Seahawks Player Rankings: Nos. 26-30
These Seahawks have barely scratched the surface of what they could be capable of in the NFL
Professional sports are so interesting because often the best in the world at what they do have barely even experienced life after high school and college. Remember what the first five years after college were like for you?
I know for me, those years flew by so fast. The memories feel like dreams, or scenes I made up.
Now imagine if during that period of your life, you made millions and starred on an international stage.
That’s the case for the majority of players in the NFL. The oldest player on today’s list is 27. The rest are 25 or younger. What a time to be alive and among the 30 best players on a Super Bowl team.
In case you missed or want to review:
Player Rankings, Part 1: Nos. 81-91
Player Rankings, Part 2: Nos. 71-80
Player Rankings, Part 3: Nos. 61-70
Player Rankings, Part 4: Nos. 51-60
Player Rankings, Part 5: Nos. 41-50
Player Rankings, Part 6: Nos. 31-40
30. DE Rylie Mills
In the 15 years I’ve been covering the Seahawks, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a player who was as much of an “urban legend” as Mills has been so far. It’s not that he’s not real (if you’ve seen the movie Urban Legend starring Jared Leto than you know sometimes they are!), it’s just that he’s still kind of hiding under the bed.
During the Tournament of THE Champions, Mills won two matchups thanks to your votes, just before being eliminated prior to re-entry. That’s phenomenal work for a fifth-round pick with 34 career snaps.
Mills enters 2026 training camp with a chance to unseat Jarran Reed, or at least, steal a lot of snaps this year. Aden Durde was so enamored with Mills in the draft that John Schneider said:
"If we wouldn't have drafted him, I'm not sure if A.D. would've showed up for work on Monday."
Leonard has since become just as big of a fan:
"That was a big moment for him in the Super Bowl to have that confidence at the end of his rookie season," defensive tackle Williams said earlier last month. "That was a big-time play. It shows what type of potential he has as a player. I think he's going to take it to another level."
In fact, Mills might be “too hyped” for camp, if that’s possible.
Not sure how good Mills can be, but if he lives up to the legendary status that fans have for him, he’s going to be scary.
29. S Ty Okada
Any Seahawks looking for inspiration to go shatter draft expectations can look no further than Okada. He had to walk-on at Montana State, then earn a job on defense after several years of standout play on special teams. His NFL story isn’t much different, going undrafted in 2023 and working his way up from the practice squad to stepping up as a starter last year when Seattle needed another safety.
Because of injuries, Okada played more snaps than Julian Love and responded with a 4.4 percent missed tackle rate, one interception, 65 tackles, and six pass deflections.
We should expect Okada’s role to change again in 2026, potentially losing snaps to the next player on this list, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be less valuable. Because Okada embraces the challenge:
“I always think about it like this: I look at myself as a force multiplier,” Okada said. “Whatever the coaches ask of me, whatever my role is each day and each week, I want to do it to the best of my ability and help put my teammates in the best possible position to also find success.
A secondary with Okada having a role but not starting is probably even better than a secondary where offenses can predict where he’ll be. That’s a compliment.
28. S Bud Clark
As much as Seahawks fans appreciate Okada and want to see him on the field, there’s a buzz growing for what Seattle’s second round pick can do to upgrade Mike Macdonald’s defense next season. He won two matchups in the Tournament, including a decisive victory over Julian Neal, showing how excited fans are to see another athletic safety handpicked by Macdonald added to the secondary.
“I’m versatile and I’m a ballhawk,” Clark said on a conference call with reporters. “I’m getting to the ball every chance I get. I compete; I’m a competitor always.”
Clark added, “I’ve played safety, nickel and corner before… I can play multiple spots, but I’m going to leave it up to them. I’m trying to play everything they want me to play, really.”
Clark sees the opportunity to join a secondary that already has premium starting talent all over as an opportunity, not a curse.
“It’s a blessing, a dream come true,” Clark said. “I get to help them boys in every way that I can.”
There’s a lot of enthusiasm for how Clark’s skillset can contribute to a defense that didn’t have many holes last season, especially as it pertains to turnovers. As great as Seattle’s defense was, it’s surprising that the leading intercepter was Ernest Jones, whereas the only other players with more than one were Coby Bryant and Derion Kendrick.
That’s where a healthy Julian Love, a full season of Nick Emmanwori, and the addition of Clark can take Seattle from sixth in takeaways to first.
The only reason Bud Clark isn’t in the top-25? I’m probably just more conservative with projecting rookies than the average person. Players with some proof at the NFL level should always get a bump over those with none.
27. TE Elijah Arroyo
Speaking of which, Arroyo is a bit of column A and a bit of column B.
On one hand, Arroyo played over 300 snaps, caught a touchdown, midway through the season he was on pace for over 300 yards.
On the other hand, Arroyo’s hype as an immediate new weapon for Sam Darnold turned out to be a little premature. Injuries were one issue—as usual—but even if he had been healthy all year, probably not quite as much of a rookie difference-maker as some expected.
That being said, I’m still very high on Elijah Arroyo. Schneider calls him a player who would have gone in the top-20, if not for injury, so he has the potential to become the Seahawks’ number two receiver some day. But that’s not all: He has the will to become a great player too…
In “DK runs down Budda” fashion, a game-saving tackle at Miami was cited as an historic moment for OC Shannon Dawson:
“That was one of the most amazing plays that I’ve seen in my career,” Miami offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said. “If he doesn’t run that guy down, then that’s a touchdown because he’s going to cut it up and nobody’s there. They didn’t score on that drive, so that single-handedly kept us in the game.”
Pay attention to the bottom of the screen: Arroyo is the farthest player away from the ball, but immediately starts sprinting while his teammates are loafing:
“I saw the interception, and I’m like, ‘We can’t let them score,’ ” Arroyo said. “We were 4-0 last year and we kind of let that slip away and things went downhill. So I was like, ‘We can’t lose this game. I’ve got to do anything I can.’ So I just made sure I took a decent angle and just ran down the field and do what I could.”
That’s the type of hustle that wins you fans on the coaching staff, so I’m expecting a big year for Arroyo and a reminder of how hyped fans were last offseason.
26. G Anthony Bradford
I’ve gone back and forth on Bradford all year, because as much as I’ve defended him as Seattle’s most-likely starter at right guard, during my re-watch of the 2025 season it’s impossible to ignore the mistakes. There are a lot of them. He looks even more helpless than I remembered.
That being said, is there even a discussion about having a competition at right guard?
Not that anyone is aware of.
John Gilbert highlighted the issue for Field Gulls, most importantly reminding folks that it’s not so easy to simply start a rookie offensive lineman and expect him to do any better than Bradford:
The answer to that question comes in two parts. The first part is more general in nature, and is rooted in the simple fact that the overwhelming majority of young offensive linemen struggle upon entering the NFL. There is no shortage of linemen who had difficulty making the adjustment from college to the NFL, especially younger players who did not have enough playing time in college to hone the finer parts of their craft, or who simply had to effectively relearn how to play their position.
If we go back a few years, fans were clamoring for a rookie guard to start over Seattle’s carousel of underwhelming veteran starters. That guy’s name?
Anthony Bradford.
However, Schneider did emphasize the importance of getting Beau Stephens in the draft once he fell to the fifth round. He has now drafted six guards in the last four years: Bradford, Christian Haynes, Grey Zabel, Mason Richman, Bryce Cabeldue, and Stephens.
Zabel is a starter. That leaves five players theoretically in competition at right guard, but Bradford’s experience would seemingly place him far out front.
For that reason alone, I’m still putting Bradford as the highest-ranked guard in that group of five, but the lowest-ranked starter on Seattle’s roster (with the caveat that I’m not sure who will start between Okada and Clark).
Two things can be true:
Bradford can be a weak link on the Seahawks.
Bradford can still be above the threshold to start.
It’s not a lot of praise, but is just enough to get him slightly ahead of players who most fans probably like more and still just need to get to know better with increased snaps. Or maybe you love Bradford and want to sing his praises when nobody else will, which you can do in the comments:
Correction: When I wrote "that's the case for majority of players in the NFL", I was referring to age. This looks like I mean that the majority of players in the NFL make at least $30 million. That's not even close to accurate. Have changed the article.