The Seattle Seahawks have lost four key players from their championship team via free agency this offseason. Starters Kenneth Walker III and Coby Bryant are gone. Key rotational defenders Boye Mafe and Riq Woolen have also left Lumen Field. Special teamer and backup receiver Dareke Young is the fifth player from last year who is gone.
For a Super Bowl-winning roster, that isn’t too bad. All four of the front-line players leave a hole, but fortunately, John Schneider has built a deep and talented roster that can withstand the losses.
But the margin for error in the NFC West is razor-thin. The Rams and 49ers are both knocking on the door, and if Seattle takes even a small step backwards, they might find themselves looking up at their rivals.
How can Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider address roster holes in the upcoming draft?
Schneider has picks in each of the first three rounds of this year’s draft. Normally, I am not a fan of drafting based on need. I think you tend to build better rosters by taking the best player available when it is your turn to pick. But no draft strategy is perfect.
Let’s look at what the Seahawks have in-house and then speculate on who they might draft if they are truly interested in drafting for need.
In the backfield, Zach Charbonnet figures to step into Walker’s lead back role while free agent pick-up Emanuel Wilson fills Charbonnet’s spot. That plan is contingent on Charbonnet being healthy enough to play a lead role. If his late-season knee injury limits him early in 2026, Wilson will probably become the starter.
On defense, Schneider has prioritized acquiring edge rushers. Mike Macdonald used a four-man rotation led by DeMarcus Lawrence in 2025. Mafe and Uchenna Nwosu split snaps behind Lawrence, and Derick Hall was an effective fourth member of the platoon.
With Mafe gone, Hall should take on a bigger role alongside Lawrence and Nwosu. Second-year players Jared Ivey and Connor O’Toole should get long looks at assuming Hall’s 2025 role.
At cornerback, Schneider signed Noah Igbinoghene and re-signed Shemar Jean-Charles. They join Nehemiah Pritchett as potential Woolen replacements.
He did something similar at safety by bringing in Rodney Thomas and re-upping D’Anthony Bell, both of whom will compete against Maxen Hook and AJ Finley as depth pieces. Ty Okada would seem to be the logical plug-and-play replacement for Bryant.
With all this in mind, here’s what we might expect from a need-based draft.
I think the need at running back is greater than any other, but this is not a good year for backs. At least not the kind Seattle needs. They have a roster full of tough, between-the-tackles runners. They do not have anyone with the breakaway speed of Kenneth Walker.
That is what they need, and they are not going to find it in this draft. Not unless Schneider somehow trades up to the top of the draft for Jeremiyah Love. Not going to happen.
The next biggest need is at cornerback, and fortunately, the end of the first round should be loaded with great prospects. NFL.com’s Eric Edholm recently suggested Clemson cornerback Avieon Terrell as the ideal first-round pick for Seattle. I agree. Terrell is the best of several prospects who might be available at 32. If he is gone, someone like Colton Hood would make a lot of sense.
Edholm has Seattle address the running back issue by taking Notre Dame’s Jadarian Price in Round two. I like Price a lot, but he is not the kind of runner Seattle needs. As I said, that runner doesn’t exist – at least not in the early rounds.
There are some potential Mafe replacements in the mix at this point, but the player I like based on need is USC’s Kamari Ramsey. He is a versatile defensive back who can play either safety spot or move into the slot. As such, he should fit in nicely with the kind of zone coverage Mike Macdonald favors.
In the third round, a lot of scouts have been impressed with Penn State's tall, powerful edge rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton. He is more of a true defensive end than a hybrid edge like Mafe was, but he would seem to fit in well alongside players like Ivey and O’Connor competing for a rotational spot behind the top three edges.
The Seahawks’ final pick, in round six, might give them a chance to take a flier on a running back who can offer a little more big-play potential. Oregon’s Noah Whittington is too small to be a workhorse back, and he does not have Walker’s elite speed.
But he runs like Walker, with excellent patience, vision, and lateral quickness. He can do that bounce-out that Walker used to punish overly-aggressive defenses last season, and as such, would be a good complement to Charbonnet and Wilson.
Four holes – four picks. It works out pretty well.
The problem is that there are likely to be better interior linemen and wide receiver prospects in every round after the first that Schneider would be passing on to address these holes. Need or best player? Such is the art of the draft.