researching, finding the RAS of the players on the team that had them, averaged out the scores, even averaging out the team total, then showed an example of how it could be irrelevant. Why?” Thank you for asking. As I stated at the top, there were also two other factors that Mike wants in his players: High Character and Tough. What I will be doing here is seeing the top five players often mocked to the Seahawks in mock drafts at pick 32, and see if they: A) At minimum match the average RAS of the position with the Seahawks they would be playing, B) Have high character, and C) Are tough. Let’s find out.
RB Jadarian Price – RAS 8.58
The Seattle Seahawks running back room has an average RAS of 7.37, so Jadarian Price’s RAS of 8.58 definitely hits the mark there for athleticism. How about the other two criteria? Per Dane Brugler’s The Beast, Price is “quiet by nature, but serious about the work.” He committed to Notre Dame back when Brian Kelly was the coach, and despite Kelly leaving for the LSU job shortly after, Price remained loyal to Notre Dame. Both of those attributes show high character. Loyalty to a program and remaining at one school is something both Mike and John look at. As for toughness, he tore his Achilles the summer prior to his freshman year, and fought his way back to be able to play in 2023, and succeeded, eventually becoming the 2025 explosive run leader for the 2025 season. No one can deny his toughness. Price checks all three boxes.
CB Colton Hood – RAS 9.65
The Seahawks cornerback room’s average RAS is 7.15, so Colton Hood’s 9.65 definitely exceeds the minimum. No denying Hood’s athleticism. As for high character, he certainly is a hard worker. Played mostly offense before changing to defense his junior year of high school. Learning a new position takes dedication and hard work. That’s the kind of player Mike likes. His changing colleges a couple times, though, is something Mike and John will look into. As for his toughness, he is a willing tackler, willing to get into offensive players’ faces, forcing a fumble his one year at Tennessee, knocking them to the ground, and defending the pass. Hood is plenty tough, and checks the boxes.
EDGE Cashius Howell – RAS 8.11
Cashius Howell’s RAS of 8.11 is above the Seahawks average score for Edge players of 7.30, which makes him plenty athletic compared to the rest of the edge players on the roster already. Per The Beast, he is described as a “self-starter” and “all about ball,” which are traits Mike would love. His dedication to the game definitely show’s high character. As for toughness, he has a great motor, and continues to attack, despite his shorter than ideal arms for a pass rusher. Howell does not let that stop him from getting after the quarterback, earning SEC Defensive Player of the Year. He is plenty tough.
OL Emmanuel Pregnon – RAS 9.16
The 9.16 RAS for Emmanuel Pregnon exceeds the 8.33 average for offensive lineman. In the Wide Zone scheme that the Seahawks run, offensive line coach John Benton looks for athletic linemen. Pregnon fits the bill. He also was primarily a defender until college, and dedicated himself to learning to play Guard at Wyoming, and continued to hone his skills at USC before going to Oregon. He played both Left and Right Guard, doing whatever his team needed to excel. That type of dedication and mentality to do whatever the team needs him to do shows high character. He also has 40 straight starts in his college career, showing true toughness.
CB Brandon Cisse – RAS 9.24
Brandon Cisse is plenty athletic with a score of 9.24. As for his character, he is a dedicated and hard worker who worked hard to get onto teams, playing both receiver and corner in high school making varsity his sophomore year. He attended the NC State camp to make the team and he did. That type of mentality to go after what you want shows high character. As for toughness, Cisse is a willing tackler who is more than happy to help with run support. Per The Beast, the 20-year-old Cisse “trains with a pro mindset.”
All five players popularly mocked to the Seahawks check the three main boxes that the Seahawks seemingly look for in the draft during the Mike Macdonald era so far.
Will this trend continue? And will the Seahawks pick at 32, or trade down to gather more picks? If so, will one of these 5 players mocked to them be there for the Seahawks to pick? We will have to find out April 23rd.
References:
Pro Football Network
The Beast by Dane Brugler
Relative Athletic Score
