Adding to special teams? Seahawks 6th-round pick Kansas WR Emmanuel Henderson
The Seahawks are stockpiling speed at the back of this draft. Apparently for special teams.
They selected Kansas and former Alabama backup wide receiver Emmanuel Henderson at 199th overall, the first of their two choices in the sixth round of the NFL draft Saturday.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Henderson was also a kick returner in college. He also was on kick-coverage teams.
There aren’t many kick returners who also tackle kick returners.
Seattle had one of the league’s best special-teams units last season en route to the Super Bowl, and have since lost special-teams wide receiver Dareke Young. Young, a former Seahawks draft choice, was a primary “gunner” outside near the sideline on punt teams in recent seasons. Young signed in free agency this offseason with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Henderson was an outside gunner for Kansas’ special teams. The high school running back reportedly ran faster than 22mph in that gunner role, per GPS tracking.
“Oh, most definitely special teams is a big part of my game,” Henderson said Saturday afternoon on the phone from his family home in Gulf Shores, Alabama, amid a celebration with family and friends.
Asked to describe his game, he said: “Fast.”
This pick is indicative of a Super Bowl champion that is returning 10 of 11 starters on offense and all 11 starters from the title-winning season on defense. Special teams always have jobs open for talent and desire.
Wide receiver in Seattle? Not so much.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba just got a record $168 million contract extension as the league’s offensive player of the year. Cooper Kupp, the former Super Bowl MVP and offensive player of the year for the Rams, will be returning for his second Seahawks season. Tory Horton is returning from a shin injury that ended his impressive season as a rookie fifth-round pick in 2025 in November.
The pick of Henderson was after Seahawks general manager John Schneider’s second trade down Saturday. He moved Seattle down 11 spots in round six to the Jets’ previous 199th pick. The Seahawks gained a seventh-round choice later Saturday, 242nd overall, in that deal. That gave them seven total choice in this draft.
The weekend began with Seattle holding a league-low four selections this year.
Earlier Saturday, Seattle traded one of its 12 expected choices in the stronger, deeper 2027 draft to Cleveland to get the Seahawks into the fifth round. At 148th overall they picked Iowa All-American guard Beau Stephens.
Seattle’s final of six picks in this draft was to be at 216th overall late in the sixth round. The Seahawks gained that choice trading down three spots with Pittsburgh in the third round on Friday night, before Seattle selected cornerback Julian Neal from Arkansas.
This story was originally published April 25, 2026 at 1:54 PM.
