Why the Seahawks kept Cody Thompson

The roster cuts deadline has passed, and in what has become a near annual tradition for many fans of the Seattle Seahawks, there is disappointment at the fact that their crush at wide receiver did not make the 53 man roster. In seasons past it has been the likes of Kasen Williams and Jazz Ferguson who have captured the hearts of fans, only to see those players waived at the end of training camp when rosters were trimmed down.

This has proven to be the case yet again in 2023, with the Seahawks moving on from several receivers who had caught the attention and affection of fans during the five weeks of training camp. The names most lamented by fans so far seem to have been Easop Winston, Matt Landers and Tyjon Lindsey, though there are certainly others. With that in mind, many have expressed surprise and curiosity regarding the decision by Seattle to keep Cody Thompson while moving on from the likes of Winston and Landers, even though there is not a lot of mystery behind the why of the move.

To put it as simply as possible, the depth spots at wide receiver are just as much, if not more, about special teams as they are about the ability to perform on offense, and the Seahawks lost a ton of special teams experience this offseason. To this point, here is a look at all Seattle non-specialists who logged at least 100 special teams snaps during the 2022 season, with those who left during the offseason crossed out.

• Nick Bellore (352)
• Tanner Muse (325)
• Cody Barton (269)
• DeeJay Dallas (227)
• Dareke Young (209)
• Colby Parkinson (193)
• Will Dissly (180)
• Joey Blount (175)
• Josh Jones (166)
• Travis Homer (130)
• Justin Coleman (120)
• Tariq Woolen (118)
• Cullen Gillaspia (112)
• Ryan Neal (106)
• Teez Tabor (100)

That is a whole lot of the names and snaps that need to be replaced, and here is a look at how many snaps the fourth, fifth and sixth wide receivers for the Seahawks have played on offense and special teams in recent years.

Looking at all those numbers, the fourth, fifth and sixth wide receivers have exceeded 300 offensive snaps just three times in the past six seasons, while recording more than 200 special teams snaps just as many times. On average, these fourth, fifth and sixth receivers have combined to average roughly 184 offensive snaps and just under 102 special teams snaps. That makes special teams contributions from these spots on the roster crucial, which leads to a look at the special teams snaps from the 2023 preseason for the wide receivers not named DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Jaxon Smith-Njigba or Dee Eskridge.

Putting this together with special teams snaps from seasons past, the fourth, fifth and sixth receivers Seattle kept are those who either led the team in special teams snaps during the preseason (Bobo) or those who have special teams experience in seasons past (Young and Thompson).

And that’s it. There is no big mystery surrounding why the team made the moves it did, and even if Young is moved to injured reserve as he continues to recover from a sports hernia, there isn’t likely to be much change at the bottom of the depth chart at receiver.