In the third round, John Schneider finally got to flex his trading muscles, dropping down a few spots from No. 96 to No. 99 while adding a sixth-rounder (No. 216) in the process. At No. 99, the Seattle Seahawks stayed in the secondary, adding cornerback Julian Neal from Arkansas. Neal’s best attribute might be his physicality which means he should fit right in with Mike Macdonald’s defense…although it might take some time for Neal to crack the lineup.
Athletic Profile/Comps
Relative Athletic Score (RAS)
Mockdraftable
Whereas Seahawks second-round pick Bud Clark looks
like a cornerback playing safety, Julian Neal has some safety size on the boundary at nearly 6’2” and 203 lbs. Both of those marks help push Neal into the “Elite” RAS category for size. Neal’s explosiveness is also impressive as he sports a 40” vertical and a 96th percentile broad jump per the Mockdraftable chart. His speed scores are still in the “Good” range with a 4.49 second 40-yard dash. Really, it’s just the agility grade that’s a bit underwhelming, particularly the 16th percentile three-cone drill. That’s concerning since Neal is a cornerback matched up against some of the quickest athletes on the planet. If Neal loses a rep quickly, he doesn’t necessarily have the top end speed to make up ground either.
Those first RAS comps really set some lofty expectations for Neal which I’m hesitant to even show. I do want to highlight Nnamdi Asomugha, however.
Asomugha was taller and heavier than Neal while being just a smidge slower and less explosive. We don’t have any agility numbers to compare, sadly. The main reason I chose to look at Asomugha is that I can see Neal having a similar path to playing time early in his career. Check out Asomugha’s career stats from Pro Football Reference.
Notice that Asomugha didn’t play all that much in the first two seasons prior to locking down a starting spot in his third season. In fact, he didn’t even have an interception until his fourth year, where he exploded with eight picks! After that, he had roughly half a decade of being a dominant player. Julian Neal might never reach those lofty heights of Asomugha, but I can see him having a slow start to his career before cracking the starting lineup in late 2027 and beyond.
The other comps I want to briefly mention are Jaylen Watson and Ahkello Witherspoon. Watson and Neal are very similar athletes in terms of all the RAS categories. It just so happens that Watson is also in the NFC West now, having signed a 3-year, $51 million contract with the Los Angeles Rams in free agency. Do you know what other cornerback spent the last three seasons with the Rams before heading to the Washington Commanders this offseason? Former Seahawks legend Ahkello Witherspoon! The other Spoon is a whole different class of athlete compared to Neal with greens nearly across the board. His physicality (or lack thereof) is also notable compared to Neal. Ahkello walked in a Seahawks uniform so Devon could run.
There’s one comp that showed up in both lists that warrants discussion. Another former Seahawks legend Michael Jackson – the cornerback, not the Seattle linebacker…or Browns wide receiver for that matter!
Now here’s where I think we start dialing in on Julian Neal. Jackson is an inch shorter and a bit stouter than Neal with slightly better speed and agility. Athletically, they’re very similar. I think the product on the field will be as well. Jackson was a tough, hard-nosed player that earned his way onto the field. Prior to Mike Macdonald’s first season in Seattle, I wrote an article about the most “Raven-y Seahawks” that began with Mike Jackson.
I think Mike Macdonald loved him and only traded him because of a surplus of talent at that spot. Josh Jobe very much fits that mold as well, but we don’t have testing numbers for him. It makes complete sense that Schneider would draft someone who comps so closely to Jackson.
Alright, on to some more Seahawks-specific comps. First up is the obvious one for Riq Woolen. Despite being an athletic freak and producing on the field, it always seemed like he was destined to leave Seattle with the brain farts and underwhelming tackling at times.
Again, Woolen is a mutant, with clear height and speed advantages over Neal. Interestingly, however, their agility scores are close. The real difference is that Woolen was able to make up for errors with his ridiculous speed, something Neal likely won’t be able to replicate.
This has probably gone on way too long, but I like this kind of stuff! Anyway, here are some rapid-fire Seahawks comps.
I kinda like all of these for various reasons. Neal and Simon are very close in terms of size and speed. Flowers is good for weight and 3-cone. Maxwell is size, speed, and possible play-style as he relied more on physicality than winning with athleticism. Sherman I put in there because I felt like I had to, as he’s one of the best in Seahawks history! Sherm showed that you can be a dominant corner despite top-end long speed due to his length and explosion. Neal has a long way to go before we start talking about him in the same breath as Sherman, but he has a ton to work with athletically!
Gut reaction to the pick
Leading up to the No. 96 selection, I had my eyes on Jaishawn Barham who was plucked by the Dallas Cowboys at No. 92. It seems like the Seahawks were looking at him too.
No matter, since Schneider was able to trade down a few spots, add extra draft ammo, and still get a guy who filled one of their few remaining needs. Ken Walker III, Coby Bryant, and Riq Woolen all leave in free agency? Draft Jadarian Price, Bud Clark, and Julian Neal in the first three rounds. Clearly, replacing those three is not as simple as I just made it seem, but Seattle has the horses in the barn now to try to do it. Neal was another example of draft grade and need lining up. That’s a good process in my book.
Rookie season prediction
Julian Neal has all of the physical tools needed to be a fantastic addition to the Dark Side. He’s big, physical, and comes with more than enough athletic traits to be a solid NFL starter. When he gets his hands on a receiver, he totally blows up their timing. See the first play in the tweet below.
Keep watching that video and you see multiple examples of that along with Neal’s plus tackling ability. That’s exactly the type of cornerback Mike Macdonald wants on the outside, and the reason Riq Woolen is no longer in Seattle despite his traits and production. That being said, Neal will be at least third on the depth chart this season behind Devon Witherspoon and Josh Jobe as an outside corner battling with guys like Noah Igbinoghenie – someone the Seahawks have been after for a few years – for live reps. As I talked about with the Asomugha comp, I can see Neal taking a backseat in 2026 while he develops his craft. I’ll say he plays mostly on special teams with some dime reps mixed in later in the season. Neal will still make his presence felt as a possible core member of the defensive backfield’s future with 25 total tackles and 1 fumble recovery.
Oh yeah, and he’ll bring a ton of energy along with Bud Clark!
