Seahawks draft: The Wrap

Seahawks 2023 undrafted free agents: Seaside Joe 1520

There’s a moment in the movie Flight where Denzel Washington says he was only alotted a certain number of lies in life and that he had reached his limit and couldn’t do it anymore. It’s similar to an episode of Married With Children in which Kelly Bundy’s brain was at its max capacity for information, so she couldn’t learn any new facts without losing a fact she previously knew.

On Saturday, I reached my limit for writing about the 2023 NFL Draft and could do no more. Sorry about the delay. Let’s wrap up the final two picks made by the Seattle Seahawks and their undrafted free agent signings.

This is the 53rd Seaside Joe article of April, following 58 articles about the Seahawks that I wrote in March. And a grand total of 202 Seahawks posts in 2023 already and if we conservatively estimate 2,000 words per article—because you know I don’t go cheap on you—that’s 400,000 words on the team as we hit the one-third mark of the year. Plus you know I’m not taking a summer break like others, we’ll be here in May, June, and July, leading into August’s camp.

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6.198 - S Jerrick Reed II, New Mexico

In short: Slot corner who would go much higher if he stood much taller

Reed is Dane Brugler’s 30th ranked safety (out of 33) so this is higher than he would have expected, but his athleticism (4.44 40-yard dash, 1.54 split at his pro day) puts him near the top of the class for all safeties. On his post-draft call with the media, Reed II (who is friends with K.J. Wright, as they are from the same hometown) says the Seahawks told him he would play “safety, nickel, basically slot corner, and special teams” so I’m just assuming that kind of comes in the territory of positionless football.

At 5’9, Reed is shorter than your average NFL player, but posting a 4.44/1.54 at 196 lbs is unique. Pitt’s Brandon Hill and Jackson State’s Isaiah Bolden (the last-ranked safety in Brugler’s draft book) were the only two to run faster at the position. He is also praised for run defense support.

We’ve focused so much on how Seattle would makeover their front-seven because the run defense was so bad, but the additions of Devon Witherspoon, Julian Love, and Reed tell you what Pete Carroll thought about the part that the secondary played in that area of need. At certain points of last season, there were more defensive backs on the roster than any other position group and while I don’t think that’s Pete’s ideal, it could help Reed make the roster as a sixth round pick.

Here is Brugler’s summary on Reed:

SUMMARY: Jerrick Reed II, who is one of four children, played cornerback and wide receiver at Olive Branch High. He earned All-Region as a senior with 99 tackles, 7.0 tackles for loss and seven interceptions. A two-star recruit, he originally committed to Tennessee-Martin before landing at the juco level for one season. Reed transferred to New Mexico, where he was a productive safety with cornerback flexibility (combined for 183 tackles and 20 passes defended over his junior and senior seasons). Reed has the athletic versatility and toughness to play nickel, accelerating with a burst to close on routes and in the run game. He has the range and tracking skills to play over the top as a single-high safety. He is well-built for his frame, but his stature will show versus larger-framed receivers. Overall, Reed needs to put a higher premium on attacking field leverage, but he has the aggressive read-react skills to play fast regardless of depth (on defense and special teams).

7.237 - RB Kenny McIntosh, Georgia

In short: 43 catches for 505 receiving yards last season

“Ken” is one of the most well-established names signaling success in Seattle history: Griffey, Walker III, Easley, and of course, Seaside Joe. This could be the best seventh round pick in Seahawks history.

In another era, it would be so weird that the leader in yards from scrimmage on a 15-0 national champion would nearly go undrafted. McIntosh had 829 rushing yards, 505 receiving yards, 5.6 yards per carry, and 12 touchdowns in 2022. I think I’d rather have McIntosh in the 7th than Stetson Bennett in the 4th, which is where the Rams picked Georgia’s QB.

A year ago, James Cook was a late second round pick of the Bills because he was seen as an elite pass-catching running back from the Georgia offense and he only had 27 catches for 284 yards. I’m not saying that we should judge these prospects by stats alone, but perhaps the gap between them is much more narrow than pick 63 and pick 237.

McIntosh was also the star of the post-draft press calls.

Though he was probably hurt by his 4.62 40-yard dash, McIntosh had a 1.51 10-yard split that was better than Bijan Robinson and put him only a hair behind the best RB time at 1.49. However, he was 12 lbs heavier at his pro day than the combine and then ran a 4.66 and a 1.64. I have no idea what that’s about.

His older brother R.J. McIntosh played DT in the NFL for five years and another brother, Deon, played at Washington State. McIntosh will compete to replace Travis Homer’s role. Brugler’s overall assessment:

Overall, McIntosh needs to be led to the hole and isn’t much of a creator, but he offers burst as a runner and pass-catching skills. He projects best as a committee back who specializes in catching the football, similar to his role in college.

2023 UDFA signings

TE Noah Gindorff

DT Robert Cooper

DL Jonah Tavai

RB Marcus Cooper

QB Holton Ahlers

DE MJ Anderson

S Christian Young

WR John Hall

CB Arquon Bush

CB Lance Boykin

DT Ifeanyi Maijeh

WR Jake Bobo

LB Patrick O’Connell

LB Cam Bright

LB Jonathan Sunderland

RB Chris Smith

WR Matt Landers

CB James Campbell

S Ty Okada

WR Tyjon Lindsey

LS Chris Stoll

TE Kendall Randolph

WR CJ Johnson

DL Jordan Ferguson

TE Griffin Hebert

DB Mo Osling

LB Michael Ayers

Rookie Minicamp Invite: LB Bo Bauer, RB Shaun Shivers, S Hunter Nichols, LB Robert Barnes, OT Josh Mote

If this seems like a crazy long undrafted free agent list, that’s because it is; the Seahawks entered the draft with a relatively tiny number of players signed to the roster and salary cap issues. Seattle is fielding the best offense, defense, and special teams that it can field while cutting corners everywhere else and the depth chart may yet have a lot of rookies on it by Week 1.

I won’t get into each undrafted free agent yet, let’s see who stands out this summer. Bob Condotta did a short summary of most on Seattle Times.

We’ll be back very soon with much more to cover on your 2023 Seattle Seahawks, so subscribe!

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Thanks everyone for participating in the Draft Chat all weekend!