Midseason grades for Seattle Seahawks 2024 rookie class

The Seattle Seahawks' season is beginning to unravel. Plus, unlike previous seasons, the team is not getting a lot of positive play from its rookie class. Some rookies have been forced to play due to injuries, but they have not been overly good. Only two rookies have had the kind of impact that implies they could be quite good in the future.

The issue is that the 2024 draft class is the first class that general manager John Schneider had full control over who the team chose. Between 2010 and 2023, former head coach Pete Carroll had the final say. The 2022 and 2023 draft classes were pretty good, so that might make Schneider look worse.

How do the individual draft picks and the undrafted free agents that made the team look so far. It's a very mixed bag. Here are the grades for each.

The midseason grades for the Seattle Seahawks rookies in 2024

Byron Murphy II - Defensive tackle, first round, pick 16

Murphy has not had a bad season, but he has been injured. He missed Weeks 4 through 6, just when Seattle began to go on it's losing skid. Would he have made much of a difference? Unlikely. He has been solid, but certainly not a stand out. Plus, he has been better as a pass rusher and Seattle needs more help stopping the run.

Murphy has 10 total quarterback pressures,11 run stuffs, and he has missed only one tackle. Still, he hasn't been the disruptor in the middle of the defensive line that Seattle hoped he would be when they chose him in the first round. He could easily become that in year two, but he is still finding his way as a rookie.

Grade: C+

Christian Haynes - Guard, third round, pick 81 overall

Haynes hasn't been the player many 12s hoped he would be in his first season. The coaching staff appeared to lose faith in Haynes fairly quickly in training camp. While Anthony Bradford has been terrible at right guard, Haynes is so looked down up currently by the Seahawks that Haynes has been a healthy scratch in games. He has allowed four total pressures, including a sack, in 76 pass-block snaps, but he has been even worse at run-blocking.

Grade: D

Tyrice Knight - Linebacker, fourth round, pick 118 overall

Forced into action in the early weeks of the season due to injuries at linebacker, Knight got at least 35 reps in each game between Weeks 2 and 4. Since then, though, he has appeared on only seven snaps. The issue appears to be that he is not a perfect fit currently in Mike Macdonald's scheme in terms of pass coverage. He is a solid tackler, but unless he can cover running backs and tight ends, he isn't going to play much.

Grade: C

AJ Barner - Tight end, fourth round, pick 121 overall

Barner has been the Seahawks best rookie so far as he has remained healthy and relatively productive. This is especially true in terms of receptions as he was thought to be more of a boon to run blocking than he was as a receiver. He has caught 14 of his 17 targets so far, though, and looks to be a long-term TE2 for Seattle. After stumbling a bit on the first two weeks of the season, he has become a very relaible blocker as well.

Grade: B+

Nehemiah Pritchett - Cornerback, fifth round, pick 136 overall

Pritchett simply is not ready to play many snaps in the league yet. When he is forced to take on more snaps, he is a liability. For instance, in Week 7 against the Atlanta Falcons with Riq Woolen missing the game due to injury, Pritchett played on 69 snaps, allowed receptions on all five of his targets, including a touchdown, and missed three tackles. So far this season, he has whiffed on 42.9 percent of his tackle attempts.

Grade: F

Sataoa Laumea - Offensive lineman, sixth round, pick 179 overall

Laumea has not played a down in the league yet. He is likely going to become a guard after playing tackle in college, but it's worrisome that he hasn't gotten a chance to play as awful as Bradford has been. He might simply need a year to adjust to the league.

Grade: Incomplete

D.J. James - Cornerback, sixth round, pick 192 overall

James was so terrible in the preseason that Seattle decided they had seen enough. He was released and will never play for the team.

Grade: F

Michael Jerrell - Offensive tackle, sixth round, pick 207 overall

Let's try not to be too harsh on Jerrell. He was a surprise pick to stay on the initial 53-man roster, and he wasn't expected to play much at all this season. Then every player possible at right tackle got hurt and Jerrell was forced into action. He played a lot between Weeks 7 and 9 and gave up four pressures in every game and three sacks in total. Force-feeding him snaps might make him better in the long term, but he probably doesn't need to play the rest of the season.

Grade: C-

Jalen Sundell - Center, undrafted

Sundell has played one snap this season. Will he be anything other than a long-term backup? He was a surprise to stay on the roster, so the Seahawks clearly see some potential in him. Maybe he is good enough to eventually become a starter.

Grade: Incomplete

Dee Williams - Punt returner, undrafted

Williams stayed on the initial roster to do two things: Return kicks and punts. As a punt returner, he has been underwhelming. He has returned 13 punts for an average of only 7.4 yards a return. He has also muffed two punts. As a kick returner, he has an average of 28.5 yards a return. That is solid.

Grade: C

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