Seahawks take a closer look at Derek Stingley Jr, Cade York at LSU Pro Day

LSU is one of the top colleges for future NFL players, so it’s no surprise that there was plenty of interest in the school’s Pro Day... including from the Seattle Seahawks.

Okay let me not make it seem like the Seahawks were one of a handful of teams at the Pro Day; literally every team was present on Wednesday but not everyone was obviously interested in the same players. Standout Tigers kicker Cade York caught the attention of the Seahawks (along with a ton of other teams).

York went 54/66 in field goal attempts in his three seasons at LSU, earning All-American second-team honors in 2020, first-team All-SEC in 2020, and second-team All-SEC in 2019 and 2021. There’s no doubt he has a big leg and one of his most clutch moments was a game-winning, lifetime best 57-yarder to upset Florida in the 2020 season. He was part of LSU’s 2019 national championship team, kicking a ridiculous 93 extra points and making 89 of them. I don’t really care about college kicker PAT stats because they’re not moved back like they are in the NFL.

The key thing to note as it pertains to placekicker for the Seahawks is Jason Myers’ $5 million cap hit. He’s had inconsistent performance on either side of his 2020 season in which he was 100% on his field goals. Cutting him saves $4 million in cap space and incurs $1 million in dead money.

As for the real reason you clicked on this post, the Seahawks were one of nine teams to have DB coaches workout top-rated cornerback Derek Stingley Jr.

Stingley was a consensus All-American in 2019 and first-team All-SEC in his 2019 and 2020 seasons. He posted six interceptions and 15 passes defensed as a freshman, immediately putting him on the radar as someone with high potential to go early in the NFL Draft. Unfortunately his 2021 season was shortened to just three games due to a Lisfranc injury — this also prevented him from performing as the NFL Combine.

It sounds like his Pro Day went well and it is widely expected that he’ll be taken within the top half of the first round. Stingley is listed at 6-0 1/4”, 188 pounds, with 30 5/8” arm length. Not in that historical 32” arm length range that we’ve seen from Seahawks cornerbacks over the years but we’ve seen them relent on that standard in recent years (see: Tre Brown).

Seattle has not drafted an outside cornerback in the first round since Kelly Jennings in 2006. That did not go well. It’s not been in Pete Carroll or John Schneider’s behavior to take a corner early in drafts, even after the departures of Richard Sherman and Shaquill Griffin as respective #1 CBs. It would not be surprising to see them keep that pattern going this year even with their workout of Stingley.