Forgotten, but not gone

People haven’t forgotten about Will Dissly. Though his time on the field was brief last year, the rookie tight end was something fans pine for on a regular basis for the Seahawks: a young offensive star. And maybe that star wouldn’t have shined any brighter than it was shining for all we know, but fans have not forgotten; they regularly comment here and on Twitter that they’re excited for the return of Dissly and believe he could be a premier blocking tight end with above-average receiving skills because that’s what he was in 2018 — for, you know, a couple of weeks.

The following players you’ve mostly forgotten about.

They might not become stars. They might not even make it to August. But some of them will and some of them might even become key players for the Seahawks in 2019 and beyond. That will prove to be critical to Seattle’s Super Bowl chances because they need more players like the ones they had in 2012-2015: cheap, healthy, and talented. Back when Richard Sherman, Russell Wilson, Bobby Wagner, Kam Chancellor and others were on rookie contracts. It’s really hard to imagine that any one of the following players will ever reach that status, but the team could definitely use a Bruce Irvin or a Golden Tate.

Before thinking about free agency and the 2019 draft, consider that these players could also fill important roles next season, even if they didn’t do much of anything in 2018.

Jamarco Jones, OT

He was expected to compete with Germain Ifedi at right tackle but an ankle injury cost him the whole season. A two-year starter at left tackle for Ohio State, Jones has the college pedigree to be intriguing but his combine and measurements are what caused him to fall to the fifth round. Still, this is the only offensive lineman that the team has drafted since replacing Tom Cable with Mike Solari, so you’d think it’s a shift towards his philosophy and that he might be favored a bit for those reasons. The only other real “Mike Solari lineman” on the team last year was D.J. Fluker and everyone seemed to like him.

But I’d still say the line needs serious upgrades. Perhaps Jones will fill one of those.

Jordan Simmons, OG

Maybe less forgotten because his time with the team was more recent, Simmons looked more than capable during his three starts in 2018. The issue is his long and concerning injury history and that he might never be able to become a full-time NFL player. That doesn’t mean they won’t attempt to bring him back and add him to the competition, just that they’ll need to have a solid backup plan if he wins the starting job at right or left guard, which he seems capable of when healthy.

Amara Darboh, WR

Yes, Darboh is still on the Seahawks. No, he’s never displayed any special skills at the pro level. But as a former third round pick, and a guy who Pete Carroll seemingly still likes for Seattle, Darboh is someone who has to be considered for 2019.

I would say it’s still pretty low odds that Darboh makes the team and contributes significantly, but it took awhile for Jermaine Kearse to catch on. It took Tate a few years. Tyler Lockett just caught more touchdowns in 2018 than he had in his first three seasons combined. Even Doug Baldwin had a sophomore slump. Darboh’s had a much more conspicuous career than those guys, but it’s possible he just didn’t have a good rookie campaign (like many receivers) and then got injured. The fact that he was waived first is not a good sign but Darboh’s coming back and there are needs at receiver.

C.J. Prosise, RB

Carroll mentioned him, I’ll mention him. I know you might hate Prosise because he hasn’t been healthy and even I’ve strayed more towards the “It’s never going to happen with Prosise” side of things, but only because he did seem to be healthy last year for the most part and he went nowhere. The Seahawks have a nice 1-2 at running and probably want to see more of J.D. McKissic, but Prosise has hung around for three years and that’s a long while to wait so I expect that Carroll and Brian Schottenheimer are still very into the whole Prosise idea.

Rasheem Green, DE

You know him because he was a third round pick, but I’m just reminding you that Seattle’s need at pass rush could get some added oomph internally. Green was considered too young (one of the youngest in the NFL), maybe not quite strong enough yet to compete with veterans. And perhaps that is what we saw as he hung back for the most part and finished with nine tackles and one sack. He’ll turn 22 in May and perhaps with a year under his belt could be a regular in the d-line rotation come September.

Nazair Jones, DT/5-tech

I don’t know that anyone outside of the locker room has any idea what the deal was with Naz last season but a fan favorite on a team that needed better play at defensive tackle somehow spent most of the season on the bench. He finished with seven tackles and no sacks in nine games. Some of it was injury, but there seemed to be more to it than that. Carroll said after the season that Naz was moved to 5-tech, so maybe they just really didn’t like what they saw from him on the inside and are going to give him more reps outside the tackles. Moving players around has also seen them gain considerable value before.