The 2020 NFL draft is in the books, and the Seattle Seahawks came away with eight new players to compete for jobs on the 53-man roster during training camp.
A pair of edge defenders and a pair of tight ends highlight the class, but the team also added a run-stuffing linebacker, a slot receiver, a third down running back and a mauling right guard – an eclectic group of talented players, many who have battled adversity in their young careers and are ready to come in with a chip on their shoulder and immediately make an impact on this club.
Adding eight new players creates some competitive positional battles in camp, and while that will certainly create some tough roster decisions for Pete Carroll and John Schneider – that’s exactly how they prefer it.
It’s not the best news for three of Seattle’s veterans, however, as the Seahawks sent them a strong message that their job security is dwindling, and they may have to fight pretty hard to keep their jobs in 2020.
Cody Barton
The Seahawks raised plenty of eyebrows when they used their first round pick on run-stuffing linebacker Jordyn Brooks out of Texas Tech.
After all, the team got a renaissance season from K.J. Wright at the WILL linebacker spot, has a future Hall of Famer in Bobby Wagner in the middle and seemed set to allow Cody Barton, a third round pick in 2019, play the SAM spot this year.
Now the competition is on, and while some think this could be a sign that Wright will be cut, it seems more likely to me that Brooks and Barton will be competing for snaps at SAM, a sentiment coach Pete Carroll echoed after the draft.
“We’ve got Bobby and K.J. and we love what they’ve done,” Carroll said. “We’ll give this guy [Brooks] a chance to see where he can fit in. We’ll work the competition so that we can uncover exactly what’s best. We really think that he’s got a chance to be fighting for playing time right away. Cody Barton did a great job for us last year so it’ll be a very competitive situation, just like we like. Jordyn is all about competition, he’s got a great head on his shoulders.”
So it sounds like Barton and Brooks will compete to replace Mychal Kendricks at the SAM position, with Wright and Wagner staying on at their respective positions.
Barton isn’t in danger of getting cut, but the plan always seemed to be for him to spend one year as a reserve and take over as a starter in year two, and now he has a much more difficult path to immediate playing time in the Emerald City.
D.J. Fluker
The Seahawks are expected to make one more splash, either via trade or free agency, to acquire an impact pass rusher.
Whether that’s a reunion with Jadeveon Clowney, a trade for Yannick Ngakoue or Matthew Judon, or the team signing former USC star Everson Griffen remains to be seen, but regardless it will require a hefty chunk of the team’s cap space to get a deal done.
That’s where D.J. Fluker could come in to play, or rather his $4.2 million cap hit. There was always speculation that either Fluker or center Justin Britt, or both, could be cut to clear cap space – and the team’s decision to draft hulking right guard Damien Lewis from LSU in the third round is a good indication Fluker’s days in Seattle might be numbered.
“Yeah he will,” coach Pete Carroll said about Lewis competing to start at right guard. “He won’t take a back seat to anybody. He’s going to come in here and battle for it. We feel really good. That’s really part of the reason why we took him. We want him to come in here and battle to play. All of that competition will make us better.”
Lewis is a similar style player to Fluker, a massive right guard who excels in run-blocking but has work to do as a pass blocker.
He’s more cost-effective and less injury-prone however, and it stands to reason he could win the starting job in camp – which would allow the team to release Fluker and use that money to pay a new defensive end.
Luke Willson and Jacob Hollister
The Seahawks aren’t quite on the Bears pace of acquiring tight ends, but they went into the NFL draft with five on the roster and came away with seven, a number that almost certainly indicates a few cuts are coming down the pipeline.
Colby Parkinson and Stephen Sullivan are both non-traditional Seahawks tight ends, as both are capable of lining up out wide and neither are known for their run-blocking, the traits normally associated with tight ends on the Seahawks.
Seattle will head into 2020 with Will Dissly and Greg Olsen the presumed one and two in the tight end room, with Jacob Hollister, Luke Willson, Justin Johnson and the two newcomers competing for backup spots.
“We’re loading up, we’re loading up,” coach Carroll said after the draft. “We’re really excited. You’re going to hear me every time go right back to competition. It can’t be better than this one. The guys are different too. We have unique players…Let the games begin.”
The Seahawks won’t cut both of their new tight ends, but they likely won’t carry six on the roster, so even if Johnson gets cut the team will have to make some other decisions.
Willson is the most obvious cut candidate, thanks to his age and relative lack of production, but the two new guys are similar players to Hollister – making him a cut candidate as well.
It will truly be a full-on competition between this group, although age and injuries are concerns for Olsen and Dissly, which could force Seattle’s hand and allow the whole group to stay together as added depth.
