4 qualities that make Tyrice Knight a potential steal for the Seahawks
The Seahawks didn't draft a LB until day three, but maybe they were just waiting for Knight time: Seaside Joe 1913
If the Seahawks were overly concerned about the needs at linebacker, then Seattle GM John Schneider could have drafted one in the third round instead of guard Christian Haynes. Or traded down from pick 16, too early for any of the off-ball linebacker prospects in the 2024 class, and tried to maneuver the Seahawks into position to draft one in the second round or early third, including former Mike Macdonald protege Junior Colson from Michigan.
(Colson was picked 69th overall by the Chargers, reuniting him with Jim Harbaugh and another former Michigan defensive coordinator, Jesse Minter, instead.)
But maybe Schneider and Macdonald are as concerned about linebacker needs as they should be and simply view Tyrice Knight, Seattle’s first pick on day three and the 118th prospect selected in the 2024 NFL Draft, as someone who is being just as overlooked now as he was coming out of Lake Gibson high school with no stars in 2018 and Independence Community College with only one Division-I offer in 2020.
If Division-I college coaches couldn’t grasp Knight’s value twice before, maybe 31 NFL teams made a mistake by passing on him last month.
These are some of the qualities that stood out to me about Tyrice Knight in articles and videos that I’ve reviewed about the fourth round pick for this Seaside Joe article. Words and phrases that come up a lot to describe Knight include: “Student of the game”, “relentless worker”, “instinctive”, “leader”, “chip on his shoulder”, “twitchy”, and “passionate”. His college defensive coordinator said that Knight “never flinches” and his coaches at UTEP were constantly mentioning how much the linebacker with 140 tackles in 12 games last season loves to give everything in practice. He never missed one in four years at UTEP, even when his coaches told him to.
Perhaps these attributes are enough for Knight to surprise people and become a key starter on the Seahawks defense by 2025, which would be just in time to fill a need that wasn’t “filled” by any veteran contracts past this year.