The Seattle Seahawks' initial 53-man roster had just three inside linebackers. Ernest Jones IV and Tyrice Knight are the unquestionable starters, while third-year player Drake Thomas was the sole backup. That seemed... thin. And it's been addressed.
The biggest concern there for me was that Knight had been injured. Happily, he's been back on the practice field for a few days now. But it was still a surprise to see a player like Patrick O'Connell cut on Tuesday. Well, not just a player like him, but him. Granted, all of his snaps in the past two years were on special teams, but he looked great in the final preseason game.
So, yeah, it was a surprise to see O'Connell get the axe. As always, the Seahawks had a different picture in mind. O'Connell is officially back on the practice squad. Which, of course, may change before we even get to it. As for the guys on the 53-man roster, Seattle welcomed another former rival today.
Seahawks add linebacker Chazz Surratt for depth at inside LB
Adding Surratt isn't going to have the same impact as signing Ernest Jones did last season. Keeping Jones on the team and happy will go a long way toward determining Seattle's success this year. Surratt isn't that guy. But he's far more experienced than O'Connell or anyone else whom the Seahawks cut.
As noted, O'Connell had zero defensive snaps. Until last year, Surratt had a similar experience. Out of 404 snaps, only nine were on defense. All the rest were on special teams. But the Jets worked him into the rotation in 2024. He appeared in all 17 games and even got five starts, per pro-football-reference.com.
He never got more than 23 defensive snaps in a single game, so I'm not sure how the JETS do things.
Regardless, the 6'2", 233-pound former Tarheel got 137 snaps on defense. So at least he's actually been on the field in game situations. Pro Football Focus (subscription required) graded him at 72.7 overall, with his highest grade in coverage at 76.7. Obviously, that's in limited playing time, but it does tie him for 19th among all interior linebackers.
Picture a similar skill set to the Steelers' Payton Wilson, also a third-round pick, albeit Surratt was drafted in 2021. Hey, some guys take time to reach their potential. As for being a former rival, yes, he did play against the Seahawks last year. More to the point, he was on the Niners roster this preseason. Their loss is the Seahawks' gain. We practically made a trade with them.