Seahawks’ final roster projection: Uncertainty at wide receiver and with OL depth

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The Seattle Seahawks put a bow on their preseason with a 20-7loss to the Green Bay Packers on Saturday afternoon at Lambeau Field.

Rookie quarterback Jalen Milroe started and played the entire game as Seattle rested its starters on both sides of the ball. The decision to rest all the starters made Saturday’s game more of a practice squad audition than an opportunity for guys to earn a spot on the 53-man roster, which must be finalized by Tuesday afternoon. Once the initial roster is set, Seattle can begin to put together its 17-man practice squad. With a few exceptions, I expect most of the guys who were on the field into the second half Saturday to be in play for the latter.

With that said, let’s get into one final 53-man roster projection. All stats provided by TruMedia unless stated otherwise. Rookies listed in italics.

Offense (27)

Quarterbacks (3): Sam Darnold, Drew Lock, Jalen Milroe

The preseason finale will likely be Milroe’s final live reps for the foreseeable future. From this point on, he is set to be QB3 behind Darnold and Lock. Starting and playing the entire game Saturday was important for his development because, as the third quarterback, he’ll probably spend more time on the scout team than he will with the No. 2 offense in practice. Seattle has a bucket of plays for Milroe that it can use during the regular season — like the tush push against the Kansas City Chiefs in the second preseason game, for example — but most of the year will be spent making sure Darnold will be as prepared as possible each week.

Milroe is a very raw player, as he demonstrated Saturday in his first extended action of the preseason. He completed 13 of 24 passes for 148 yards with one touchdown in 12 drives. The third-round pick out of Alabama was sacked five times and lost three fumbles. He rushed seven times for 31 yards. The turnovers are obviously the first part Milroe will have to clean up. Regardless of the supporting cast, the quarterback must protect the football, particularly on routine plays like the sneak he fumbled away in the first half and the shotgun snap he mishandled on the final drive.

There were some good moments, too — I’ll have more on Milroe’s performance on Monday morning — like his second-to-last drive of the game, which featured a 25-yard completion to receiver Cody White, a 15-yard designed run and then an 18-yard touchdown to White. He improved as the game went on, which is to be expected for a player who hasn’t had many live reps. Overall, Milroe still clearly needs time before he’s ready to play meaningful regular-season snaps.

Sam Darnold

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Running backs (5): Ken Walker III, Zach Charbonnet, George Holani, Damien Martinez, Robbie Ouzts (FB)

Cut: Jacardia Wright, Anthony Tyus III

Holani resting with the other starters on Saturday all but guarantees his spot on the team. The second-year running back earned it by rushing for 110 yards and a touchdown on 12 attempts. He’s RB3 entering the season.

Wright had a 61-yard run on Saturday, continuing what has been a strong preseason for the rookie free agent signee. But he appeared to make a bad read on his next run and didn’t really do much after the explosive carry. Wright finished with 65 yards on five attempts. In three games, he had 147 yards on 21 attempts (7 yards per rush).

Martinez had just 24 yards on seven attempts against Green Bay. The seventh-round rookie out of Miami contributed as a pass catcher and a pass protector in the preseason but didn’t pop as much as a runner. It’ll be interesting to see how Seattle decides on that fourth running back spot (if they even keep four). Wright had a good summer.

Wide receivers (6): Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Cooper Kupp, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Jake Bobo, Tory Horton, Dareke Young

Cut: Cody White, Steven Sims, John Rhys Plumlee, Tyrone Broden, Ricky White III

On Saturday, coach Mike Macdonald was asked about potentially keeping five receivers given that the team is rostering multiple fullbacks and will often rely on heavy personnel groupings in Klint Kubiak’s offense.

“It’s part of the conversation,” Macdonald said. “We haven’t made any decisions yet, but because of the personnel groups that we are and the players that we have, that’s something we have to consider.”

Valdes-Scantling played most of the first half and caught all three of his targets for 33 yards. The fact that he was out there at all with the backups in Year 8 doesn’t bode well for his chances of making the team. However, he’s been good in practice the last week or so, and before Saturday, he was mostly running with the first-team offense, joint practice included. He’s a roster bubble guy because he doesn’t do special teams, but for now, I’ll project the coaching staff giving the veteran the benefit of the doubt because he has performed in this scheme before.

Horton hasn’t practiced since the Chiefs game because of an ankle injury. Macdonald said he’s “optimistic” about the rookie being available for Week 1. Bobo suffered a concussion on a punt return in the second half Saturday but is “in good spirits,” Macdonald said. Bobo, who should be a roster lock, will enter concussion protocol. Young was thrown only one target — which was uncatchable — on Saturday but he had a really strong camp and should make the team. White led Seattle with 69 yards receiving and a touchdown, in addition to a couple good punt returns on Saturday, but that may have only secured him a spot on the practice squad.

Tight ends (4): AJ Barner, Eric Saubert, Elijah Arroyo, Brady Russell

Cut: Nick Kallerup, Marshall Lang

This group has been cemented since the release of Noah Fant. When Seattle drafted Ouzts, I figured Russell would be the odd man out when roster cutdown came around, but the third-year pro is the type of guy teams like to keep around because he does a little of everything. I’m listing him as a tight end, but he’s a fullback and core special teamer as well. There’s value in making room for him on the active roster.

After the top eight offensive linemen, including Michael Jerrell, there is a drop-off in talent. (Wm. Glasheen / USA Today)

Offensive line (9): Charles Cross, Grey Zabel, Jalen Sundell, Anthony Bradford, Abe Lucas, Josh Jones, Michael Jerrell, Olu Oluwatimi, Christian Haynes

Cut: Sataoa Laumea, Bryce Cabeldue, Mason Richman, Amari Kight, Luke Felix-Fualalo, Federico Maranges

Laumea has surprisingly fallen further down the pecking order as camp has progressed. A 2024 sixth-round pick who started six games at right guard last year, Laumea never seemed to be in the mix for the starting right guard job this offseason. Then he was passed up by Cabeldue for the backup left guard spot, judging by the practice and game rotations.

Haynes, another player whose stock has dropped over the last month, didn’t play Saturday because of a pectoral injury. The injury is not as serious as the Seahawks initially thought, but “we’re not sure right now how long it’s going to be,” Macdonald said.

Seattle has reason to be optimistic about its top eight linemen: Cross, Zabel, Lucas, Sundell, Bradford, Jones, Oluwatimi and Jerrell. But there’s a steep drop-off in talent after that group. I’ll pencil in Haynes for now, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the ninth (or 10th) player on Seattle’s Week 1 roster is either currently on another team or a free agent.

Defense (23)

Interior defensive line (6): Jarran Reed, Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy II, Mike Morris, Quinton Bohanna, Brandon Pili

Non-football injury list: Rylie Mills, Johnathan Hankins

Cut: J.R. Singleton, Anthony Campbell, Bubba Thomas

Bohanna and Pili appear to have done enough to make this team. It’s hard to project any other result when there’s no clarity on Hankins’ back injury. If/when Hankins returns, Seattle will probably demote Bohanna and re-sign him to the practice squad. But until that happens, both young defensive tackles should make the initial roster.

Outside linebackers (4): DeMarcus Lawrence, Boye Mafe, Derick Hall, Uchenna Nwosu

Cut: Jamie Sheriff, Tyreke Smith, Jared Ivey, Connor O’Toole, Jalan Gaines, Seth Coleman

Nwosu’s return shores up this position. Nwosu didn’t participate in joint practice with the Packers but went through an individual session with defensive coordinator Aden Durde beforehand.

“Looked great, felt great,” Macdonald said. “It looked positive, and we will keep building it out from here.”

Nwosu still might not be ready to play Week 1, but he’s trending toward being back sooner than later. If Nwosu is inactive for the first couple weeks of the season, I imagine Ivey, Smith (who limped on the field in the first half against Green Bay) or Sheriff would be called up from the practice squad, assuming they clear waivers and re-sign before the season begins. Otherwise, Seattle should be in good shape on the edge.

Inside linebacker (4): Ernest Jones IV, Tyrice Knight, Drake Thomas, Patrick O’Connell

Cut: Josh Ross, Alphonzo Tuputala, D’Eryk Jackson

Macdonald has been tight-lipped about the nature of the injury that has kept Knight out of practice. But he said the team got “great news” regarding the second-year inside linebacker earlier this week, so I anticipate he’ll be on the active roster and ready to play to start the season.

“We’ll see how long it takes, but a really positive day on the T-Knight front this morning,” Macdonald said Thursday.

Cornerbacks (5): Riq Woolen, Josh Jobe, Devon Witherspoon, Nehemiah Pritchett, Shaquill Griffin

Cut: Damarion Williams, Tyler Hall, Shemar Jean-Charles, Keydrain Calligan, Isas Waxter

Griffin, a veteran backup who also plays special teams, earned a shoutout from his coach after joint practice Thursday.

“Shaq had a good day,” Macdonald said. “Showed up, made some plays. Felt him down there in the red zone. I thought in two-minute, he had a (pass breakup) if I remember right. He keeps climbing. We’re on a good little track here.”

Seattle has reunited with players before and eventually cut ties without the player making much of an impact (Brandon Browner, Paul Richardson, DeShawn Shead, Luke Willson and Frank Clark come to mind). But Griffin appears to have done enough to stick around as a depth piece behind Woolen, Witherspoon and Jobe. Pritchett had a good camp as well, though he did give up a 39-yard reception against Green Bay. He then left the game with an injury.

Safeties (4): Julian Love, Coby Bryant, Nick Emmanwori, Ty Okada

Cut: D’Anthony Bell, Jerrick Reed II

Seattle can survive with four players here because Emmanwori has started to take reps as a deep safety in practice. For the first several weeks of camp, he was lining up exclusively as a “big nickel” defender at the second level, which is why I had projected Seattle to keep Bell. But ahead of joint practice, I started to see Emmanwori repping as a more traditional safety. He played a bit there against the Packers, too. Between that development and the fact that Bell hasn’t popped much in practice or the preseason games, the projection here is just four safeties (they, of course, could keep Bell or Reed on the practice squad).

Specialists (3): P Michael Dickson, K Jason Myers, LS Chris Stoll

Cut: Zach Triner

The Seahawks are still rostering Triner while Stoll works through a back injury. It appears Stoll should be back by the start of the season, though.

(Photo of Marquez Valdes-Scantling: Mark Hoffman / USA Today)

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