Five Seahawk players on the roster bubble

Brock Coyle, MLB

Coyle was a surprise addition to the roster when he won the backup Mike job as an undrafted rookie in 2014. He showed himself to be a hard-nosed player, able to take on blockers, be an consistent tackler, and contribute on special teams. But he battled injuries last year and only appeared in 8 games after playing in 15 his rookie season.

He also has the same birthday as me, which is kind of awesome but won’t score him any points whatsoever with the coaching staff.

He’s cheap and effective, so a good preseason gives him a good shot to come back. The reason I list him here is the presence of Steve Longa out of Rutgers. Longa was a tackling machine for the Scarlet Knights, with a whopping 342 over his three seasons as the starter. He went undrafted, but declared that the Seahawks were the one team above all the others that he wanted to play for.

He’s not as big as Coyle, or as fast, so why give him a shot at unseating him for the job?

Here’s what one NFC scouting director said about Longa before the draft:

“I don’t think he’s going to test all that well at the combine and his size will work against him, but I love his toughness and production. He’s a backup with some special teams ability, but it wouldn’t shock me if he ended up working his way into a starter’s role at some point.”

Does Coyle have starting potential?

The Coyle vs. Longa battle may end up being one of the more interesting ones in this year’s camp.

Next: Last chance for Simon?