Dee Eskridge still has a chance to have a chance
The origin story of a Seahawks receiver who isn't a rookie, but is kind of a rookie: 5/24/2023 bonus
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver D’Wayne Eskridge is in the Seattle Seahawks news again. Two years after the Seahawks chose Eskridge with the 56th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, and seven years after he was a two-star running back recruit out of the small town of Bluffton, Indiana who had only two offers, Seattle’s third-year wideout is sitting at just 17 career catches for 122 yards and one touchdown.
He’s also now sitting behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the Seahawks’ third-highest drafted receiver in franchise history, and potentially also Dareke Young at the position, fighting for his NFL life for perhaps the last time.
But going into this week’s OTAs, Dee Eskridge is hitting all the right notes in the media and has an opportunity to standout early in the offseason while JSN recovers from his own injury issues and is eased into Seattle’s offense for the first time. Quarterback Geno Smith has especially taken a liking to having Eskridge was one of his Seahawks weapons.
It’s the same way that Pete Carroll talked about him as a 2021 rookie, the same way that draft analysts were talking about him after a dominant senior season in college and winning the Senior Bowl week in Mobile. Same as I did last week for Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Kenny McIntosh, I want to dive into Eskridge’s origin story and how he got here, even though he’s not a rookie.
In some ways, that is what he is. Again. So join Regular Joes if you would like to continue reading this one to find out about Eskridge’s star track background, explosive college resume, and potentially what’s ahead.
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D’Wayne Eskridge was a two-star running back recruit out of Bluffton, Indiana in 2016, choosing Western Michigan over Ball State, which I simply know as “The David Letterman School”. They could change it and everybody would understand.
From high school anonymity to track star to untimely—but now too familiar—injuries, this is how Eskridge got to Western Michigan and then how he made that next step towards being one of the highest-drafted receivers in Seahawks history.