The Seattle Seahawks managed to turn four original picks into 11 final selections in the 2019 NFL Draft. There is a bunch of talent in this year’s draft class— where they managed to fill a handful of holes in their roster. The Seahawks preseason rookie spotlight is coming in fast and we will have the chance to see the biggest college football talents hit the field.
Seahawks Preseason Rookie Spotlight
Cody Barton, LB
Cody Barton has impressed all in his first NFL training camp thus far and looks ready for his NFL debut at the start of preseason. The third-round pick out of Utah has looked very comfortable on the field so far— even taking some reps with the first-team offense.
Barton, who racked up over 230 tackles and nine sacks at Utah, has the most experience at middle linebacker. A highly versatile player, he will likely continue to rotate between inside and outside linebacker during the preseason.
Because of starters like Bobby Wagner, K.J. Wright, and Mychal Kendricks, it is very unlikely that Barton will have a significant role on the Seahawks defense during the regular season. It’s more probable that he will spend most his time on special teams, but he’ll have plenty of chances to showcase that he can do more during the preseason.
A minor groin injury could leave him out of the first preseason match-up against the Denver Broncos, but he’ll have three more opportunities after that to get significant playtime.
Marquise Blair, S
Marquise Blair has spent most of the offseason on the PUP list with a hamstring injury, but the preseason leaves him with the perfect opportunity to make up for lost time.
When the Seahawks drafted Blair in the second round this year, his hard-hitting style of play drew comparisons to Seattle’s very own Kam Chancellor. Blair was a highly-coveted mid-round prospect headed into the draft because of his aggressiveness and physicality like that of a linebacker— which happens to be the position he played at Dodge City Community College.
Blair has the chance to become the eventual successor of Chancellor or Earl Thomas but will most likely sit behind Bradley McDougald, Tedric Thompson, and Lano Hill for some time.
Blair is like a heat-seeking missile. Sprints at the right angle and detonates what he hits at the end of it: pic.twitter.com/VXWItvYgMC
— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) March 29, 2019
D.K. Metcalf
You can’t have a rookie spotlight article without mention of one of the 2019 NFL Draft’s most highly regarded wide receiver prospects, D.K. Metcalf, who ended up taking a little tumble in the draft.
There has been a lot of concern over Metcalf’s ability as a route-runner but several observations from Seahawks training camp shouldn’t have fans worried. His size and explosiveness have made up for lack of skills in other areas– with him already becoming a dominant force on the offense, beating out starters on the defense to make big plays.
Pete Carroll already likes what he sees out of rookie WR D.K. Metcalf: “He may be even more unique than we thought,” per @bcondotta pic.twitter.com/9fLYKeNZ34
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) May 5, 2019
All Eyes on the Rookies
Metcalf is liking going to have the most eyes and highest expectations on him out of all the Seahawksrookies. While we wait to see the kind of impact he has on the Seahawks offense, there are plenty of other rookies in Seattle that also look to prove their worth including Ugo Amadi (S), Ben Burr-Kirven (LB), Travis Homer (RB), Gary Jennings (WR), and first-round pick, L.J. Collier (DE)
