Seahawks '30 visits' will send mixed signals

What do we know about these players and who will land in Seattle?

Every team is allowed to meet with up to 30 prospects who aren’t local before the draft and that’s what is known as a “30 visit” and it has nothing to do with being in a team’s list of 30 favorite players. It also has nothing to do with teams making it clear that they want to draft someone:

If anything, the visit indicates that the team isn’t sold and needs more convincing.

A visit isn’t even a “first date”, it’s more like being on a dating app and starting a DM with a person to find out if you even want to go on a first date with each other. A visit is the most noncommittal way to get to know somebody.

Raising the green flag based on who the Seahawks visit with and who they actually draft is very premature, but the signals have been much stronger in the previous three years according to this article on Field Gulls by Alexandre Castro:

• 5 players from 2023 (3 drafted, 2 undrafted signings*)

• 6 players from 2024 (1 drafted, 5 undrafted signings)

• 3 players from 2025 (3 drafted)

*Drake Thomas was added later after the Raiders let him go

It still means that if the Seahawks meet with 30 players, then 25 or 26 or 27 of them won’t become Seahawks.

Last year, the Seahawks met with Nick Emmanwori, Bryce Cabeldue, and Jalen Milroe. And if you think it’s obvious who Seattle will or won’t want to go on a second date with after perusing a list of 30 visits, keep in mind that the only player that Alexandre called a “smokescreen” last year was Milroe.

It happens.

The lesson isn’t to stop trying. Just go into it knowing that the game of predicting who the Seahawks will draft based on a visit is practically rigged against you — trust your gut, but question your instincts.

And at the same time we can safely assume that 2-5 of them will make their way to the team in the next few weeks.

Field Gulls has the 2026 list of visits here.

One of Seaside Joe’s most awesome readers sent me Dane Brugler’s “The Beast” draft guide for The Athletic, a big book of information on the 2026 prospects, including over 400 bios.

I’ve opened a special edition of Super Joes Q&A to ask the Super Joes subscribers to send me draft-specific questions that I can bounce off of The Beast’s bios of those players. If you want to send in questions in the next Q&A, you can upgrade to Super Joes here:

Don Ellis: To my knowledge, the Hawks haven't had RB Emmett Johnson in for a visit. I am interested in what The Beast Draft Guide has to say about that player.

Field Gulls mentions three running back visits so far:

• Mike Washington

• Jonah Coleman (local)

• Coleman Bennett

Emmett Johnson is Brugler’s fourth-ranked running back, whereas Washington is ranked third, Coleman is sixth, and Bennett didn’t make the top-28.

Alexandre interviewed Bennett for Field Gulls recently, so read that here.

If Seattle addresses the running back position after the draft, Coleman Bennett fits that distinction. Jonah Coleman and Washington would seem to be trending in the pick 64-96 range for Seattle.

Of Emmett Johnson, Brugler gives him a 3rd-4th round grade and says this:

A two-year starter at Nebraska, Johnson lined up primarily offset in offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen’s version of the Air Raid. After two seasons in a running back rotation, he had a breakout 2025 season as the only FBS player to average more than 150 scrimmage yards per game. He led the Big Ten with 1,451 rushing yards and became the first running back in Nebraska history to record 100-plus yards both rushing and receiving in the same game.

With his agile cutting skills, Johnson is explosive laterally and has sharp footwork and shifty body movements to give defenders the slip. His feet can get a little bounce happy at times, but he makes it work for him by pressing the line and setting up open-field defenders. Though he runs with determination, his average power will be more noticeable when dealing with NFL contact. Overall, Johnson is quick and balanced between the tackles to stack cuts, and his pass-catching savvy will be an asset at the next level, ideally for a zone scheme. He is an intriguing change-of-pace back who will bring versatility to an NFL backfield.

If Johnson could fall to day three, doesn’t it make the most sense for the Seahawks to just keep trading back until they’ve reloaded on picks in the fourth and fifth round and then just get a running back then? Aside from the top-ranked running back in the class, it seems there’s just little difference between a second rounder and a fifth rounder.

Danno: Today the Seahawks announced yet two more edge rushers coming in for top 30 visits. That’s six edge rushers in total and they announced one more CB coming in for a top 30. That’s seven CB plus two safeties. Plus two more local visits were announced today with a safety and CB. That’s 16 DBs and edges in total on visits. They had four RBs in and one DT so far on visits. I personally would be shocked if 32 and 64 weren’t CB and EDGE. They seem to have met with a number at both those pick slot ranges.

Nothing shocks me. Seattle’s first two picks last year were right down the middle, and then Elijah Arroyo pretty much fit the mold, but John Schneider threw a curveball with Milroe.

The most important thing to remember is that Schneider doesn’t like pigeonholing himself into an “I have to draft this position with this pick” situation. He doesn’t want the Seahawks to be typecast.

If anything, Schneider wears his “F draft grades” for not doing what’s expected of him as a badge of honor.

All that being said Danno, yes, I agree with you that edge and cornerback are logical. Good eye on you for noting those trends.

You also did a great job compiling the mock draft database consensus big board rankings for Seattle’s visits too. I’m going to put Danno’s question to the Seaside Joe community at the end of the article.

Bret: I had a hard time stifling a chuckle when I read reports that John Schneider was believed to be happy with the current running back room.

Is this just puffery to hide a truly franchise-acknowledged dire need? When you respond to the loss of an overpriced, but explosive super bowl mvp with the comment that George Holani had elite pass blocking, it feels a bit like gaslighting. Can you give me your sense of the current running back situation beyond what you might have already indicated?

Is JS really that nonchalant about the running back situation?

It’s completely fair for you to wonder what’s real and what’s a brave front or a misdirect. Kenneth Walker III was a fantastic player for the Seahawks at times in the last four years, but especially in the home stretch and the playoffs last season, so how realistic is it for running backs with worse measurables and less athleticism to replace him?

It doesn’t seem likely. But how likely was it that the Seahawks would win more games with Geno Smith in 2022 than they did with Russell Wilson in 2021? Or that Geno would have a better career since then?

Maybe an outlier. Maybe not a repeatable strategy all the time.

However, it does represent proof that sometimes when Schneider says “We’re good with who we have actually” he means that the Seahawks are good actually.

What’s most important is not whether or not the Seahawks have a need at running back. What matters is whether or not the Seahawks have access to a replacement who will fill that need.

Walker went 41st in the 2022 draft. I wonder if that same type of running back prospect would go top-25 in this class with the run game on the rise again and a weak all-around class, not to mention possibly one running back drafted in the first two rounds in Jerymiah Love.

What I have been saying since this “need” became apparent is that the draft isn’t the end of the line. Many more running backs will be available in August, September, and October than most positions.

So if the Seahawks do draft a running back with one of their first two picks, then great, they must have a strong conviction about that player as an immediate starter. But if they don’t, then they didn’t and it should tell us that Seattle was fishing in an empty lake.

Here’s Danno’s question for ALL OF YOU:

Here is the list of how the NFLMOCKDRAFT consensus board ranks the players that the Seahawks have had a 30 visit with:

DT Kayden McDonald 31

Edge Cassius Howell 34

CB Colton Hood 35

Edge Zion Young 38

CB Brandon Cisse 39

Edge Malachi Lawrence 41

CB Chris Johnson 42

Edge R Mason Thomas 45

S AJ Haulcy 57

CB Treydon Stukes 67

RB Mike Washington 71

Edge Keyron Crawford 93

S Jaylon Kilgore 94

RB Jonah Coleman 97

CB Daylen Everette 110

CB Andre Fuller 254

RB Chip Trayanum 271

Edge Keyshawn James Newsy 306

S Skyler Thomas 373

RB Coleman Bennett ???

CB Colby Humphrey ???

A question for anyone. If you were to mock Seattle at 32, 64 and 96. What three names from this list would you hope to get? Is there another player or two you think the Seahawks should add to this list of visitors?

Seaside Joe 2592