Three more official visits were confirmed today. Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson, NC State defensive tackle Brandon Cleveland and Missouri linebacker Josiah Trotter are spending time in Seattle. Meanwhile, Tony Pauline reported that a prior suggestion that Chris Johnson had visited the Seahawks was inaccurate.

We know now 20 of the 30 permitted official-30 visits:

Andre Fuller (CB, Toledo)
Jalen Kilgore (CB/S) South Carolina
Daylen Everette (CB, Georgia)
Coleman Bennett (RB, Kennesaw State)
AJ Haulcy (S, LSU)
Chip Trayanum (RB, Toledo)
Zion Young (DE, Missouri)
Mike Washington Jr (RB, Arkansas)
Keyshawn James-Newby (EDGE, New Mexico)
Kayden McDonald (DT, Ohio State)
Keyron Crawford (EDGE, Auburn)
R Mason Thomas (EDGE, Oklahoma)
Brandon Cisse (CB, South Carolina)
Colton Hood (CB, Tennessee)
Malachi Lawrence (EDGE, UCF)
Cashius Howell (EDGE, Texas A&M)
Treydan Stukes (S, Arizona)
Josiah Trotter (LB, Missouri)
Emmett Johnson (RB, Nebraska)
Brandon Cleveland (DT, NC State)

The Trotter visit is really encouraging — because it suggests the Seahawks are being very open-minded about value.

This is important. The Seahawks can’t resort to drafting for need, just for the sake of replacing lost talent. It’s absolutely critical they just keep adding the best possible players.

Kayden McDonald isn’t a big need but would present tremendous value at #32. Trotter isn’t a big need but would be a very solid pick at #64. If they’re the highest graded players on your board, well above the players at positions considered bigger needs, they should be considered.

They wouldn’t be visiting with either player unless they were considering non-obvious, yet appealing, opportunities within a challenging draft class.

When I spoke to a source within the league recently, he raved about Josiah Trotter. He was called “a hell of a player”, was compared to Nick Bolton and it was expressed to me by this extremely well respected talent evaluator that Trotter could be one of the steals of the draft. It was said he could easily fit into a 4-3 or 3-4 system and was considered a very solid second round prospect.

I don’t think he’ll last to #64 and I highly doubt the Seahawks would consider taking him whenever they make their first pick. He’s still an excellent football player though — one with an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of his father and have a very strong, illustrious NFL career.

If he did last to #64 and the Seahawks were looking for great value in a draft where it’ll be difficult to find, he would provide it.

Here’s my scouting report on Trotter:

He’s an old-school, run-defending linebacker. He squats in his stance and uncoils to make contact. When he diagnoses screens he will make a beeline for the ball-carrier.

Trotter is possibly a little bit flat-footed initially when he isn’t moving forwards. He flows to the ball-carrier well when the play reveals itself.

He does chase potential lost-causes but lacks difference making acceleration. He definitely plays with a level of intensity that will be attractive to teams wanting to play with an edge.

He’s adept at dodging blocks to break to the ball, sneaking through gaps.

He had a stand-out play vs Texas A&M in 2025 — engaging the center and throwing off his block. The running back came in with late cover in protection — but Trotter easily threw him off too, only for the center to recover and put his body in front of the quarterback again. Trotter dodged the second attempted block by the center and broke free to tackle Marcel Reed as he scrambled from the pocket.

This play encapsulates the incredible effort and motor he possesses, plus the ability to get off multiple blocks and then make the play. If you want a good game to watch aside from this, he wreaked havoc against Alabama too. Trotter flashed a violent arm/over move vs Alabama and consistently escaped their blockers.

If given the opportunity he can shoot a gap and explode to the runner. You do want him moving forwards, not backwards and like most linebackers his coverage work needs development. Even then, he’s not going to be a coverage dynamo.

He missed nine tackles in 2025 (10%). There’s some bend when he attacks blockers and his angles are typically good (a plus for blitzing). He packs a punch as a take-on man and is willing to do the dirty work.

There were times were he dumped linemen on their arse. I enjoyed watching his tape more than I expected, especially given his brother’s final year at Clemson.

He’s only 20-years-old (he turns 21 this week). He didn’t do any pre-draft testing apart from the bench press at the combine (registering an impressive 27 reps).

Form the sources I spoke to recently, the feeling was Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson would go in the third or fourth round — the same range was pitched for Mike Washington Jr. They were seen as the third and fourth best runners in the class behind the Notre Dame pair of Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. I’d put Jonah Coleman into this group too, personally.

You can read my scouting report for Emmett Johnson by clicking here.

Here are my notes on Brandon Cleveland:

He’s 6-3, 307lbs and has 32.5 inch arms. He ran a decent 5.12 forty plus a 1.78 10-yard split. He is not an explosive tester, only managing a 26.5 inch vertical — however, explosive traits have been typically seen as less vital here than agility. He only ran a 4.91 short shuttle though — so we aren’t talking about a player likely to go early.

He’s a large, round human who can disrupt vs the run. He gave Duke’s interior O-line a torrid time, using a straight arm to leverage the center and play off it. He also showed some quickness to run around him too and break into the backfield for a sack.

Cleveland can engage, two-gap and then shed to make the play. There is nothing flashy about his game — he’s just a battler up front who is a pain to play against.

He showed a little bit of sparkle to jump-step two linemen vs Notre Dame and burst into the backfield. He plays with balance and it helps him stand tall and hold his ground. He’s very capable of splitting double teams.

Does it all translate to an impact run defender at the next level? Maybe. I’m not overly convinced but as a late round pick it’s not much of a gamble to find out.

His lack of pure size, length and explosive traits raise a question mark about his upside. Yet there’s enough power and control on tape to think he can make this work.

I think we should be very open-minded about the positions the Seahawks target in this draft. The only position they didn’t add to in free agency was pass-rush — and it seems fairly likely they will draft an EDGE rusher at some point. Aside from that, the board should always do the work. They don’t need to force anything here.

I’ll also add — this team won with physicality and by beating opponents up with great defense and winning in the trenches. Players who bring even more quality and physicality to the defensive front seven and the offensive line — to me — feel like the best opportunity to continue building the team you want to be.