Field Gulls
Mills was hurt late in 2024, bringing his availability for 2025 into question.
‘Trader’ John Schneider showed up on Day 3 of the 2025 NFL Draft with a lot of movement up and down the board. One of these trades sent QB Sam Howell to the Minnesota Vikings along with No. 172 for No. 142, which the Seahawks used to select DL Rylie Mills from Notre Dame. While he may not contribute much in 2025 after a late-season injury in college, he could be a key chess piece in the future with his ability to play multiple positions on the defensive line.
The athletic profile and comps don’t shed much light on Mills since he couldn’t complete athletic testing due to his injury, a torn ACL in January during the College Football Playoff. Size-wise, he will be compared to guys like Zach Allen, whom the Seahawks were interested in the same free agency period when they signed Dre’Mont Jones.
As a side note, I wrote an article a few weeks ago about John Schneider’s interview with sports psychologist Michael Gervais in which Schneider mentioned a time back in Green Bay where they drafted a player with an injury history that they regretted because that continued to plague him in the NFL. That player? Third from the bottom on the RAS comps - Justin Harrell.
I won’t pretend to be an expert on Rylie Mills so I didn’t have much of an immediate reaction. The consensus is that he would’ve been drafted much higher had he been healthy, so the value for the pick is potentially there. Teams can always use a talented defensive lineman, especially one that can play multiple positions.
Apparently, he was a favorite of defensive coordinator Aden Durde, with Mike Macdonald noting that he wasn’t sure Durde would show up for work on Monday if they didn’t draft Mills. For Mills’ part, he seems just as excited to be a Seahawk.
I’m not expecting much from Mills this year based on his recovery timeline. Mills says he’s ahead of schedule and was hoping to be ready for training camp. Schneider was much more reserved, saying that he hopes Mills could be healthy enough to contribute by the middle of the season. It’s not the same injury but I still have memories of the Darryl Taylor saga his rookie year and the attempt to get him on the field before the end of the season. I’ll say that Mills will play less than four games this season if he is even able to get on the field at all. It will be a redshirt season with the hope that he will become a consistent contributor down the line.
