Projecting Seahawks’ 53-man roster: 3 surprising rookie free agents make it, a veteran cut

Doug Baldwin. Jermaine Kearse. Michael Bennett. Thomas Rawls.

All of them entered the NFL with the Seahawks as rookie free agents. All became major contributors to Seattle’s playoffs and Super Bowl-champion teams.

George Holani, Dee Williams, Mario Kendricks and Jamie Sheriff are poised to become the latest in the franchise’s unique legacy of undrafteds.

The team that consistently kept and played the most rookie free agents during the 14 seasons Pete Carroll was its coach has decisions on three more surprises pushing to make new coach Mike Macdonald’s first Seahawks roster by the NFL cut deadline of 1 p.m. Tuesday.

That’s when Seattle and every other league team must trim its 90-man preseason roster to 53 for the initial roster of the regular season.

Holani, signed after the draft this spring from Boise State, has impressed Macdonald with his physicality and blocking, at running back and on special teams.

The latter is new for the 5-foot-10, 208 back.

Asked how much special-teams experience he had before coming to Seattle and having new teams coach Jay Harbaugh employing him, Holani said: “Little to none, honestly. I didn’t play that much special teams in college.

“Just being able to buy in and actually learn a lot of techniques and getting with the special teams coordinator. Dialing into that has been great so far. Just being able to go out there and make a tackle; I haven’t made a tackle since high school.

“So it’s been awesome.”

The News Tribune is projecting its enough to earn Holani a spot on the 53-man roster the Seahawks will announce Tuesday afternoon.

Holani passed 2023 draft choice Kenny McIntosh as the third running back behind Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet in the middle of training camp. Then McIntosh ran well and improved his blocking late in camp.

The TNT sees both Holani and McIntosh making the team that often goes through a half-dozen or more running backs because of injuries each season at the sport’s most damaged position.

Dee Williams, ‘unbelievable’

Williams wanted to quit football as a high-school senior. His coach in Forsyth, Georgia, Brian Nelson, called a coach he knew at a small junior college in Mississippi. That’s how Williams, 24 and the youngest of five children, became the first in his family to go to college.

After a sterling preseason returning punts and kickoffs, Williams is competing with fourth-year veteran Dee Eskridge for one of the final roster spots.

“He didn’t have a lot coming up,” Nelson, who like most in Forsyth knows him as Desmond, told The News Tribune last week. “There were so many chances for him to go the wrong way. He had every reason in the world to quit. He couldn’t even get on the field in high school until he was a junior.

“And here he is in the NFL.

“Unbelievable, man.”

Jamie Sheriff, beer delivery to...?

Sheriff was delivering beer near his hometown in Mississippi three weeks ago. The Seahawks signed their spring tryout player on Aug. 6. The outside linebacker had three sacks and eight quarterback pressures in three preseason games.

He’s at a position of need for the Seahawks with Uchenna Nwosu’s knee injury, Dre’Mont Jones’ hamstring issue and Seattle’s trade of Darrell Taylor to Chicago Friday.

“I made the most of my opportunity,” Sheriff said. “I never settled.”

Of the players they cut Tuesday, many of those that clear league waivers will come back to the Seahawks on their 17-man practice squad. They will begin forming that Wednesday afternoon.

Seattle has a handful of veteran starters who could begin the season on an injured list.

Right tackle Abe Lucas is eligible, and likely, to go on the first physically-unable-to-perform list of the regular season. He has yet to practice following knee surgery last winter.

Second-year safety Jerrick Reed and defensive tackle Cameron Young also are likely to begin the season on the PUP list.

Only players on PUP to begin training camp who stay on it all preseason can be on it to begin the season. Those PUP players do not count against the first regular-season roster. They must miss a minimum of the first four games.

Outside linebacker Uchenna Nwsou’s knee injury he got on a cut then chop block in the final preseason game against Cleveland is going to keep him out weeks, the team learned Monday. That makes him a candidate to begin the season on injured reserve.

NFL rule changes few years ago allow each team to bring back up to two IR players to the active roster during the season. Those short-term IR guys must miss a minimum of four games before they can return.

That may be what Nwosu does into October.

The projected 53-man roster

Starters in bold, * = rookies:

Quarterback (2): Geno Smith

Sam Howell.

Out: P.J. Walker.

The NFL Players’ Association reportedly rejected a rules change team owners were proposing to have the emergency third quarterback be eligible to come up off the practice squad for games an unlimited amount of times this season. That means Seattle has a choice whether to carry Walker as the third on the active roster, or see if he clears waivers. If he doesn’t, the team could claim a third QB off waivers for the practice squad.

Offensive line (10): LT Charles Cross, LG Laken Tomlinson, C Connor Williams, RG Anthony Bradford, RT George Fant

Reserves: Stone Forsythe, Olu Oluwatimi, *Christian Haynes, McClendon Curtis, Raiqwon O’Neal

Out: *Michael Jerrell, Ilm Manning, *Jalen Sundell, *Sataoa Laumea, Max Pircher, *Garret Greenfield

PUP list: Abe Lucas

Bradford beats out Haynes, the rookie third-round pick, to start. Forsythe can play both tackles, Haynes can play both guards. Curtis can play guard and tackle. O’Neal can play all guard, tackle and center.

Sundell is listed as a tackle but was the third center in camp. He, sixth-round pick Jerrell at tackle and Laumea, a sixth-round pick at guard, are candidates for the practice squad.

Wide receiver (6): DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Jake Bobo, Dareke Young, Laviska Shenault

Out: Ty Scott, Dee Eskridge, Easop Winston Jr., *Hayden Hatten

The most competitive group on offense. The top four are given. Smith-Njigba and Bobo were particularly strong in training camp with route-running and body control on catches.

Young, the seventh-round pick last year from Division-II Lenior-Rhyne, rose to first-team reps during training camp while Lockett rested a sore leg. The new coach seems to really like Young’s versatility and physicality blocking outside.

“Really like Dareke. He’s a really good player,” Macdonald said. “He does the right thing all the time. We’re on record about the type of toughness that he has, the type of football player he is. ...I’m excited about him.”

White deserves to be on this roster for what he did catching passes and blocking, plus on special teams, in camp and the preseason games. They hope he clears league waivers so they can have him on their practice squad ready to play when needed.

Same with Winston.

Eskridge, the Seahawks’ second-round and top pick from 2021, had three seasons and four training camps to seize a role. Injuries, and NFL suspension and ineffectiveness end his time with Seattle.

Tight end (4): Noah Fant

Pharaoh Brown, Brady Russell, *AJ Barner

Out: Devon Garrison, Micahel Ezeike.

Injured reserve: *Jack Westover

Fant and Brown were out injured the last two weeks of the preseason. This assumes they are OK for the start of the season Sept. 8 against Denver.

Westover, from Bellevue and the University of Washington, missed the last half of camp with a hamstring injury.

Running back (4): Kenneth Walker

Zach Charbonnet, Kenny McIntosh, *George Holani.

Out: *Kairee Robinson, *Kobe Lewis.

Tackle Jerrell thinks Holani should be on the team.

“Powerful. He knows he’s going to run through somebody’s face,” Jerrell said. “He’s a hard runner, a hard nose, he fights for extra yards. I love it.”

Defensive ends (4): Dre’Mont Jones, Leonard Williams

Mike Morris, Myles Adams.

Out: DeVere Levelston.

This assumes Jones’ hamstring is OK to begin the season. Macdonald sounded optimistic about that this past weekend.

Defensive tackles (4): Jarran Reed, Johnathan Hankins

*Byron Murphy, *Mario Kendricks

PUP list: Cameron Young.

Out: *Kyon Barrs.

Murphy was a monster, in camp practices and while double- and triple-teamed in preseason games. Hankins is the one pure nose tackle over the center. They may need more.

Kendricks may be the biggest surprise of the rookie free agents. From Virginia Tech, he didn’t sign with Seattle until Aug. 8. He makes the team, at least until Young is ready, because this position is so thin. Look for a veteran defensive-tackle signing off another team’s cuts.

Linebackers (7): Tyrel Dodson, Jerome Baker, Boye Mafe, Derick Hall

Jon Rhattigan, *Tyrice Knight, Trevis Gipson

Injured reserve: Uchenna Nwosu.

Out: *Jamie Sheriff, Patrick O’Connell, *Michael Barrett, Blake Lynch, Drake Thomas, *Nelson Ceaser, *Sundiata Anderson, *Easton Gibbs

The second-year man Hall had a brilliant camp. Macdonald loves his physicality. He replaces Nwosu for now. The team traded a late-round pick to Jacksonville Monday to acquire Gipson, who plays outside linebacker and has been an end in his four NFL seasons.

Sheriff certainly did enought to make the roster. The team believes since no team drafted him, no team signed him as a rookie free agent and he remained unsigned until Aug. 6, they can get Sheriff through waivers onto the practice squad. That is a dice roll, with the preseason game tape he now has.

Barrett, whom Macdonald coached at Michigan, only arrived last week. He, O’Connell, Thomas and Anderson are other candidates for the practice squad.

Cornerbacks (5): Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen, Tre Brown

*D.J. James, *Dee Williams

Injured reserve: Artie Burns

Out: Lance Boykin, *Carlton Johnson, *Nehemiah Pritchett

Three starters, because Macdonald is going to employ nickel defense with five defensive backs a lot. Some of that will be with three safeties and two cornerbacks. Williams makes it as the new punt and kickoff returner. Burns injured his foot in the preseason finale and left the field on the back of a cart.

James over fellow sixth-round pick from Auburn Pritchett, because James also was playing backup nickel in training camp.

Safeties (4): Julian Love, Rayshawn Jenkins

K’Von Wallace, Coby Bryant

PUP list: Jerrick Reed

Out: Ty Okada, Marquise Blair

This presumes Jenkins lower leg injury from practice last week isn’t serious. If it is, he could start the season on an injured list. That would mean Blair likely makes the Seahawks in his second try at reviving his injury-filled career.

Specialists (3): Kicker Jason Myers, punter Michael Dickson, long snapper Chris Stoll

Unchallenged. Unchanged from last season.