The Seattle Seahawks only have four draft picks in 2026, but lots of options. The last time the team had few selections, which was in 2021, when the team had three, the layout of those picks was different. The team's obvious needs were also more extreme.
General manager John Schneider could have a bit of fun with this year's draft and choose based more on high-end skill than positional fit. This is why Seattle's recent meeting with off-ball linebacker Josiah Trotter is so confusing. Trotter can do a couple of things well, but one aspect horribly.
That is his seeming lack of any real ability in pass coverage. Plus, head coach Mike Macdonald's defensive scheme requires his inside linebackers to be good in coverage, as proven by Ernest Jones and his six interceptions in 2025, and Trotter can't do that.
Seattle Seahawks meeting with Josiah Trotter is confusing
In fact, in his only year with Missouri (Trotter previously played for West Virginia), the Tigers would often take the linebacker out on obvious passing downs because he was so easily beaten by running backs and tight ends on pass routes, and that was in college.
Imagine how much NFL offensive coordinators would take advantage of Josiah Trotter on the field in the NFL. Instead of Seattle ranking first, as the team did this past season by a large margin, in terms of shutting opposing offenses down on 3rd-and-short, teams might pick up chunk yards with Trotter involved.
Having an inside linebacker at the professional level only play on potential rushing downs doesn't make sense, either. NFL off-ball linebackers need to be able to be good on all three downs, as it helps better disguise a defensive alignment.
In his two seasons in college, Trotter allowed a quarterback rating allowed of 107.4. 88.3 percent of his targets were completed. While he allowed just two touchdown passes, he had only one interception and zero passes broken up.
Still, the Seattle Seahawks have some logical reasons for being interested in Josiah Trotter. He is brilliant against the run with 40 and 33 run stuffs, respectively, in each of his two seasons in college. The 6'2" and 237-pound linebacker plays downhill well. As a pure run-stopper, John Schneider could do far worse in the draft.
But Trotter's limitations in pass coverage should make him a non-starter for Seattle in the April draft. If the Seahawks do choose him, full trust should be placed on Schneider and Macdonald to see something in Trotter that he hasn't shown to many other people.