Field Gulls
The Seattle Seahawks have announced their initial 53-man roster, this time a solid two hours after the 1 pm PT deadline. How they’re able to keep everything to tight-lipped that most of their cuts don’t leak before they release it themselves is actually remarkable.
It’s been a long day and there is little rest for the weary, as the Seahawks and the rest of the NFL still have the waiver wire to sift through and practice squads to form. Here are my early thoughts on the second initial 53-man roster of the Mike Macdonald era.
I thought Pili was a lock for this roster when he was held out of the preseason finale against the Green Bay Packers. When Mike Macdonald noted that Pili had been injured, it jogged my memory that Pili had a chest issue against the Chiefs the previous week. I still felt that he’d done enough to make the roster, but that was not the case.
O’Connell looked to be another odds-on favorite for the 53-man roster after missing out over the last two seasons. His quality preseason play had me confident that he’d be the fourth inside linebacker on the team. His lack of any regular season defensive snaps has me confident that he’ll still clear waivers and go to the practice squad.
Ivey’s Pro Day performance sunk him all the way to UDFA status. When your Relative Athletic Score is roughly the same as a mediocre GPA, you’re going to fall heavily. Based on camp and preseason, Ivey clearly plays better on the field than he tested at his Pro Day, and while the Seahawks have him listed as an outside linebacker, I’m confident he’ll be be more of a defensive end than a pure EDGE guy.
O’Toole was an intriguing UDFA pickup whose preseason showings (much like Ivey’s) were very good and didn’t necessarily show up in the box score in terms of tackles and stats. He might have been someone the Seahawks didn’t believe would pass through waivers.
Only three inside linebackers (Ernest Jones IV, Tyrice Knight, and Drake Thomas) on the team? I know that Nick Emmanwori can play as a WILL in certain formations, but rolling with three true linebackers while Tyrice Knight isn’t even a guarantee for Week 1 is a giveaway that there will be some additions made to the roster soon.
Brandon Pili and Quinton Bohanna getting waived while Johnathan Hankins is on the NFI list means the Seahawks have no true nose tackle. Are they really going to have Jarran Reed and Byron Murphy II take those snaps? Absolutely not. Either Pili (or Bohanna) get some elevations soon or they’re looking for someone off waivers. Nose tackle is not a high snap count position but I’d like to think the Seahawks still want a really big...
