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Seahawks Sign UDFA LB Neal Howey

The Seahawks continue to bring undrafted free agents into camp, and signed a little known linebacker out of Eastern Michigan, Neal Howey. It hasn't been reported by any of the major Seattle beat writers, as far as I can find, but he appears on the Seahawks' roster on NFL.com so I tend to believe the report from MonroeNews.com.

Howey is an athletic linebacker at 6'1, 230 lbs and led Eastern Michigan in tackles last season with 95. He's got some agility and strength - at his pro day he ran the short shuttle in 4.08 seconds, and the 3-cone drill in 6.83 seconds. The short shuttle time is actually pretty ridiculous - just off of Von Miller's time of 4.06 and would have been good for 4th best among linebackers had he been invited to the combine. Similarly, his 3-cone drill time would have been good for 2nd at the combine among linebackers. 

He's probably just a camp body, but again you're seeing what's become a pattern for this front office - giving a shot to extraordinary athletes and hoping they've got the skills to translate to the NFL. People make fun of the Raiders for doing this type of thing but the one major difference here is that the Seahawks aren't drafting these guys in the first round. I'm all for getting the best, most agile and explosive athletes in here and seeing if they can make some plays. Howey, if he can impress, is a potential special teams contributor and again will be looking for competition from the likes of Matt McCoy, Blake Sorensen, Mike Morgan, Malcolm Smith, and others. 

Competition, competition, competition. 


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