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The Seahawks signed two tryout players following their three-day Rookie Mini-Camp, inking tight end Rashaun Allen and offensive lineman Nathan Isles to new deals. To make room on the 90-man roster, the Hawks released tight end Travis Beckum and cornerback Jimmy Legree. Beckum is a veteran that the Seahawks signed prior to the draft, and Legree was an undrafted free agent the team added the third day of the draft.
Allen is a guy that beat reporters had mentioned several times over the weekend (and a guy that I conveniently did not include in my post this morning about Mini-Camp standouts (though he was featured in several reports as a guy that impressed).
Allen, out of Southern University, is 6'5, 250 pounds, and ran the 40 in 4.68 seconds at his pro day. To go with that, he had a 4.52 second short shuttle, a 7.35 3-cone, put up 24 reps on bench, and broad jumped 9'7". Most impressively, he registered a 38" vertical jump, matching the number that Luke Willson put up last year.
Per our pSPARQ metrics, Allen actually comes in with very similar athleticism scores to Eric Ebron, interestingly enough. While no one would make that comparison -- Allen only had 9 catches for Southern in 2013 -- it speaks to the way the Seahawks likely see him, as an underrated and athletic mover that they can potentially develop.
Nathan Isles (out of North Carolina A&T) is a paradoxical choice for the roster when compared to highly-athletic SPARQ-metric freaks the Seahawks added this year in Garrett Scott and Garry Gilliam, in the fact that Isles ran the 40 in 6.01 seconds, the short shuttle in 5.29 seconds, the 3-cone in 8.81 seconds, and registered a 21" vertical. If nothing else, the 6'5, 348 pounder is a great reminder that speed isn't everything in football, and that playing skill is still an important factor the Seahawks apparently consider.
Former NFL Scout Tony Softli wrote this report on Isles:
He's a big body who had a very good game against the big bodies at App State and shows the build, physical tools, and overall strength to potentially surprise people. He was never really looked at by all-star games and should have competed in the Medal of Honor Bowl but somehow went unnoticed. While he likely won't get drafted the 6'5 ½, 324 pounder is a big body who could ideally be a right tackle or potentially a guard in the NFL. He should be a priority free agent following the 2014 NFL Draft.
Softli then listed Isles as his "underrated" small school offensive lineman, noting:
Isles was never given the respect he should have during his career. He probably should have been All-MEAC as a junior and deserved first-team honors (instead of second-team) as a senior. Don't be surprised if he is highly coveted after the draft, as long as he did well at his pro day.
About that last sentence...
Regardless, while I haven't been able to dig up any tape of Isles from anywhere, I'd guess he's a right guard/right tackle prospect with a power element to his game that does well in a phonebooth. I would assume, just based on those speed numbers, that he'd be too heavy-footed on the edge, but we shall see -- he did work with the No. 2 line at right tackle this past weekend.
I will say this about Isles: While reviewing Mini-Camp Photo albums at Seahawks.com this morning just to make a few cursory "looks the part" judgements, I did notice big #73 in this photo, and thought to myself, "that guy looks the part" while consulting the roster to figure out who that fella was. Tree trunks for legs, fairly well-proportioned, long-looking arms.
It's probably worth noting that just prior to becoming a rookie standout last year, Michael Bowie's pro day numbers were also pretty underwhelming -- he ran a 5.28 40 (not bad), with a 4.84 short shuttle (just alright), an 8.06 3-cone (pretty bad), and a 24" vertical (bad). As long as Isles plays with power in his hands and shows the ability to move people off the ball in the run game and anchor in pass pro, I'm intrigued.