Seahawks tight end Will Dissly named to ESPN’s break out list for 2020

ESPN announced its list of players they expect to break out in 2020. Seahawks tight end Will Dissly was among the players.

Seahawks fans already know Will Dissly, of course. He is the guy who gets hurt early in the season and misses the rest of the season. But he is also a potentially very good and productive tight end that has shown that he is worthy of Russell Wilson‘s trust. Still, he gets injured too often.

But maybe in Dissly’s third year in the NFL that will change. ESPN expects it to. The four-letter network produced its list of players they expect to break out in 2020 and Dissly was number 20 in the ranking.

ESPN’s methodology for the ranking is thus

"Drafted in the third round or later, or signed as an undrafted free agent.Entered the NFL between 2017 and 2019.Fewer than 500 career offensive or defensive snaps (except running backs, who are allowed just 300 offensive snaps).Have not signed a contract extension (players who have bounced around the league looking for the right spot, however, still qualify for the list).Age 26 or younger in 2020."

Of course, had Dissly stayed healthy he would have easily had more than 500 career snaps. As it is, he has had 376 so far in 10 career games. But in those snaps, he has 6 touchdown receptions on 31 catches and has averaged 13.5 yards per reception. 19 of his 31 catches has resulted in a first down. This means just six of Dissly’s receptions in his career have not resulted in either a first down or touchdown. That’s good stuff.

More than a blocker

Dissly has also caught 75.6 percent of his targets. He was chosen by the Seahawks in the fourth round in 2018 because he had the potential to be a devastating blocker and maybe catch a pass or three. But in the first game of his career, he caught three passes for 105 yards and a touchdown. In his second game, he caught another touchdown.

In his second season (2019), Dissly had four or more catches in weeks two through five of the season and had at least one touchdown reception in weeks two through four. He was becoming an extremely valuable target for Wilson and was possibly at the time the second-best receiver Seattle had. Then came another injury, just like in 2018, that ended Dissly’s season.

As ESPN points out, if Dissly can remain healthy he could be fantastic. But he simply hasn’t shown he can be. However, if Dissly can play a season where he plays in even 14 games and is still around to get snaps at the end of the season, he will make the Seahawks offense immensely better. Maybe Super Bowl better.