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NFL Roster Cutdowns Coming: Who On Seahawks Might Go First?

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Here's a list of 15 players that I would cut from the Seahawks roster, based on a combination of both depth at their given positions, and performance throughout preseason games. I haven't based any of this on what I've seen or heard about how they've done in practice. Game performance holds much more weight in these evaluations.

1. Edawn Coughman - OT/DT: Coughman is a good athlete for his size, and was even tried out on defense against K.C. this week (DT), but he's not in a position to have significant impact at this point, and is an ideal first-round cut.

2. Kyle Knox - OLB: Knox had a good game on special teams in PS week 3, but considering how well both Mike Morgan and Korey Toomer are playing, Knox probably has to go here.

3. Kris O'Dowd - C: O'Dowd was brought in as insurance, when Lemuel Jeanpierre suffered a minor injury a couple of weeks back. But Jeanpierre is back now and rookie free agent Rishaw Johnson can move over to center in a pinch, so there's no room for O'Dowd.

4. Cooper Helfet - TE: I like Helfet's quickness, route-running and hands, but he's a victim of good TE depth, and is out with the first group here.

5. DeShawn Shead - S: I've been vocal in my admiration for Shead as a prospect. Unfortunately for him, Jeron Johnson, Chris Maragos and Winston Guy have all shown improvement through three preseason games, and Shead has been buried on the depth chart. He's certainly a practice squad candidate at the end of preseason, but has a good shot at getting picked up by another team between now and then considering his size and speed.

6. Jermaine Kearse - WR: Speaking of guys who are buried on the depth chart, Kearse simply hasn't been on the field enough to warrant keeping him as one of the 75 here.

7. Donny Lisowski - CB: Lisowski was a roster fill re-sign with the release and IR placement of Dexter Davis. Another depth casualty here at corner.

8. Ron Parker - CB: Parker possesses great size and speed, and gives the Seahawks some versatility to switch between corner and safety. However, he's been dinged up and both DB groups are deep enough to warrant the cut here.

9. Lavasier Tuinei - WR: Like Kearse, Tuinei has shown some good things throughout camp and preseason, but simply hasn't been a consistent enough contributor, to stick around. A strong PS week 3 performance by Charly Martin didn't help guys like Kearse and Tuinei, either.

10. Paul Fanaika - G: Depth along both lines is so much better this year, that guys like Fanaika aren't going to have much of a shot at getting on the field. With O-linemen like Jeanpierre, Johnson and Lutui able to play multiple positions, Fanaika's lack of versatility bumps him off with the first round of cuts here.

11. Allen Barbre - G: With Barber, the issue has simply been too many blown assignments and two rookies stepping up and performing better (Johnson and Sweezy). His experience is desirable, but this line just keeps getting bigger and faster, and I don't see Barbre as a fit going forward.

12. Allen Bradford - LB: Bradford hasn't played enough to warrant keeping him here. What I've seen, I've liked. But it's been limited. Staying healthy has to be viewed as a "skill" at this point, and Bradford simply hasn't shown enough. The upside could be there, but these 90-to-75 cuts are going to force teams with good depth, to cut quality guys.

13. Jameson Konz - LB: Injuries have plagued Konz since he came into the league. He got some playing time late in K.C., but he simply can't take a roster spot any longer with how unreliable he is health-wise.

14. Phil Bates - WR: Bates is a guy who I know this staff really likes. He's raw and explosive, and has intriguing measurables. But at this point he's a project, and with competitions tightening up, there simply isn't the time or room on the roster to wait for him to develop

15. Lazarius Levingston - DT/DE: Levingston is competing with better, more explosive athletes in Greg Scruggs and Jaye Howard, for a spot on this roster. He hasn't shown much improvement over last year, and although he flashes some nice athleticism for his size, he's not standing out in this group, and it would make sense to let him go now.

A few other possibilities:
Pierre Allen - DE
Kris Durham - WR
Malcolm Smith - LB
Coye Francies - CB
Frank Omiyale - OT (probably saved by the fact that the ‘Hawks are thin at LT depth, but he hasn't played well)

DK Note -- Derek has transitioned from doing league-wide NFL Draft analysis at his blog to a more focused and specific, Seahawks-centric draft - free agency - pro player personnel site called "ScoutTheSeahawks." It's now up - and it's definitely a site you must bookmark. Derek also maintains a really great free agent tracker that is much more in-depth than most places because of his background doing deep scouting of NFL Draft prospects. It's updated daily.