Ted’s Talk: Reviewing the Seahawks 2023 rookie predictions – Part 2

My predictions for the first half aged pretty well.  How about the rest of the draft picks?

As a reminder, I predicted how each of the Seattle Seahawks draft picks in the 2023 NFL Draft would perform in their rookie seasons. Now, it’s time to check my work.

For each player, I’ll include the relevant information from the original article but will include the links if you want to review the full pieces.

In case you missed Part 1, you can read it here before moving on to reviews for the final five picks.

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Cameron Young

Excerpt from the prediction article:

In all likelihood, Young will be expected to take significant snaps at nose tackle right off the bat. Al Woods and Poona Ford are gone, Bryan Mone is recovering from ACL surgery, and Jarran Reed isn’t a perfect fit at that position. I don’t know if he’ll be considered the starter, but Young will have ample opportunity to win that job.

It might not be smooth sailing his first year since Young probably needs a full season to put on good weight and gain the necessary strength to control NFL offensive linemen and hold the line of scrimmage on a consistent basis. He probably won’t offer much as a pass rusher, but that’s not why he was drafted. Young won’t show up often on the stat sheet clogging up the middle, yet I can see him having a similar rookie season to the aforementioned Jarran Reed – who was also thought of as mainly a run-stuffer coming out of Alabama – which would put Young around 30 tackles and 2 TFL.

Actual Results via Pro Football Reference:

Verdict?

Wrong.

In my defense, these predictions were made before it was known that Jarran Reed would be playing nose tackle. Turns out Jarran Reed was pretty damn good at that position and Young only tallied 200 snaps which accounted for a mere 19% of the total defensive snaps. That’s much lower than I was anticipating and explains why he fell short of my predictions. Young might have gotten pretty close with extra snaps if we extrapolate the data. Then again, if ifs and buts were candy and nuts we’d all have a Merry Christmas. I’m not sure how Young will fit with Macdonald’s plans but he should at least be in the conversation to take meaningful reps this season.

Mike Morris

Excerpt from the prediction article:

As excited as I am about Morris, I wouldn’t be surprised if 2023 is more of a “redshirt” year for him as he makes the transition to a 3-4 DE, gaining the necessary size and strength that he needs to be effective on the inside in the NFL. He’ll get snaps, sure, but will be behind Dre’Mont Jones, Jarran Reed, Mario Edwards and possibly Myles Adams. Don’t rule out the Seahawks adding more rotational players throughout the summer or at the 53-man roster cutdown to eat up snaps.

Morris’ future could be very bright, and I think there will be a few glimpses of this in 2023. He’s a player I’ll be watching very closely in the preseason. As for the regular season, he may not be active every week. I’m hoping he plays in at least 12 games and gets 20 tackles with a random sack.

Actual Results via Pro Football Reference:

Verdict?

Wrong again but I have a ready-made excuse as Morris only played in the regular season opener and then was placed on injured reserve, needing shoulder surgery. This was after Morris sat out most of preseason due to that balky shoulder.

His future could still be very bright considering he played for Macdonald at Michigan so familiarity may help him out in this case. It will be interesting to see where Macdonald wants to put Morris. Seattle wanted him to gain weight and drafted him to be more of an inside player. Macdonald could kick Morris outside to set the edge at times which Morris did in college. I’ll be keeping an eye on him throughout the offseason to see if he’s added weight or slimmed down which might give us an indication as to his future.

Olusegun Oluwatimi

Excerpt from the prediction article:

Seattle has been looking for a long-term answer at center for what seems like decades. Max Unger was the last one who truly held down that position before he was traded away to the New Orleans Saints in 2015. Justin Britt had a few moments, but ultimately didn’t work out. Otherwise, it’s been a revolving door of cast-offs and stopgap options. Remember Drew Nowak? How about Stephen Schilling? Those guys started multiple games at center for Seattle in the last decade so it’s about time to find someone to claim that position.

The Seahawks brought in Evan Brown in free agency, but that’s only a one-year deal. Joey Hunt is also on the roster, but if you thought Olu was small what does that make Hunt? Olu should have every opportunity to win the starting center job and I wouldn’t bet against him based on what he’s shown in the past. He’ll get the most starts at center this season out of that group and I’ll just hitch my wagon to Big Olu right now – that’s your starting center Week 1 and for the future.

Actual Results via Pro Football Reference:

Verdict?

Oh, so very wrong!

Like Morris, Olu missed some time in training camp with a wrist injury. That certainly didn’t help but it never really seemed like he had a chance to unseat veteran free agent addition Evan Brown as the starting center. Brown was a serviceable center and didn’t do anything to lose the job throughout the course of the season. Still, he’s a free agent and in my mind unlikely to be brought back. I haven’t jumped off the Olu bandwagon and still hope he’s the starting center that the Seahawks have sorely needed. That’s not a given, however, especially with a new coaching staff coming in. I didn’t notice a drop-off in play for the Seahawks offense when Olu was in the game as opposed to Brown, but Seattle could also look to really upgrade the position this offseason. Still, he’ll be cheap for the next few years and gives Seattle a reliable floor in the middle of the offensive line as a worst case scenario.

Jerrick Reed

Excerpt from the prediction article:

The Seahawks can always use depth at both safety and nickel cornerback, and Reed has the chance to fill those along with getting extensive work on special teams. It’s that third phase that will really determine whether Reed is on the roster after final cutdowns. Seattle lost special teams mainstays Travis Homer and Tanner Muse this offseason, so there are opportunities for Reed. I think he has the toughness and mentality to make it and the coaching staff really seems to love him. Reed will see time on all special teams units and will be one of their important pieces in that third phase similar to what Joey Blount did last year.

Actual Results via Pro Football Reference:

Verdict?

Hey, I got one right! It sucks that Jerrick Reed tore his ACL in Week 11 because he was becoming a special teams demon, logging 157 snaps on those units prior to his injury. Reed wasn’t just filling space either, as he racked up 9 special teams tackles in 10 games. For reference, Julian Love led the Seahawks with 13 special teams tackles. Nick Bellore logged 12 tackles on special teams and made the Pro Bowl as a result. It’s entirely likely that Jerrick Reed – and not Bellore – could have represented the Seahawks in the Pro Bowl for his special teams acumen had he played the entire season.

Hopefully Reed makes a full recovery as there are myriad questions surrounding the Seahawks safety room at this point along with his potential as a core special teamer.

Kenny McIntosh

Excerpt from the prediction article:

Unless there’s a UDFA who surprises or an outside FA/waiver wire pickup, I really don’t see how McIntosh fails to make the roster – even as a seventh-round pick. He fills the vacant roster spot from Travis Homer and slots in behind Walker, Charbonnet, and Dallas in Seattle’s backfield and he might just be Seattle’s third-down back of the future.

However, McIntosh’s contributions this season will likely come on special teams. I can’t rule out the possibility of him being forced into action due to the Seahawks rotten luck when it comes to RB health, but I think a reasonable prediction is for McIntosh to be active for eight games for special teams duty where he’ll make the most impact and see less than 15 total touches on offense.

Actual Results via Pro Football Reference:

Verdict?

Kind of right, I guess. The rotten injury luck for the Seahawks continued and unfortunately, it struck McIntosh himself. He injured his knee very early in training camp and didn’t make it back until the end of the season. By then, McIntosh was so far behind that he only got 13 special teams snaps total in the three games he was active. Reportedly, he looked very good in camp prior to his injury…for what it’s worth. He’s a young RB on a rookie contract and will likely still have a chance to make the roster in his second season.

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Well, this week wasn’t quite as successful as last week. You have to take the bad with the good though and overall, these predictions were pretty dang close.

I guess you don’t have to be a beat reporter to get some things right. You know, blind squirrel…broken clock…things like that.

It was fun making them, so I’ll likely do them again after the draft this year if that’s something you’d all like to see. Let me know in the comments!