Change your heart or die: Evaluating Seahawks 2023 draft class

Seahawks 6th round, pick 198: S Jerrick Reed II, New Mexico

Part of Pete Carroll's "Always Compete" mantra is that you don't necessarily draft for depth — you draft with the intention of finding a long-term starter with every pick. Bearing that in mind, Jerrick Reed is an undersized safety with good instincts, range, and a nose for the ball. Remind you of anyone?

Quandre Diggs is now 30 years old and will likely start easing into a front office role at some point when his current contract expires, I imagine. It's important that Seattle start looking to force him to keep his starting spot before he starts to slow down. And Reed seems to be almost a carbon copy of Diggs, down to being a late-round draft pick from the Southwest likely passed over in large part because of his size.

He's also spent significant time on special teams, which is almost always a way to get a foot in the door for the Seahawks. There's upside here, if not necessarily an immediate path to seeing meaningful defensive snaps.

Grade: B

Seahawks 7th round, pick 237: RB Kenny McIntosh, Georgia

Truth be told, I've seen more of Kenny's brother, Deon, than I have of him, having watched Deon extensively at Washington State's summer training camp in 2021. That said, they're both roughly the same size, and they profile pretty similarly, as larger backs with good hands, versatile skillsets, and busy legs that keep churning under any circumstance.

McIntosh lacks the top-end speed of Seattle's other halfbacks, but offers receiving upside that even Charbonnet can't match. Like Reed, I wouldn't expect him to see major playing time without some good special teams reps, but that's also how Deejay Dallas leapfrogged Travis Homer and Alex Collins on the depth chart.

Furthermore, McIntosh gives Seattle four halfbacks on the roster. At this point, that is the minimum I'm comfortable with, having seen Seattle's offense crumble as halfbacks start to drop for half a decade now.

I don't expect McIntosh to challenge Walker or Charbonnet for touches, but should one of them go down, I can absolutely see him picking up positive yards on a consistent basis, a la Maurice Morris.

Grade: B+