Free company is sort of right here, and the NFL Draft is quickly to comply with, so it’s time to ask the prescient query… what are the Seattle Seahawks going to do at tight finish?
Even when this isn’t the primary concern on most of our minds proper now, it definitely will probably be when the Seahawks are going through a game-changing third down and wish a giant goal to put up up on the marker; or when they should hit a security valve with run-after-the-catch upside a’la Noah Fant on a 2nd and lengthy. The fact is that the Seahawks are slated to have some doubtlessly large vacancies that they might want to fill, they usually don’t have a ton of cap area to take action. In truth, tight finish could also be a place the place they’ll truly lower your expenses. Michael-Shawn Dugar put it aptly in his current piece for the Athletic:
Parkinson is about to hit free company at 25 years previous. Fant, 26, can even be a free agent. Dissly turns 28 in July, and his 2024 cap hit of $10.1 million ranks twelfth amongst tight ends. The Seahawks would save $7 million in wage cap area by releasing or buying and selling Dissly. It feels unlikely that each one three tight ends return, and in Dissly’s case, he in all probability gained’t be returning on that deal as at present constructed.
Whereas many issues stay shrouded in thriller, what is evident is that the tight finish group in 2024 is all however assured to look considerably completely different than it did in 2023, on paper and on the sphere. There’s little query that at the least one — and sure extra — of those gamers listed above is not going to be on the roster subsequent fall. The actual questions in my thoughts are (1) whether or not they’ll select to rebuild this group via Free company or the Draft, and (2) how important they view the emptiness on the place.
Beginning with the primary query, I consider it’s honest to say that the group of FA Tight ends is underwhelming. Not solely this, however the greatest identify within the draft — the Georgia Bulldogs star Brock Bowers — is all however assuredly going to be off the board by the point the Seahawks are on the clock. Most just lately, the Athletic had him touchdown exactly on 15, which is one spot forward of Seattle. Certain, there are some intriguing mid-round prospects like Johnny Wilson of the Florida Seminoles, who’s listed as a 6’7 “receiver” who weighs a little bit shy of 250 and boasts plus velocity… however this doesn’t look like a practical answer to a sudden lack of veteran management on the place. Nevertheless it does beg the query: how important will pass-catching tight ends be on this new offense? Nicely let’s check out some current historical past.
Tight ends comprised 87 targets for the Washington Huskies in 2023, or 16.2% of the general goal share, based on Professional Soccer Focus. This quantity was barely increased the earlier season, with 95 targets in 2022 making up 17.3% of the entire share. Within the two seasons previous to the arrival of Deboer and Grubb, the proportion was technically increased, however the complete variety of targets to go round was considerably decrease. In 2021, they collected 22.6% of the targets and 24.3% in 2020, however this was solely on 84 and 25 passes despatched their means in these seasons, respectively. So quantity makes the supply of the discrepancy troublesome to discern. Along with this, the Huskies had a triumvirate of gifted receivers for Michael Penix Jr. to play with, so there was little have to query the system. However then once more, this isn’t not like the receiving corps that Grubb will probably be working with in Seattle.
No matter worth the brand new teaching employees locations on tight finish stays to be seen. As talked about above, Grubb is coming from an offense that was capable of succeed with out marquee expertise on the place. Conversely, Macdonald is coming from an offense that has utilized Mark Andrews lately, as he completed third on the group with 62 targets final season (having missed half the season to harm), based on PFF. Whether or not or not Coach Mike expects this identical stage of manufacturing out of his tight ends in Seattle might be unlikely/unrealistic, however in any situation, they are going to be anticipated to run some routes and catch some passes. So… who will probably be working these routes and catching these passes, and the place will the group discover them?
