Seahawks set initial 53-man roster: Your fave is on it. Defensive line still very thin
There will indeed be “More Bobo!” with the Seahawks.
Jake Bobo is one of two undrafted rookies to make the team. Fellow impressive preseason wide receiver Easop Winston Jr. did not. All 10 drafted rookies made the team. Artie Burns made it into a crowded cornerback spot. And the defensive line remains wafer thin, as Seattle set its initial 53-man roster for the regular season by cutting from its 90-man preseason roster.
Bobo, the undrafted rookie wide receiver from UCLA and Duke, went from curiosity (6-foot-4 with 4.99-second speed in the 40-yard dash) in spring practices to star in training camp and preseason games. He co-led the NFL with two touchdown catches in three games.
He joins long snapper Chris Stoll from Penn State as the team’s undrafted rookies on the regular-season roster.
“More Bobo!” became a rallying cry inside the Seahawks’ locker room this month.
“Everyone around here loves Bobo,” quarterback Geno Smith said.
Including fans. Results of a reader poll by The News Tribune this week showed that among about 500 voters, 98% thought Bobo should make the team.
Now they can continue loving Bobo into the season. He’s not only on the team, he might be Seattle’s third wide receiver with DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett in the opening game Sept. 10 against the Los Angeles Rams.
That’s because of rookie first-round draft choice Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s recent wrist surgery, injuries to wide receiver Cody Thompson and Dareke Young and Dee Eskridge going on the reserve/suspended list per NFL sanction on Tuesday.
The Seahawks’ initial 53-man roster for the season:
Quarterback (2): Geno Smith, Drew Lock
Running Back (4): Kenneth Walker, Zach Charbonnet, DeeJay Dallas, Kenny McIntosh
Receiver (6): Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Jake Bobo, Dareke Young, Cody Thompson
Tight End (3): Will Dissly, Noah Fant, Colby Parkinson
Offensive Line (9): Charles Cross, Damien Lewis, Evan Brown, Phil Haynes, Abraham Lucas, Olu Oluwatimi, Anthony Bradford, Jake Curhan, Stone Forsythe
Defensive Line (6): Dre’Mont Jones, Jarran Reed, Mario Edwards Jr., Mike Morris, Myles Adams, Cameron Young
Linebacker (10): Bobby Wagner, Jordyn Brooks, Devin Bush, Jon Rhattigan, Nick Bellore, Uchenna Nwosu, Darrell Taylor, Boye Mafe, Derick Hall, Tyreke Smith
Cornerback (6): Riq Woolen, Tre Brown, Michael Jackson, Devon Witherspoon, Coby Bryant, Artie Burns
Safety (4): Quandre Diggs, Jamal Adams, Julian Love, Jerrick Reed II
Specialist (3): P Michael Dickson, K Jason Myers, LS Chris Stoll
Seattle’s cuts
Waived/Injured
S Joey Blount
LB Vi Jones
S Jonathan Sutherland
Reserve/PUP
NT Austin Faoliu
NT Bryan Mone
Waived
QB Holton Ahlers
OLB Levi Bell
CB Lance Boykin
T Greg Eiland
NT Matthew Gotel
WR John Hall
WR Cade Johnson
WR Matt Landers
TE Tyler Mabry
LB Patrick O’Connell
S Ty Okada
DE Roderick Perry
G Kendall Randolph
DE Jacob Sykes
RB SaRodorick Thompson
WR Easop Winston Jr.
LB Christian Young
Terminated, Vested Veteran
LB Ben Burr-Kirven
C Joey Hunt
Reserve/suspended
WR Dee Eskridge
Bobo’s thrill
“It’s been really cool for me, really cool for my family and friends to see some of that,” Bobo said Saturday in Green Bay, after his second touchdown catch of the preseason. “I’m very grateful, honored, to have some of the 12s jump on the ‘Bobo Bandwagon.’ “I’m honored that folks think I am worthy of their praise.”
As expected, the Seahawks have Smith-Njigba on the initial active roster for the season. That indicates the team believes the rookie from Ohio State will be back soon. Coach Pete Carroll said last weekend Smith-Njigba was at the team facility Friday already talking about practicing again. He was wearing a brace over his wrist, in which a specialist repaired broken bone last week.
Wide receiver Dareke Young made the 53-man roster, as perhaps a precursor to him going on injured reserve. He’s been away from the team seeking opinions from medical specialists on whether he needs abdominal surgery. He could be going on injured reserve Wednesday. That would open a roster spot to perhaps bring back a player Seattle waived Tuesday, or an import cut by another team.
Players on injured reserve before or at the setting of the 53-man regular-season roster must miss the entire year. Players going on IR after being on the initial 53-man roster are eligible to return this season, after missing a minimum of four weeks.
It’s likely Winston will return this week on the Seahawks’ practice squad. That is, if he clears league waivers in the period that ends Wednesday. In a typically end of a preseason an average of one per team gets claimed by another club off waivers from cut-down day.
Carroll said Saturday he wanted as many players as possible on his 16-man practice squad to come from the 90-man roster Seattle cut from on Tuesday. He said he loves the mentality and competitiveness of this group, that the players bought into his messaging and coaching and that he wants to continue that continuity for the 69 players Seattle will carry into the regular season.
A chilling reminder how this is the coldest day in the cold NFL: Burr-Kirven getting cut — though he is also a prime candidate to return this week onto Seattle’s practice squad. He returned to play this month after missing two full years. The former University of Washington inside linebacker had been a Seahawks special-teams mainstay until he sustained severe nerve damage in his leg in a preseason game in August 2021. Before returning to practicing and playing this summer, he had a nerve-replacement surgery he said was the first of its kind on a professional athlete.
Blount and Sutherland getting waived-injured designations makes them candidates for injury settlements with the Seahawks.
Blount, the 2022 surprise Seahawk reserve as an undrafted rookie from Virginia, injured the AC joint in his shoulder Saturday in Seattle’s preseason finale at Green Bay.
Sutherland, an undrafted rookie safety from Penn State, was in the starting defense at nickel defensive back for the second preseason game. Then he injured his calf.
That calls to mind an old adage in this brutal sport: “The best ability is availability.”
Waived-injured designations come with a negotiated minimum time that player must be sidelined before he can pass a physical exam and sign with any NFL team to possibly play this season.
This story was originally published August 29, 2023 at 3:25 PM.
