Seattle Seahawks fans have to look no further than Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse to see a history of undrafted wide receivers having success in the Emerald City.
However, Terry Wright picked a bad year to try to make the Seahawks roster as an undrafted free agent wide receiver.
Even after losing Baldwin to an early retirement, Wright’s path to the 53-man roster is going to be a difficult one after the team drafted three receivers in 2019. Those three – DK Metcalf, Gary Jennings and John Ursua – will join returners Tyler Lockett, David Moore and Jaron Brown.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, the team also has a flurry of practice squad players from last year, including Keenan Reynolds, Caleb Scott, Malik Turner and Amara Darboh.
Whew.
However, Wright has one of Pete Carroll’s favorite traits – blazing speed. He ran a 4.44 in the 40-yard dash at Purdue’s Pro Day, part of the reason Seattle went after him after the draft ended.
Standing five-foot-eleven and weighing in at just 180 pounds, Wright projects to be a slot receiver in the NFL. His lack of size will limit him, but – as Baldwin and Lockett can attest – it doesn’t mean he won’t find success in the league.
Wright was seen catching punts at OTAs on Tuesday, another skill he could leverage to earn himself a spot on the roster or on the practice squad. Carroll indicated they’d like to transition Lockett away from returning, and as of now, there is not a clear cut candidate to return punts on the roster.
Wright’s speed and ability as a punt returner could help him earn a roster spot in 2019, although a flurry of competition will make it difficult.
Wright will really need to really turn some heads during training camp if he wants to find himself in a Seahawks uniform when the season begins.
