Seahawks draft visits update

The 5 prospects the Seahawks are known to have met with as of March 29

Last year, the Seahawks met with four players (out of a possible 30) who are currently on the team: Tyrice Knight, Michael Jerrell, George Holani, and John Rhys Plumlee.

Of their pre-draft visits in 2023, again four are on the team: Devon Witherspoon, Jerrick Reed, Drake Thomas, and Anthony Bradford.

And in 2022, they met with Boye Mafe, Dareke Young, and Josh Onujiogu.

Maybe in an ideal world a team would like to have a working relationship with all 30 of their pre-draft visits, but this world the Seahawks usually only end up rostering about 3-5 of them. Sometimes none. And as you can see, the ones they visit with and then draft/sign are usually not the stars.

The biggest name on the list is Witherspoon and that’s just because somebody had to be the fifth overall pick and the Seahawks were determined to meet that guy before the draft.

Reported pre-draft visits (a maximum of 30, not including the number of prospects that Seattle could have some contact with at the senior bowl, combine, and various pro days) are few and far between so far, but these are the five we know about:

S Nick Emmanwori, South Carolina

He’s the only expected first round pick of the five. I wrote about Emmanwori earlier this month and expressed skepticism that the Seahawks want to use the 18th overall pick on him. Safeties are low-key the running backs of defense (maybe off-ball linebackers are too), as in there can be really good NFL players who struggle to find work in the middle of their careers (think of Justin Simmons’ extensive time as a free agent in 2024) and get drafted later than expectations.

I would not be shocked if Emmanwori’s eventual landing spot is closer to Seattle’s second pick (2.50) than their first.

The first “safety” drafted in 2024 was Cooper DeJean and he went 40th, but he’s also kind of a cornerback and a safety, whereas Emmanwori is more of a safety and an off-ball linebacker.

The first actual college-to-NFL safety drafted was Tyler Nubin, 47th overall to the Giants.

In 2023, the first safety drafted was Brian Branch, 45th overall to the Lions. And as I remember it, Branch and DeJean were significantly higher rated re: what they did in college/as football players than Emmanwori is, despite not being in the same stratosphere of testing at the combine.

I think Emmanwori is a player the Seahawks would much rather target if they trade down from 18, trade up from 50, or see if he makes to 50 without a trade.

QB Tyler Shough, Louisville

How can you see a college football resume like this and not laugh? Or cry?

(If you think that’s bad, QB Cameron Rising was also in the 2018 recruiting class and he was granted an eighth year of eligibility in 2025, although where he will go and if a team will want him is unclear; he’s currently not on any roster.)

Shough was in the same class as Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields, ranking sixth among Pro Style QBs in the country (ahead of Michael Penix), but after sitting behind Justin Herbert at Oregon for two years, his would-be breakout season was shortened in 2020 due to covid.

His starting job in question, Shough transferred to Texas Tech in 2021 but then broke his collarbone a week after throwing for 399 yards and four touchdowns, costing him most of that season. He won the job again in 2022, but a shoulder injury cost him the bulk of that season too.

In 2023, it was a broken fibula that caused him to miss most of the season. He also wasn’t necessarily playing that great, throwing three interceptions in a loss to his former team Oregon, including a loss-sealing pick-six.

Finally in 2024, after transferring to Louisville to play for head coach Jeff Brohm, Shough had his first full season and had respectable numbers although in the modern era of football 23 TD/6 INT is not necessarily going to turn heads:

• Expected #1 pick Cam Ward led the nation with 39 TD

• Expected QB2 Shedeur Sanders was next in the country at 37 TD

Often this sport is not much more than “Did you produce?” and Shough’s season, especially coming after six whelming seasons, wasn’t much to write home about. Go back to 2023 when Brohm’s QB was Jack Plummer and the numbers were basically the same.

So why is anyone talking about 25-year-old Shough as possibly the third or fourth QB drafted this year?

It’s as simple as the fact that there aren’t many QBs with an NFL-quality arm for a passer and Shough has one of those.

Back in 2021, I used this Substack to highlight who the best up-and-coming quarterbacks in the county were and I had Ward in my top-5 despite the fact that he had still only played for Incarnate Word up until then. It wasn’t hard to tell that Ward was physically gifted like few others, although seeing him become the expected number one overall pick is still a surprise.

First round QBs, the ball just comes out of their hand different than everyone else.

Will the Seahawks draft Tyler Shough?

Anything is possible, but I am not expecting the Seahawks to use a second round pick on Shough only to have him sit on the bench for two years and then get him into action for the first time when he’s 28. Although the importance of his age as a negative is probably over-emphasized, it does become an issue when the team he’s on wants him to “develop” or something for 2-3 more years.

I think he’s as developed as he’s gonna get. He needs reps.

The Seahawks also met with Shough two weeks before they signed Sam Darnold, so maybe that was more of a pre-free agency idea than something Seattle still intends to follow up with. If Shough falls to the third round and John Schneider sees him as a good value in the 3rd/4th round area, then maybe only then is it worth a pick. When we’re talking about the 92nd pick, that’s when the risk/reward balance makes more sense.

OT Esa Pole, Washington State

These are the type of pre-draft prospects who usually have much higher odds of actually becoming Seahawks:

• A potential undrafted free agent

• Local

• Needs to gain a ton of experience + a miracle

Pole started playing football in 2021. His mother worried about the risk of concussions, but he finally convinced her that it’s what he wanted to do (his older brother also played at WSU) and started his career as a freshman at Chabot College. Pole transferred to WSU in 2023 and then last season as the full-time left tackle, he didn’t allow a single sack.

The 6’5, 323 lb, 33 5/8” arms tackle still has long odds to overcome to produce at a high level in the NFL, but if any team makes sense to be in his wheelhouse for a late pick, it’s gotta be Seattle. The Seahawks don’t have a sixth round pick (yet) but hold two in the seventh and Pole might not get drafted at all.

WR Savion Williams, TCU

Todd McShay was raving about Williams on his podcast recently, noting how perfect his typical NFL comp is (Cordarelle Patterson) and that fans shouldn’t overlook his highlight reel…as well as how awful some of his drops are.

Teammate Jack Bech is getting a lot more love in the pre-draft process, but maybe Williams has a “higher ceiling”, whatever that is.

Williams is 6’4, 222 lbs, ran a 4.48 and a 1.52 in the 10-yard split, but McShay also said that despite how electric he is with the ball in his hands, handing off the ball to him as a running back has never worked. That he’s better as a downfield receiver and even direct snap in the wildcat, but maybe he won’t offer Patterson’s versatility as a RB/WR. Although even for Patterson, that didn’t come to fruition until his ninth year in the NFL.

It’s easy to forget that Patterson was kind of a bust as a first round pick for the Vikings. Getting a player like Cordarrelle Patterson in the third or fourth round is much more enticing. Alexandre Castro has a better breakdown of Williams you can read at Field Gulls.

The Seahawks don’t have their own fourth round pick (Ernest Jones trade) but do have a compensatory pick at 4.137. I wonder if Seattle will be comfortable where they are picking or attempt to move down somewhere to attain more value in the middle of the draft.

Williams is typically ranked around the 12th-15th best receiver in the class. It just depends what the teams are looking for in a receiver. Could the Seahawks be happy drafting Williams with a third round pick if he “only” turns out to be a Pro Bowl kick returner who occassionally produces a big play on offense? Here’s a guy who had a career-high 611 receiving yards in 2024 after five seasons at TCU.

It would be really unexpected/unusual if he was saving all of his receiving production for the NFL.

G Bryce Cabeldue, Kansas

The position you were all waiting for, but maybe not the player. Cabeldue is another one of these players who, were it not for pre-draft events like the Shrine Bowl and Pro Days, nobody would be talking about.

But sometimes those guys who only stand out after their college careers are over do end up as a “diamond in the rough”, as his college OL coach Daryl Agpalsa called him:

"Nobody listened to me," Agpalsa said. "No, I'm telling you. Every scout asked me that question, and I'm being completely transparent, I said, 'Somebody's going to get a diamond in the rough because that kid is an ultra athlete.' And unfortunately, through bad coaching, he should be playing guard. But we need him to play tackle."

Cabeldue started 48 games as a tackle, none as a guard, and was given high marks for his play but wasn’t invited to the Senior Bowl or Combine. He was praised as one of the 10 best players at the Shrine Bowl, which is also where coaches finally asked him to play guard.

Another Jayhawk makes the list, as Cabeldue really stood out on the interior despite the fact that he only played a handful of snaps at guard while at Kansas. He has guard size, though, and his hip explosion and strong hands helped him control his man off the snap in various run-blocking schemes. His experience at tackle (three-plus years starting on the right side before moving to the left side this past fall) taught him to widen his base and keep his body aligned over his feet in pass protection. Cabeldue would love to follow the same path as his former Kansas teammate, Dominick Puni, who moved from tackle to guard last postseason and wound up a third-round pick and rookie starter in San Francisco.

At the Big 12 Pro Day, the 306 lb Cabeldue ran a 4.95 and did 30 reps on the bench. He’s been said to have “a mauler mentality as a run blocker” who “plays through the whistle”. Sam Teets said that his ideal spot would be as a left guard in a wide zone scheme and projects him with a fifth round grade.

Overall, Cabeldue is an underrated guard prospect with the movement skills to mirror rushers in pass protection and the speed and fluidity to win in space in the run game. Some physical limitations prevent him from projecting as an early career contributor, but his floor and athletic traits make him an enticing Day 3 selection.

For reference, the three fastest OL in the 40 at the combine were C Jared Wilson (4.84), tackle Armand Membou (4.91), and G/T Jonah Savaiinaea (4.95), so Cabeldue does stand out in that respect. His 1.71 10-yard split would tie Josh Conerly for the fastest of any OL at the combine. His 30 reps on the bench would be fourth.

Former teammate Dominick Puni, by comparison, ran a 5.35 at 313 lbs.

I wonder to what degree GMs will have any idea how early Bryce Cabeldue gets drafted. Does a team obsess over his athleticism and end up drafting him way ahead of projections with the expectation that he will be a first-year starter at guard, or do GMs stick with the grade he had in January and see if he falls to the 5th or 6th round?

It’s another one of those reasons why teams don’t typically draft guards in the first round. Yeah, Cabeldue might never start a single game in the NFL. But we’ve also seen similar prospects have Pro Bowl careers. Could this be where Seattle’s pick at 4.137 comes into play?

That’s tough to say. As I said in the beginning, the odds of any of these five players becoming Seahawks are low. But the odds are also higher than the players who the Seahawks haven’t met with because there’s now at least some known interest.

Which prospects here would you like to see go to Seattle?

Seaside Joe 2115