4 Seahawks who could go from no time to primetime
These 4 Seahawks are primed to get a huge promotion in 2026 and help Seattle repeat as Super Bowl champions
The Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl with surprising standouts on offense, defense, and special teams, including Jalen Sundell, Drake Thomas, and Ty Okada. Those three players combined for 127 snaps in 2024 and helped the Seahawks win the Lombardi Trophy in 2025.
Which Seahawks players could make a similar leap from almost no snaps last year to taking on big roles for Mike Macdonald in Seattle’s bid to repeat in 2026?
—A versatile offensive lineman who fits the unit’s midwest vibe?
—A player who went from having one of the most important jobs in all of college football to being inactive every week last season?
—Two more defensive players looking to be the next versions of Thomas and Okada at positions of need?
Today’s Seaside Joe answers that question with four Seahawks looking to go from no time to primetime.
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Who do you see as the most likely no-time to primetime Seahawks player in 2026?
These are my four picks, starting with one of the early standouts at OTAs.
G/T/C Mason Richman
The Seahawks have three offensive linemen who attended high schools in the Kansas City metro area, at roughly the same time, who are all trying to find places to fit in Seattle’s offensive line plan this year. One of whom is a starter, one of whom fans hope can push to start at right guard, and two of whom have been close since they became college teammates five years ago.
Rookie guard Beau Stephens and second-year utility player Mason Richman played at schools about 30 minutes apart, Blue Springs and Blue Valley, whereas Jalen Sundell was a couple hours away at Maryville. Richman got to the University of Iowa in 2020 and Stephens followed a year later.
It would be like having one offensive lineman each from Seattle, Tacoma, and Yakima, who were all in high school at the same time, two of them went to UW, and all three ended up on the Seahawks.
Stephens cited Richman as the teammate he wanted to make proud during his early days at Iowa.
Richman, beloved by Iowa fans and often cited as a catalyst for resurrecting a once-great offensive line, is an interesting name coming up in reports out of Seahawks OTAs this week.
Dave Wyman of Seattle Sports highlighted Richman as a standout at OTAs, and saw something from him that nobody saw a year ago as a draft prospect…He looks fast?
“I just watched him do some drills, and I can’t quantify this, but you have to trust me because my eyes tell me – he is much faster, he’s playing faster … and he just looked really good,” Wyman said on Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob. “He looked different.”
“Guys are out there running around with no pads on and no contact and everything, but every once in a while you see a guy like Mason Richman that just looks different,” Wyman said. “He just does.”
The main reason that Richman fell to the seventh-round (and even that late he was a surprising draft pick to some analysts) was a lack of pro football athleticism. His relative athletic score dropped because he’s “slow”.
I’m not opposed to the idea that Richman “looked different” and that the slow narrative could be overblown. I’m just pointing out that was his red flag.
(I also did a Mason Richman profile last year.)
Although Richman did not expect the Seahawks to draft him, he’s elated to be in Seattle, according to his parents:
“It was a very unexpected team, very unexpected, seventh round,” said Kathy Richman-Wallace about her son making the NFL. “But, it’s been phenomenal, and he’s really embraced it.”
“Chances are so minute, and for it to all work out and for him to be in the situation he’s in, with Seattle, the organization, you can’t say enough, but here we are. Somehow,” said John Richman, Mason’s dad. “A year ago at this time, we didn’t know if he was going to get drafted or make the team.”
“His state of mind is, ‘This is such a great team.’ I think one day he told me, ‘Mom, I just love this team so much.’ He’s been so blessed,” Kathy said.
“It’s great to get out there, it’s fun, he lives close to the facility. He walks to the facility from his condo; it’s pretty convenient,” John said.
Now in year two, many Seahawks fans are hoping that somebody, anybody, will push Anthony Bradford for the starting right guard position. That’s easier said than done—for all his faults, Bradford has a massive experience advantage over the competition and does some things at a high level—but Grey Zabel and Sundell are premier examples of how athleticism and lateral agility are coveted traits in Seattle’s outside zone run scheme.
Here’s Richman (#78) at left tackle showing his lateral agility in college, courtesy Alex Castro:
And this is Richman at right tackle (#78) for the Seahawks last preseason:
More clips from Castro: Here, Here, Here, and Here. Richman’s “short arms” issue shows up from time to time, but that’s more of a concern at tackle than guard. Richman hasn’t been given a strict position between either spot, and has also worked out for Seattle at center.
It’s hard to imagine Richman unseating Sundell any time soon because Mike Macdonald has come out and said that Sundell is a “great center” who fits perfectly into what the Seahawks want to do on offense. But one thing that stands out about Seattle’s interior offensive linemen:
Versatility.
Zabel could start at guard or center, as well as some tackle if the Seahawks were in a tight spot. Sundell moved from guard to center. Richman is basically playing all five positions already.
Offensive line coach John Benton has options, depending on if there are injuries or Seattle just needs to try out different combinations. It’s hard to get through 18 weeks without using backup offensive linemen at some point and Richman is off to an early lead in the media, not Bryce Cabeldue, as we would have expected.
That could change (remember the McClendon Curtis and Raiqwon O’Neal hype?) but Mason Richman has friends in all the right places.
More highlights, more notes and videos from OTAs, and three more Seahawks like Richman looking to become richer men in 2026:
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