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In April the Seattle Seahawks set the optimism of fans alight with a haul from the 2019 NFL Draft that included eleven players. Optimism always reigns supreme around draft time, and Hawks fans were certain that the team had added game changing players on both sides of the ball.
Now that the season is a little more than three quarters of the way finished, how does that assessment stand up? Are there game changers on both sides of the ball? Are the draft picks even playing?
Looking at it from a playing time only perspective, the results are somewhat surprising. Specifically, in how little the drafted players are contributing on offense and defense, though they are more than pulling their weight on special teams. As a refresher, the team’s full draft class this spring was:
- L.J. Collier
- Marquise Blair
- DK Metcalf
- Cody Barton
- Gary Jennings
- Phil Haynes
- Ugo Amadi
- Ben Burr-Kirven
- Travis Homer
- Demarcus Christmas
- John Ursua
Jumping right into the amount of playing time each of these rookies has seen, here are how many snaps they have played for Seattle so far this season.
2019 Seahawks draft class rookie snap counts
| Player | Offensive (of 910)/Defensive (of 881) Snaps | Special Teams Snaps |
|---|---|---|
| Player | Offensive (of 910)/Defensive (of 881) Snaps | Special Teams Snaps |
| L.J. Collier | 103 | 0 |
| Marquise Blair | 212 | 154 |
| D.K. Metcalf | 743 | 4 |
| Cody Barton | 76 | 256 |
| Gary Jennings | 0 | 0 |
| Phil Haynes | 0 | 0 |
| Ugo Amadi | 21 | 195 |
| Ben Burr-Kirven | 2 | 250 |
| Travis Homer | 0 | 177 |
| Demarcus Christmas | 0 | 0 |
| John Ursua | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 1159 | 1036 |
What is readily apparent is how much more playing time DK Metcalf is getting compared to all the other rookies. Metcalf’s snaps at wide receiver represent more than 64% of the snaps played on offense and defense by the entire rookie class. The three Day 2 picks - Blair, Metcalf and Barton - represent 88.96% of the offensive and defensive snaps played by the group. The Day 3 picks have barely sniffed the field outside of special teams, but they have obviously made huge contributions for the special teams units when they have played.
In any case, given a full offseason to work on their games, it seems likely L.J. Collier will work himself more into the rotations on the defensive line and Phil Haynes appears ready to compete for playing time on the interior of the line. Add in Cody Barton potentially taking over for soon to be free agent Mychal Kendricks, and Ugo Amadi competing for time at nickel cornerback, and the draft class certainly has potential.