Seahawks draft targets: What's better than 1 versatile safety on defense?

Another "Mike Macdonald" type in the secondary could super-charge a group that needs more young talent

As I was watching defensive highlights from the Super Bowl on Monday, it was so easy to imagine what another versatile secondary weapon could do for Mike Macdonald’s dark side of the ball in 2026. The fact that Coby Bryant, Riq Woolen, and Josh Jobe are free agents just sprinkles incentive on an idea that was already plenty exciting on its own.

Given that the Seahawks only drafted two defensive players in 2025, it makes it all the more probable that Macdonald and John Schneider will push the chips back to the other side of the table with their picks in 2026:

Seattle traded up for Nick Emmanwori at the top of round two and he is as clear of a representation of a “Macdonald-specific acquisition” as there has been since the Seahawks made a head coaching change in 2024. Then Rylie Mills was drafted in round 5, which at the time didn’t feel like he could possibly be the last defensive player who Seattle would pick with so many selections remaining.

But he was.

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A year earlier, the Seahawks drafted four defensive players (Byron Murphy, Tyrice Knight, Nehemiah Pritchett, D.J. James) and as of today Murphy is the only one who is certain to be a future starter for Seattle’s defense.

So although the Seahawks do have the best defense in the NFL and they’re still anything but “old” for the most part, the infusion incoming on that side of the ball through the draft is inevitable. There are a few positions in need of being addressed:

• The CB/CB/S free agents I just mentioned

• DeMarcus Lawrence is 34

• Uchenna Nwosu’s run could be nearing its end

• Boye Mafe is probable to exit

• Leonard Williams needs to be extended

• Julian Love is 28

• Jarran Reed may not have many NFL years left

• We hope, but aren’t certain, that Derick Hall is about to break out

The actual heart of the under-26 defense is centered on Murphy, Emmanwori, Devon Witherspoon, and the 26-year-old Ernest Jones.

“Maybe” the Seahawks will use their first pick on defense? How could they not at least be leaning that way?

Much of the focus is understandably on the edge rusher position group (and I’ve been pushing that narrative as much as possible for OVER a year) but given the impressive play making ability of versatile secondary weapons like Witherspoon and Emmanwori, I wonder what it would be like for the Seahawks to draft a safety or a versatile corner or maybe a linebacker/safety with their first, second, or third picks.

The 2026 NFL Scouting Combine starts this weekend. I want to quickly review some of the “safety-ish” prospects to watch and to pass along some of these “another Emmanwori?” fantasies to you that have been dancing in my head.

S Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Toledo

The top-ranked safety on everyone’s board is Ohio State’s Caleb Downs, a player who won’t come anywhere near Seattle’s first pick at 32.

Number two on Mel Kiper*’s top-10 safeties list is McNeil-Warren out of Toledo:

*nothing to worry about we know mel kiper is “just a guy” and I’m just hopping around different lists to find a consensus and then do our own research.

NFL.com’s Lance Zeirlein highlight’s McNeil-Warren’s ability to help in run defense, a sure staple of the defensive players that Macdonald wants to draft:

Long, downhill safety capable of bolstering a team’s run defense and playing enforcer over the middle. McNeil-Warren is most valuable when playing near the line of scrimmage or in robber positioning. He anticipates well in coverage and is quick to close on receivers but will need to be protected by scheme to prevent speed mismatches. He’s urgent in run support and has a feel for slipping blocks/meeting runners early in the carry. He’s a rangy tackler, but needs to quiet his feet when diagnosing and flowing downhill to tackle. McNeil-Warren might be pigeon-holed schematically but he’s good at his job.

There will probably be comparison’s to Emmanwori because that’s what 90% of the draft is: comparing prospects to recently-drafted stars for even the most slightly justifiable reasons.

And if you said that “the Seahawks don’t need another Emmanwori because they have Emmanwori”, you’d be absolutely right.

Teams also don’t pass up field-tilting weapons in the draft if they can them and so hypothetically is there a scenario where Macdonald can find a role for two rangy, long, versatile hybrid box safety/big nickel players if the value on McNeil-Warren is too good to be true? Well admittedly that’s a question that’s a bit over my head but if anyone can do it it’s Macdonald.

But he’s a turnover machine (8 forced fumbles and 5 INTs in the past 3 years) and apparently a monster in the run game, so I’m just curious if there’s a way for the answer to be “Yes, absolutely”. He’s also praised for hard hitting physicality, another Seahawks-trait if there ever was one:

If McNeil-Warren falls into the 50-75 draft range that’s around Seattle’s second pick.

Drafting McNeil-Warren feels wrong because of Emmanwori. Would it feel right if Bryant leaves in free agency and the Seahawks see it as an opportunity to insure against another 4-game absence like Emmanwori had in 2025? The answer probably falls under “so crazy it just might work” or “dumb idea” and I readily admit it.

S Bud Clark, TCU

Speaking of forcing turnovers, how does 15 interceptions sound? Bud Clark could be the next closest college resume to Coby Bryant coming out of Cincinnati in 2022.

Like Bryant four years ago, Clark is ranked as roughly a late-third/early-fourth round pick on the NFL Mock Draft Database big board, making him a potential second or third selection option for Seattle.

Trevor Sikkema tweeted this video from the Senior Bowl and a note that Clark is a trash talker:

Witherspoon can relate to that.

Clark can relate to versatile play-making ability as a pass rusher too, similar to what we saw from Witherspoon in the Super Bowl:

As a safety, you couldn’t get a much better comp from a late day 2/early day 3 pick than this one…

Zierlein’s NFL comp: Kerby Joseph

A sixth-year senior, Clark’s traits won’t pop but his tape most certainly will. Clark is a coverage-versatile safety in a cornerback’s body with the talent to range over the top or man up on the slot. He plays with an overriding desire to do everything all at once – which produces spectacular takeaways and occasional breakdowns – but the good outweighs the bad. He triggers downhill in run support and tackles with proper technique, but a lack of size could lead to broken tackles/durability concerns. He might need time to acclimate to the speed/skill of his opponents but his instincts and ball skills give him a good chance to punish mistakes on the next level as an alignment-flexible option.

Are “traits” really that important to a Mike Macdonald safety? They haven’t been in the past with ball-hawking players like Coby and Geno Stone.

Even Julian Love was once a fourth round pick.

I’ve just got a sense that Bud Clark is a name we need to watch in the draft. The formula for a Seattle mid-round pick is there.

Dillon Thieneman, Oregon

With a comp to NFL safety Jevon Holland, Thieneman may fit more into the mold of a top-tier coverage player in Macdonald’s defense to fill Coby’s role, if not Love’s.

Zierlein compares him to Holland and says he’s got the versatility to play either safety position or big nickel:

Savvy three-year starter with NFL size, speed and alignment versatility. Thieneman is an extension of his defensive coordinator, aligning and adjusting the secondary to motion and pre-snap shifts. He’s an instinctive, rangy safety who can roll down into big nickel or robber positioning. He has a good feel for play design and route concepts in zone but has average change of direction to match breaks in man. He’s not a big thumper near the line, but he rushes into the action with a relentless pursuit that should allow him to keep stacking high scores in the tackle columns. Thieneman checks important boxes for teams looking to add versatile playmakers in the secondary.

Thieneman checks all the boxes to be an easy pick that nobody would ever hate at almost any slot outside of the top-30. Holland himself was an early second round pick.

There’s really no good consensus on where any of the other top safeties will go in the draft besides Downs. Thieneman is second on some lists but fifth on others. We could get to April and see that he’s a first round pick. Or a third.

If the Seahawks get him in a second and say “this is a guy we want to have in our secondary for the next 10 years” I wouldn’t be surprised.

S/LB Kyle Louis, Pitt

Linebacker or safety?

The future of the linebacker position in Seattle is no better than “ponder-able” because we heard little of Tyrice Knight after Drake Thomas took over.

But is Thomas the definite long-term answer next to Jones? Like if I said that the Seahawks ever had an opportunity to get a potential steal at the position on day two (Fred Warner was only a third round pick) would it be worth it or are we that certain that the undersized Thomas has a long career ahead?

Maybe you are—that’s okay if you are—but what if the linebacker was versatile enough to not be pigeonholed to linebacker? What if he could be a safety.

Then Kyle Louis could be the fix.

Not only did Louis have 6 interceptions in the last two seasons, he also had 24 tackles for a loss and 10 sacks.

80th on the NFLMock big board, Louis could be available at Seattle’s third pick. Looking for players who check (*) versatile and (*) play makers, Louis gets the job done.

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It’s going to be a Defensive draft for a Defensive team

The two big contributors to a Super Bowl defense who were drafted in the last two years were Murphy and Emmanwori. Mills checked in very late but contributed in the Super Bowl alone and that was only 5 snaps.

Either way, we’re talking three players at most, and maybe four if you add in Knight some day. Pritchett is there too but for how long?

The place we are most likely to see change on defense next season is in the secondary. Corners are obvious because of the free agents, but Coby Bryant could be the one most certain of all to be replaced. Ty Okada had a great season and could have another one in 2026, but comparing him to the unique athletes that would be available in the top-100 leaves Okada slightly behind and that’s something he can never change.

Seattle needs to keep loading on that side of the ball and edge rusher is where the need is most obvious. Drafting a versatile safety helped the Seahawks win a Super Bowl once before. Could Macdonald do it for the repeat?

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