The Seattle Seahawks have only one more preseason game to play before they have to cut their roster down ahead of the regular season. Going into Saturday’s game against the Green Bay Packers, there may be as many as 40 players on the roster bubble, many of them rookies.
Some are already guaranteed roster spots thanks to their position in the NFL draft, but there are a lot of first-years who are battling for a job. Some of them are doing better than others. Here are four rookies for the Seahawks who have stood out the most through two preseason games.
WR Jake Bobo
Not only has he been the most-impressive rookie – Jake Bobo has been Seattle’s most-productive offensive player this month.
First, Bobo dominated the scrimmage game at Lumen Field, leading the team with 76 receiving yards and a touchdown. Then, in the preseason opener against the Vikings Bobo led the team again with 55 yards on three catches and scored the go-ahead touchdown just before the fourth quarter.
For an encore, Bobo dropped another two catches for 43 yards against the Cowboys – second-most on the team behind fellow rookie receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba. He also made an impact on special teams by forcing a safety and show-cased some absolutely lethal route running on a sluggo.
Jake Bobo just got that man cut pic.twitter.com/QqxshQ8cqz
— Preseason Vountee😈🥷🏾 (@vountee) August 20, 2023
Through two preseason games, Pro Football Focus has Bobo graded out at 69.9 overall, the team’s ninth-best mark on offense.
At this point there’s now way the Seahawks will get away with trying to stash Bobo on their practice squad. He has 100% earned a spot on the initial 53-man roster and the only way Bobo should be excluded is if he suffers a major injury in the preseason finale against Green Bay. That’s a good enough reason to rest Bobo the same as the other players who are too valuable to risk injuring in the last game before the regular season starts.
WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Against the Cowboys on Saturday night Jaxon Smith-Njigba led the Seahawks with three catches for 58 yards. That may not sound like much on paper. However, keep in mind this is the preseason when everyone gets less playing time, so everybody’s individual numbers are deflated.
What matters is how JSN got those yards – especially a sensational 48-yard catch and run on a dime from Drew Lock. JSN was only brought down at the one-yard line thanks to a great effort from the Dallas DB.
This is a pretty throw & catch from Lock to JSN pic.twitter.com/nwHlMjmibN
— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) August 21, 2023
The previous week against Minnesota, JSN caught three more passes, totaling 25 yards. His longest was a 15-yarder that once again showed off his high-level YAC ability.
For what it’s worth, PFF has JSN graded out at 77.0 overall, which ranks No. 4 on Seattle’s offense.
While it’s a small sample size, we’ve seen enough of Jaxon-Smith Njigba during the preseason and heard enough from training camp to know that he’s going to be perfectly fine at this level – and might even be a true third superstar at wide receiver. JSN should also be in bubble wrap for Preseason Week 3 against the Packers.
OLB Levi Bell
Seattle’s wide receiver corps was always supposed to be impressive, though. Coming into the season they’re universally ranked in the top five in the league at this spot and some analysts (that’s us) believe they have the best receiver corps in the entire NFL this year, all due respect to Cincinnati.
On the other side of the ball, the Seahawks were supposed to be weakest up front – specifically an edge rush group that ranked among the dregs of the league in every pass-rushing metric that matters last season.
Good news: the outside linebacker group has turned from a one-man show featuring veteran Uchenna Nwosu into a very promising, very young, very deep and very wide group of OLB talents. They’ve performed so well that some fans are opently talking up the possibility of trading Darrell Taylor, who tied with Nwosu for a team-high 9.5 sacks last year.
One of the standouts has been undrafted rookie Levi Bell, who posted Seattle’s highest PFF grade this week. For the preseason, his 89.9 pass rush grade is nearly 12 points higher than anyone else on the team – Boye Mafe ranks second at 77.9.
Bell has done more than just rush the quarterback, though. He’s also demonstrated an ability to set the edge.
Levi Bell setting the edge pic.twitter.com/0NZ6L8hjJA
— Rapinas do Mar (Cortes) (@cortesrapinas) August 20, 2023
Bell has also posted solid grades in run defense, tackling and coverage. He has a ton of quality competition for a place on the roster, but Bell has made a strong case that he’s worth more than just a practice squad spot.
DB Jonathan Sutherland
Seattle’s depth on the back end has also shined this preseason. Projected backup cornerbacks Artie Burns, Tre Brown, Benjie Franklin and Arquon Bush have all been tight in coverage. Meanwhile at safety, they’ve gotten solid work from Ty Okada, Jerrick Reed and especially Jonathan Sutherland.
Another undrafted rookie who played his college ball at Penn State, Sutherland is trying to crack what may be the best and by far the most expensive safety room in the NFL this year. Quandre Diggs, Jamal Adams (eventually), Julian Love and Jerrick Reed are all guaranteed spots – not leaving much room for a potential fifth safety on the roster.
Even though the deck is stacked against him in a brutal way, Sutherland is putting in an exceptional effort. So far PFF has him graded out at 78.9 overall – but what’s most impressive is the breadth of his performance. Across the line, his run defense, tackling, pass rushing and coverage are all graded out at 71.2 or higher – making him about as Jack-of-all-trades as a Jack-of-all-trades can possibly get.
However, it would come as a surprise if Sutherland can push his way onto the 53-man roster as the math just isn’t in his favor. Even a superhuman effort in Saturday’s last preseason game of the year might only land him on the practice squad – but he’s earned that much at least.
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