One of the things I like to do every year is play detective and see if we can glean anything from the information available to us. Sometimes it can be helpful, sometimes it ends up sending you down a blind alley. I thought I’d spend a little time today discussing some of these things, in relation to certain positions and prospects.
ESPN put together a piece a week ago where each of their team reporters discussed three key draft needs. Brady Henderson, who is the go-to source for intel on the Seahawks, noted running back, edge rush and cornerback.
At running back, he noted the team was high on George Holani and Emmanuel Wilson as ‘power runners’ but they needed to replace Ken Walker’s big play ability.
This plays into the way we’ve been discussing the position, focusing on data such as explosive run rate, yards after contact per attempt and missed tackles forced rate. John Schneider noted himself on his Seattle Sports show this week that they put a lot of emphasis on yards after contact — but go deeper into the analytics (eg yards after contact when hit behind the line of scrimmage).
What can we learn from this? They’re more likely to focus on the players with strong explosive run rates and higher yards after contact per attempt. I promise this article isn’t just going to repeat everything we’ve discussed already — but here’s a reminder of the top three runners based on explosive run rate for 2025:
Jadarian Price – 21.2%
Jeremiyah Love – 19.6%
Mike Washington Jr – 18%
It was reported on Friday that Washington Jr will make an official visit to Seattle.
16% is the average for runners over the last decade. In 2025, all of the rest of the class came under this number.
What about yards after contact per attempt? It’s the same three players at the top of the list:
Jeremiyah Love – 4.50
Jadarian Price – 3.95
Mike Washington Jr – 3.86
We’ve also discussed that Jonah Coleman’s 2024 tape was superior to his 2025 stuff due to injury. I’ve spoken to sources at Washington about this and he had to play with a brace during the season and was never quite 100%. This shows up in his max speed, which dropped 0.8mph between the two seasons.
Coleman’s explosive run rate in 2024 was 19.8% when fully healthy and his yards after contact per attempt was an excellent 4.34. I think you can add his name to the trio above.
This might be the group (Price, Washington Jr, Coleman) from which the Seahawks select a player to try and replace Walker’s big play capability.
It might be easier to address this position than first expected. There’s a lot of talk now that Price’s range is more likely late second round or early third round. I’ve discussed how a source I spoke to last week rated him as an early second rounder — and that’s still possible. But many do see him as a mid-day two player.
Washington Jr meanwhile, despite his great combine, is still largely viewed as a third rounder at best. The same source who raved about Price called Washington Jr a third or fourth rounder. He wasn’t keen on Coleman either.
Bob McGinn, who has consistently done an excellent job accurately projecting where players will go through his anonymous sources, has Price down as ‘R2-3’, Washington Jr as ‘R3-4’ and Coleman as ‘R4’.
All of this suggests the Seahawks might be able to sufficiently address this need on day two and if they are focused on explosive plays — Price, Washington Jr and Coleman fit the bill.
Brady then turns his attention to the pass rush and cornerback in the ESPN piece:
“Even if DeMarcus Lawrence puts off retirement for another year, Seattle has to add youth on the edge after letting Boye Mafe walk. They did the same with Riq Woolen, who was their No. 3 corner.”
I thought this was interesting. Firstly, Brady speaks with some conviction about the need to add youth to the pass rush. A lot of the conversation online has been about potentially passing on this EDGE group and just signing someone like Von Miller after the draft. That could still happen. But it also could be that they fully intend to draft a pass rusher too.
When I spoke to people in the league last week, I was told ‘EDGE/DE’ was the deepest defensive position group in the draft (receiver was named as the overall position with the most depth).
That said, a lot of that depth will come off the board quickly. Teams always need pass rushers. The Seahawks might be presented with a situation where the depth works in their favour (a player they like is still available at #32) but only to a point (the best options might be gone by #64).
Mike Macdonald spoke at the owners meeting this week and was asked about losing Boye Mafe. He noted the need for ‘quick wins’ more so than sacks. The Seahawks didn’t have enough quick wins even with Mafe on the roster. Now, the need is all the more pressing.
For all the talk of this being a deep group of pass rushers, very few provide genuine speed off the edge. Arvell Reese, Cashius Howell and Malachi Lawrence were the only players to run a 10-yard split in the 1.5’s. Many reports say Gabe Jacas also achieved that mark at his personal pro-day but I’m sceptical given the setting for these types of event are usually more favourable than the combine. Plus, unlike Reese, Howell and Lawrence, Jacas didn’t have to spend two days being interviewed and medically examined before testing — nor did he have to travel to another part of the country and stay in a hotel for a week.
I feel like we’ve done a good job on this blog emphasising the speed of Howell and Lawrence by highlighting their max-speed over 0-10 yards during the 2025 season. Lawrence managed 16.1mph and Howell 16mph — #1 and #2 among EDGE rushers who could be available to the Seahawks.
If you want quick wins, these two seem like the best bet. It’s also worth noting that while Howell has unusually short arms his run defense grade of 73.6 is reasonable and he only missed three tackles all season.
McGinn projects Howell a range of ‘R1-2’, while Lawrence is considered a third round talent.
Don’t be surprised if the Seahawks have a decent amount of interest in Howell. His personality is also a match, Macdonald has had success with shorter-armed pass rushers before (Kyle Van Noy in Baltimore) and his pass rush win percentage is strong (19.9).
It’s also worth noting that this is the only position they didn’t hedge before the draft. They signed players at corner, running back and safety but not ‘EDGE’. A year ago, they didn’t sign any veteran O-liners then drafted Grey Zabel at #18. It doesn’t mean they’re guaranteed to do the same but there are a few indicators here that they might think there will be an EDGE rusher they like available to them (and if it isn’t Howell, maybe it’s one of the others).
A final point on the pass rush — note Brady mentioned, “Even if DeMarcus Lawrence puts off retirement for another year.” It’s pretty clear that nothing has been officially decided here. When Macdonald was asked about it at the owners meeting he gave the kind of answer you’d expect. Just remember that Doug Baldwin didn’t retire until shortly after a 2019 draft where the Seahawks took two receivers. They might’ve asked Lawrence to delay making an announcement to avoid showing their hand. If so, signing a veteran (eg Von Miller) and drafting a pass rusher would make even more sense.
If Lawrence does plan to retire, drafting someone who can play with power might be as much a priority as finding quick wins. That might explain the official-30 visit with Zion Young, considering his lack of speed (1.72 10-yard split, max speed of 0-10 yards of 15.1mph) but copious amounts of physical energy.
Then there’s cornerback. Brady interestingly refers to Riq Woolen as the team’s #3 cornerback. If you look at it through that prism, you have to ask — is drafting a #3 cornerback really worth your first pick? Especially in a reasonably deep cornerback class?
Rather than feel like they need to make this their priority, they might be prepared to draft for upside. There are long, tall cornerbacks with interesting physical tools — just like Woolen — who could be available in rounds 2-4. For example — Daylen Everette, Ephesians Prysock, Charles Demmings and Tacario Davis.
It’s a difficult position to project for the Seahawks. Prior to Devon Witherspoon, the earliest pick they spent on a cornerback in the John Schneider/Pete Carroll era was #90 overall on Shaquill Griffin in 2018. I wouldn’t just assume that was a Carroll thing either.
Clearly they did consider using another high pick on a cornerback with Quinyon Mitchell in 2024 until Byron Murphy unexpectedly fell to them. Let’s not forget though — Mitchell had an outstanding Senior Bowl and then ran a combine 4.33 at 6-0 and 195lbs. He also benched 20 reps at 30lbs over his bodyweight.
Mitchell was a rare player and has gone on to become one of the NFL’s best at his position. Witherspoon is about to become a +$30m-a-year player. It’s hard to find the prospect at #32 who lives up to that kind of standard.
The Ravens, with Mike Macdonald as defensive coordinator, drafted two cornerbacks — Damarion Williams in the fourth round (2022) and Kyu Blu Kelly in the fifth (2023). Both ran in the 4.5’s and funnily enough ended up in Seattle after being cut by Baltimore.
With Macdonald in Seattle, the Seahawks drafted Nehemiah Pritchett in round five and DJ James in round six — both in the 2024 draft. Pritchett ran a 4.36 and James a 4.42.
The Ravens did draft Nate Wiggins 30th overall just after losing their defensive coordinator to the Seahawks. He ran a 4.28 — a time nobody in the 2026 draft came close to matching. His NFL.com grade from Lance Zierlein (6.43) is also well clear of every corner in this year’s class apart from Mansoor Delane.
I don’t know whether the Seahawks would take a lesser athlete at corner as high as #32. We’ll find out in three weeks. There’s nobody like Wiggins available though.
Chris Johnson feels like a Seahawk and he has a terrific grade for zone coverage (91.9 — #1 among all cornerbacks). That might be important given Seattle uses zone 77.5% of the time. But is he a first rounder? Some rave about him, others think he’s a day two player.
There are two other positions not listed that also seem worthy of a mention. The Seahawks have concluded or have arranged official-30 visits with several safeties. With some good fits in terms of personality, character and playing style — this could also be a position they consider quite early.
Visits with AJ Haulcy and Jalon Kilgore have been reported. Emmanuel McNeil-Warren had a zoom with the team. Bud Clark, Treydan Stukes and Zakee Wheatley all feel like they could play for this team too. Clark in particular could be a sneaky option at #64 if he’s available.
Then there’s the O-line. Contrary to what many would have you believe, John Schneider has used 11 picks on offensive linemen in the first three rounds of the draft since 2010. They regularly have targeted the trenches for investment.
In a previous ESPN article before free agency began, Brady discussed the possibility of the Seahawks checking-in on the guard market. At the time it made me think that perhaps adding more competition at right guard (and possibly even center) was more likely than some of us thought.
Tony Pauline reported recently that Oregon guard Emmanuel Pregnon was getting a lot of attention from the Seahawks. We know they like explosive traits (John Schneider referenced the ’30-30-30′ for players a year ago, meaning a 30 inch vertical, 30 reps on the bench press and a 30 score on the Wonderlic).
Pregnon’s TEF score of 3.40 means he’s one of the most explosive offensive linemen to enter the NFL in the last decade. A year ago the Seahawks used picks on Grey Zabel (3.23 TEF) and Bryce Cabeldue (3.25 TEF).
On top of this, Pregnon has the highest zone-blocking grade in the draft (93.0).
Would they consider drafting him early? It’s very plausible.
Bob McGinn is projecting him with only a ‘R2-3’ grade. Todd McShay today moved Pregnon up to #44 on his big board though, up from #53. Is he starting to rise in the media as we’ve been suggesting he might?
Guard might not be the biggest need but finishing off your O-line for the foreseeable future and making it a considerable strength sounds very appealing. If you are better on the O-line and D-line than your opponent, as we saw in the Super Bowl, you’ll win a lot of games.
