Seahawks release Tanner McEvoy to the surprise of absolutely no one

In another late preseason move, Tanner McEvoy was released by the Seahawks. After a lackluster preseason, that can’t be a surprise to anyone.

Tanner McEvoy has been waived by the Seahawks after another mediocre showing in Friday night’s game against the Minnesota Vikings. Seattle added fullback Daniel Marx in his place. I think it was only a matter of time for McEvoy anyway. When you only manage one catch on six targets in preseason, you aren’t going to be in the running to nail down a job for long.

McEvoy was at the top of my list for players most likely to get the axe when the Seahawks cut down to 53 in a week. The return to life of six time Pro Bowler Brandon Marshall has a lot to do with that. That’s football life, of course. Marshall has looked a lot more like the Pro Bowl version of himself than the banged up edition of the past couple years. No, he isn’t going to haul down 100 catches. But he does look like a pretty sweet red zone target.

Even bigger is the emergence of second year player David Moore into a legitimate ball hawk and return man. Moore leads the Seahawks in catches with defenders inside his jersey this preseason, and has looked spectacular at times. There is no way he and Marshall will be left off the 53 man roster. David Moore has arrived.

We know Doug Baldwin and Tyler Lockett are mortal locks, so that gets us to four wide receivers. Former Arizona Cardinals wideout Jaron Brown has been explosive in the preseason, and is coming off career highs in catches, yards and touchdowns. He’s likely the number three receiver ahead of Marshall. That leaves just one spot for the sixth receiver, and there’s some serious competition there.

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Seahawks competition for last receiver is tough

There was no way McEvoy was going to beat out any of those first five players based on his preseason performance. Even if he’d played well in the past, he’d have a tough time, and last year wasn’t a good one for him. McEvoy made just five catches on nine targets, and had no touchdowns. That makes the decision to keep him instead of Kasen Williams a bitter pill indeed. Granted, Williams did set the world on fire in Cleveland, but I’ve got one word for you: Cleveland. He still had nine catches for 84 yards; who knows what he could have done with an actual NFL quarterback?

Back to the competition this year. Amara Darboh has shown nothing at all so far, as he’s been out with a couple of injuries. He’s also a third round draft pick, so Seattle is more likely to give him the benefit of extra time than an undrafted player like McEvoy. Marcus Johnson, the player the Seahawks received in the Michael Bennett trade, has shown good speed and solid special teams play so far. And former Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds has made practically every play asked of him. He definitely has what coaches love to call “football IQ”.

Only one of those players will make the final regular season roster. Each of them have advantages over McEvoy, so it was no surprise that the Seahawks parted ways with him. The timing may have been a bit surprising, but once you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Seattle could have waited until after the final preseason game against the Raiders, when they’ll trim the roster to 53.

As it stands, the Seahawks clearly had already seen enough. Or to be more accurate, they had not seen enough from McEvoy. By letting him go now, he’ll have the chance to catch on with another team in time for that all-important final preseason contest. Just as the Seahawks did with punter Jon Ryan and kicker Jason Myers. Both joined teams quickly. Hopefully McEvoy will be able to do the same. We wish him the best.