The Seattle Seahawks’ makeover of the offense could lead with the choice to commerce quarterback Geno Smith and signal Sam Darnold, however as huge a narrative is the overhaul of the large receiver group.
Tyler Lockett? Seahawks legend, however not on the group. DK Metcalf? Needed out, acquired out, acquired his cash through the Pittsburgh Steelers. That’s nearly 1,100 mixed receptions, 15,000 mixed receiving yards, and 109 mixed receiving touchdowns gone in a flash. Jaxon Smith-Njigba is the clear prime choice on the depth chart getting into his third season.
Within the rapid, Seattle signed Los Angeles Rams nice Cooper Kupp, veteran deep risk Marques Valdes-Scantling, and… I assume we’ll throw in River Cracraft. Of these three listed, solely Kupp is on a multi-year contract.
Get past the 2025 season and also you’ve acquired a vastly totally different story.
Seahawks large receivers beneath contract by 2026
Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Cooper Kupp
That’s all, people. Past all of the gamers on one-year contracts, Jake Bobo is approaching the tip of his rookie deal—UDFAs get three-year offers as a substitute of 4. I do know we’re in peak optimism season, however I don’t imagine it is a deep large receiver group at current and the depth is vastly depending on the oft-injured Kupp not getting harm once more/trying previous his prime.
Solely JSN is a transparent lock for 2026 given what he’s proven over his first two seasons. Kupp is on the opposite facet of 30 with the aforementioned damage points, MVS can also be in his 30s and an inefficient goal whose finest asset (downfield risk) is negated by having notoriously un-good arms.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling has 5 drops on passes touring 30+ yards within the air since 2018. No one else has greater than three.
— Invoice Barnwell (@billbarnwell) November 21, 2023
The fourth choice at receiver is Jake Bobo, whom ideally is used much more within the purple zone than what we noticed final season. He’s additionally not focused so much for a motive and we shouldn’t assume his effectivity will stay unchanged or improve with extra seems. There isn’t a getting round his lack of pace and we have now to acknowledge that even the most effective offensive coordinators can not simply scheme any goal large open on a regular basis. He’s removed from a lock to be on the 2026 roster irrespective of how onerous we meme him.
Dareke Younger, Cody White, River Cracraft, and John Rhys Plumlee are all going to be preventing for roster spots. Younger and White hardly get on the sphere on offense.
Even if you wish to counter with the concept that Klint Kubiak’s Seahawks offense is meant to closely characteristic 12 personnel (one operating again, two tight ends) and depend on their operating recreation, even very 12 personnel dependent groups want a viable receiving corps that’s at the least three deep. The Philadelphia Eagles most likely aren’t having fun with a Lombardi Trophy if they’d their elite offensive line however didn’t have receivers nearly as good as A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith.
Seattle has an rising star, a probably fading and more and more fragile star, a notoriously inconsistent and one-dimensional participant, and a low-ceiling however pretty reliable fourth choice. That doesn’t give me any fuzzy emotions of confidence for 2025 and even much less so within the long-term.
I don’t put it previous the Seahawks to take a receiver at No. 18, whether or not that’s Texas’ Matthew Golden, Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka, or Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan. It’s unlikely nevertheless it’s not inconceivable. Once I specify “early” I imply the Seahawks needs to be utilizing certainly one of their 5 prime 100 picks on the WR place. This isn’t thought-about as deep a receiver class in comparison with latest drafts however there are numerous gifted projected Day 2 choices like Iowa State’s duo of Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel, TCU’s Jack Bech, and Stanford’s Elic Ayomanor.
The one exception to my stance is that if the Seahawks draft Michigan tight finish Colston Loveland, whom alongside Penn State’s Tyler Warren are the one TEs anticipated to go within the first spherical. There’s nearly no shot that Warren is offered at No. 18 however Loveland may be. Given how effectively Loveland carried out in a low-volume passing offense—much more so was in 2024 whereas coping with a labrum damage and a collection of J.J. McCarthy replacements who seldom seemed able to throwing a ahead move—his abilities are irresistible. He’d be reunited along with his former Wolverines teammate A.J. Barner and current a better pass-catching ceiling than Noah Fant, who’s been pretty unremarkable even when he performed in additional favorable circumstances beneath Shane Waldron in comparison with Ryan Grubb.
Is the offensive line prime precedence for the Seahawks? Yeah, no kidding. It’s a must to win within the trenches to contend. You additionally want excessive degree ability place gamers within the passing recreation to be an incredible offense; it’s much more vital if you happen to don’t have some cheat code at quarterback like Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen. I don’t care how improved the offensive line is that if the receivers are struggling to get open and there isn’t nice depth on the place.
I feel it’s crucial for the Seahawks to have a large receiver (or Loveland) of their class earlier than Day 3 arrives. Pretending it’s not a necessity is placing manner an excessive amount of inventory in Klint Kubiak when he has solely two seasons of offensive coordinator expertise from which we will draw information from.
