Seahawks tight ends are playing surprising starring roles in 2022

Seahawks score with Fant and Parkinson

Let’s look at our beloved Seahawks. Overall, Seattle’s group has 28 catches on 30 targets. Well, that’s pretty efficient, isn’t it? They’ve racked up 287 yards and five touchdowns. KC’s group has Seattle by a mile in yardage – okay, technically just over five percent of a mile, but it’s a big difference. But the touchdowns are the same; according to the wisdom of the ancients, “scoreboard”.

What’s truly surprising is who’s making it happen for the Seahawks. Noah Fant was widely regarded as the best of the three players Seattle got from Denver in the Wilson trade. He hasn’t disappointed, but he hasn’t starred, either. So far he has 10 catches on 11 targets, resulting in 56 yards and a touchdown.

Those aren’t exactly Kelce or Mark Andrews numbers. But compared to his seasons in Denver, he isn’t that far off his career pace. He averaged 3.62 catches per game with the Broncos. Until Sunday in Detroit, he’d seen 10 targets and caught nine balls. He made the most of his one target vs the Lions as he scored his first points for the Seahawks.

While Fant has contributed less than expected, a big reason for that – seriously big – is the emergence of 6’7″ 252-pound Colby Parkinson. Granted, six catches on seven targets aren’t going to remind anyone of Jimmy Graham. Frankly, that’s a good thing, but also a different topic. This is Parkinson’s third year with the Hawks and the first in which he is making a major contribution.

His career numbers coming into 2022: ten targets, seven catches, 49 yards, and no touchdowns. In just four games this year he already has six catches for 115 yards and a TD. That’s all on just seven targets. He’s also picked up a first down with every catch, other than that spiffy 25-yard scoring play.

Now we come to the real surprise. Will Dissly was shockingly good as a rookie back in 2018. He caught eight passes for a phenomenal 156 yards and scored twice in his first four games. A knee injury ended his season, though. He came back even better in 2019. While his yardage dropped a lot – 11.4 yards per catch to 19.5 in 2018 – his catch rate skyrocketed, from 57 percent as a rookie to 85 percent in his sophomore outing.

After six games, the injury bug bit hard again, this time tearing an Achilles tendon. He ended 2019 with 23 catches for 262 yards, 14 first downs, and four scores. Again, injuries derailed what had clearly looked like the career of a budding superstar.

Over the next two seasons, Dissly stayed healthy but took a back seat in the Seahawks offense. Like, way back. Despite 26 starts over 2020 and 2021, Uncle Will only saw 55 targets. Right, that’s barely over two looks per game. Despite the limited opportunities, Dissly pulled in 45 passes for 482 yards, 23 first downs, and three touchdowns. That’s decent, but far from the pace of his first two years.