It’s hard not to root for a player like Seattle Seahawks safety Ty Okada. A walk-on at D1-FCS Montana State, Okada was an undersized high school quarterback just looking for a chance to play. That meant moving to the defensive side of the ball, where his skills as a champion wrestler helped prepare him to do battle with opposing runners and receivers.
Okada made himself indispensable to the Bobcats as a do-everything defensive back. He played the newest craze on defense – the big nickel, a hybrid of safety and linebacker that allows defenses to better deal with multiple receiver sets without sacrificing run support. In his final season in Bozeman, Okada helped his team to their first Big Sky title in a decade and a number four FCS ranking.
But the same problems followed him to the draft. He had grown to 5'11", 193 pounds, and showed outstanding athleticism, but he still did not hear his name in 2023. That’s when the Seahawks came calling.
Seattle Seahawks are reaping big rewards from showing faith in Ty Okada
Okada made the practice squad at the beginning of his rookie season, but by the end, he was on the roster. He appeared in five late games, entirely on special teams. He saw the field a bit more in his second season, but was still primarily seen as a special teamer.
Seattle had settled on Julian Love and Coby Bryant as its safeties. Okada was competing with several other young players to provide depth.
If anything, the arrival of Nick Emmanwori in the 2025 draft seemed to signal an even more diminished role for Okada. But, as he always has done, the Minnesota native persevered. Emmanwori was hurt early. Then Love went down. Mike Macdonald turned to his third-year, former FCS walk-on to step in.
With Love nursing a hamstring injury, Okada has started the last three games. He played every single defensive snap in the last two. Both have been dominant defensive performances.
He was at his best on Monday night against the Houston Texans. He filled up the stat sheet with nine combined tackles, six solo tackles (the most on the team), one sack, and one pass defended.
That last play came as part of a fantastic goal line. Midway through the fourth quarter, Houston was down two scores and desperately trying to come back. They had taken the ball inside Seattle's five. On first down, Okada teamed up with Byron Murphy to prevent the Texans’ power back Woody Marks from reaching the end zone.
Two plays later, Texans’ QB C.J. Stroud rolled right and had Xavier Hutchinson open in the end zone. Okada showed off his 40+-inch vertical leap by soaring high and deflecting a certain touchdown. On fourth down, Stroud threw another incompletion, and Seattle got the ball back, still up two scores.
On his sack at the end of the third quarter, Okada showed off his speed and timing. He came from a shallow position just at the snap and was unblocked on his way to Stroud. He did not miss, taking the Texan QB down for an eight-yard loss and forcing another punt.
Okada was part of a fine effort from the entire defense. His secondary mates – corners Josh Jobe and Riq Woolen, and safeties Bryant and Emmanwori – all made big plays. Houston’s offense is struggling right now and the Hawks’ front seven beat them up all night long.
That helped the secondary, but Okada and company did their part. Besides, Seattle was playing without its two Pro Bowl defensive backs in Love and Devon Witherspoon.
When they both return to the lineup, it will make an imposing defense all the more potent. Okada will return to the bench when Love is healthy. He will play special teams and will probably get on the field in certain defensive packages. He has earned the right to more snaps in Love’s absence.
And he has shown everyone that a former FCS walk-on is more than capable of taking on a major defensive role whenever he might be needed.