Seahawks post-draft position battles: Defense
The secondary will look different in 2026
The Seahawks post-draft position battles for offense were covered on Wednesday, so naturally it’s time to turn the page to the defense today.
Safety
Bud Clark*, Ty Okada, Rodney Thomas II, AJ Finley, Maxen Hook, D’Anthony Bell
While Julian Love and Nick Emmanwori have roles set in stone, there’s at least a conversation to be had around Okada being pushed by Clark, a safety with superior traits and drafted by Seattle with the mindset that he will be a starter eventually.
That may not come immediately in 2026 and it might not be at the expense of Okada, one of the Seahawks’ best surprises last year, but if Clark can assume that Coby Bryant role early in his career who does pay the price?
Probably Ty Okada.
A regular contributor for the majority of the season, Okada played 19 defensive snaps in the playoffs, almost all during Seattle’s blowout over the 49ers.
At some point in camp the 6’2 Clark will stand next to the 5’11 Okada and the difference will be as apparent as Bobby Wagner next to Drake Thomas.
Some key takeaways in this Lombardi/Broaddus video:
-”hybrid safety capable of playing in the slot (313 snaps), the box (250 snaps), and deep in coverage (160 snaps)”
-”exceptional "range" and ball instincts, noting he is constantly around the football and excels at reading route combinations and quarterback eyes”
-”plays under control and demonstrating high-level play recognition”
By drafting Clark and only paying Okada as an exclusive rights free agent who might be too expensive to keep next year, or who might just regress, the steps are laid down for the Seahawks to make that change at safety at some point in 2026.
It would not be surprising if Bud Clark has the most snaps of any Seahawks rookie in 2026, if not just being a full-time starter.
After the four safeties who we know are locked into roster positions next season, Seattle should keep one or two more. Thomas II has special teams experience and used to be a starter on the Colts. The others have a head start with Macdonald by joining the Seahawks last year.
CB Depth
Andre Fuller*, Shemar Jean-Charles, Nehemiah Pritchett, Michael Dansby*, Noah Igbinoghene
If your name wasn’t Devon Witherspoon, Josh Jobe, or Tariq Woolen last season, then you practically did not play cornerback for the Seahawks. Not counting the nickel position, where you would often see Emmanwori, the vast majority of corner snaps went to those three players.
You will see snaps and snap% in the far right columns:
The competition starts between third round pick Julian Neal and the corners listed above for a coveted CB3 role alongside Witherspoon and Jobe, but there could be another veteran addition this year.
Igbinoghene is a former first round pick but his career has gone so poorly to date that he’s just in a fight for the roster at this point. Also most of his success has come at nickel, which is a different conversation.
If we break it down between Neal and Pritchett, then coaches would need to see major improvement from the latter this year:
—Pritchett allowed 3 touchdowns in 2025
—Pritchett was only targeted 9 times in 2025
We know that Witherspoon is going to make the roster (although I’m still comfortable having that conversation) and that Jobe and Neal will make the roster. After that though, Seattle has five players competing for maybe two jobs and the Seahawks will add more corners before it’s all said and done.
Fuller has a similar physical profile to Neal and played every secondary position in college. In this pre-draft interview, he talks about the experience of playing at Toledo, a college with a good recent track record for secondary players:
But players don’t fall to the seventh round by accident. His six-year college career had few highlights and Lance Zierlein is already talking about a move to safety to mask his lack of top-end speed.
Then you look at Dansby and he’s one of the true mysteries of the draft; a prospect without an NFL.com draft profile page.
If the Seahawks keep five cornerbacks, I hate to even hazard a guess at who they’re going to choose after the top-three because, as we’ve all seen many times before, the late round/undrafted rookies tend to reveal themselves over the entire offseason and training camp. And there’s often a surprise.
Five is probably the magic number and only three corners on the roster can feel secure that they’ll be one of them.
Really deep edge rusher depth
Jared Ivey, Connor O’Toole, Jalan Gaines, Jamie Sheriff, Aidan Hubbard*, Devean Deal*
I say “really deep” and yet Ivey and O’Toole are realistically just a snap away from having one of the most important roles on the Seahawks in 2026. They are basically fourth in line at edge rusher behind DeMarcus Lawrence, Uchenna Nwosu, and Derick Hall.
For now.
Once the Seahawks add Dante Fowler or a different veteran edge rusher, it gives Macdonald a thicker cushion between the starters and the depth…but without much comfort. It’s not a high-density foam core wrapped in a down-feather blend.
Even the most casual fan can see that Lawrence is old and Nwosu has an injury history and is unreliable, while Hall is inconsistent and yet to prove anything in the NFL. And Dante Fowler is supposed to make us feel better?
For the third year in a row, John Schneider drafted zero outside linebackers or edge rushers, instead waiting to sign Hubbard and Deal after the draft. They enter a competition with Ivey, O’Toole, Sheriff, and Gaines to be the fifth and/or sixth edge rushers on the roster.
It’s hard to believe that two undrafted edge rushers would make the Seahawks roster … until you see that it happened just last year.
O’Toole was a little more active on special teams, but not so much that he would be missed. Ivey stood out more in the preseason, but those games do not count for much.
Hubbard and Deal had to be very strategic in choosing Seattle as the team to sign with because despite having little shot of making an impact, they have seen that it might be possible to make the roster or the practice squad.
Compare that to defensive tackles Deven Eastern (7th round) and Uso Seumalo (UDFA) and the barrier to entry is much more difficult.
They probably need to climb over Brandon Pili to make the 53-man roster. Which certainly is not impossible, but compared to edge rusher where every name could be different next season, Seattle’s defensive line has the ability to be the best in the NFL with the same players for years to come.