The Seattle Seahawks have now signed a whopping 17 undrafted free agents to the 90-man roster, after reportedly coming to terms with 12 more on Monday afternoon.
Add in the eight draft picks and the Seahawks have 25 first-year players vying for spots on the active roster this summer.
While most of the draft picks are expected to earn a spot, that is not the case for the undrafted guys. Seattle has had plenty of success with undrafted free agents in the past, including Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse and Poona Ford, but for the most part they are camp fodder who end up getting cut in early September.
Still, of the 17 newcomers, there are a handful who appear to have the tools, athleticism, and performance to make this squad out of camp.
Here are the three with the best chance, and why they could find themselves on the field in Week 1.
Anthony Gordon, QB, Washington State
Gordon was one of the most surprising players who went undrafted in 2020, but his loss was immediately the Seahawks gain as they moved quickly to sign him as an undrafted free agent.
Gordon joins Russell Wilson as the only quarterbacks on the roster, although it’s expected they will add at least one more to create some competition in training camp.
However, Gordon has a great chance to win the backup gig this year, after throwing for a whopping 5,579 yards in Mike Leach’s air raid offense at Washington State last season.
Gordon’s football awareness and arm strength have been called into question, likely leading to his freefall during the draft, but if there is any quarterback in the league who can help in those areas it is Wilson.
Gordon will have to beat out a veteran, potentially Geno Smith if he’s re-signed, to win a spot on the active roster, but he seems like a very likely candidate to at least remain with the team on the practice squad if he doesn’t win the team’s backup job outright.
Debione Renfro, CB, Texas A&M
Renfro left after his junior season with the Texas A&M Aggies, a year that saw him appear in 11 games and rack up 33 combined tackles, 1.5 sacks and four pass breakups.
While his numbers were never huge, Renfro fits Seattle’s size requirements as a six-foot-two defensive back who ran a 4.52 40-yard dash.
Additionally, he was used a lot as a blitzing defensive back, something that could appeal to the Seahawks.
Ultimately, Renfro’s path to a spot on the 55-man game day roster is through the special teams, an area his size and speed is expected to help him tremendously at the next level.
His ball skills at outside corner are questionable, leaving some to speculate about an eventual transition to safety, but coach Pete Carroll loves his special teamers and if Renfro can display an ability to pin his ears back and fly down the field, he could take on an Akeem King-like role on this team in 2020.
Marcus Webb, DE, Troy
Webb balled out in a big way his senior season at Troy, leading the Sun Belt Conference with seven sacks while also recording 27 combined tackles and nine for a loss.
Webb is undersized (six-foot-three, 279 pounds) for an interior defensive tackle, meaning he’d have to make a name for himself at five-tech, a spot that is currently expected to be occupied by some combination of Rasheem Green, L.J. Collier and Benson Mayowa.
Webb’s size will be the issue, but he has displayed excellent burst off the ball and his array of pass rush counters grew substantially during his time in college.
Perhaps the Seahawks see someone with even more room to grow, and if he can maintain his speed and add some muscle, there’s potential for a reserve role at five-tech in 2020.
