By Jared Stanger

Seahawks rookie minicamp opened Friday with the team announcing 3 draftpick signings, 15 rookie free agent signings, and releasing the roster for the four-day rookie camp. Here are some of my early observations:

Seattle punted on WR in the draft and then came back in UDFA with three of their fifteen signings at that spot. 12 total WR in camp, and six of those are 6’2″ or taller.

Seattle also going pretty aggressive in UDFA at LB, with the additional note that they are using many college safeties as linebackers, and what may approximate as a SPUR or STAR position.

The rookie OL roster sort of resembles the draft: deeper at Guard (seven men) and Center (three), and light at Tackle (only four). One of the four Tackles is college defensive lineman Ulric Jones at 6’5″/300lbs.

The Seattle 90-man roster is potentially light at the TE position, so keep an eye on camp invites Jeb Blazevich (who played for Brian Schottenheimer in 2015 at Georgia), and Boston College basketball wing Garland Owens (who at 6’5″/225lbs is being listed as a WR). These would be potential 90-man additions, not 53-man players.

Rookie roster is extremely light at DT with only three men listed at the spot. Rasheem Green will get some work there, and perhaps 6’2″/278lbs Seyvon Lowry.

Most of the Northwest schools are represented:

UW- Will Dissly, Andrew Kirkland, Demorea Stringfellow, Troy Williams
WSU- Jamal Morrow
Oregon- Tanner Carew, Kani Benoit, Scott Pagano
Oregon State- Brandon Arnold
Boise State- Marcus Henry
Idaho State- Skyler Phillips

Positions worth tracking:

Pass-catching RB. Between Jamal Morrow, Kani Benoit, and Justin Stockton (and the fact that JD McKissic is now sharing his jersey number with Rashaad Penny), Seattle may be looking for a more traditional 3rd down back.

Linebacker. Seattle has multiple open spots on the linebacker depth chart after multiple vet free agents were not re-signed. Florida State’s Jacob Pugh with his 59th percentile athleticism might be the frontrunner for one spot. But we also need to see who can emerge to backup Bobby Wagner at MIKE.

Big WR. I’ve been thinking they’d look for another bigger target for a while now. Caleb Scott is a very good athlete. Demorea Stringfellow is pretty intriguing, too.

Former Husky and Ute QB Troy Williams is the 3rd-best QB SPARQ in the 2018 class. May be an interesting practice squad target.

Some SPARQ numbers:

Utah’s Troy Williams is 87th percentile at QB.
MSU’s Gerald Holmes is 71st percentile at RB.
Slippery Rock’s Martin is 68th perecentile at FB.
Texas Tech’s Justin Stockton is 53rd percentile at RB.
Vanderbilt’s Caleb Scott is 85th percentile at WR.
Rasheem Green, Marcell Frazier, and Jacob Martin are all about 60th percentile as DE.

One last, pretty major, observation: “Last Chance U” quarterback, turned Florida Atlantic WR, John Franklin is listed at WR on the camp roster, but I noticed in the team’s photo album from day one that Franklin was wearing the white jersey of defense and huddling up with the DB’s. They’ve got him at cornerback.