We made it, everybody! It's Week 1 of the NFL season, and the Seahawks will kick off their 50th season at home, hosting the 49ers at Lumen Field on Sunday afternoon. And as we gear up for what should be an exciting opener, now is a great time to open up the mailbag and answer some questions from you, the fans.
As always, thanks to everyone who asked questions this week, and apologies if I wasn't able to get to yours this time around. And remember, the mailbag is always open for submissions at Seahawks.com/mailbag.
@MrEd315 asks, "What are you liking about this Seahawks season-opening roster?"
A: Big picture, I'd say the team's combination of balance, depth and youth. As general manager and president of football operations John Schneider always likes to say, he and the personnel staff never feel like their job is done, they always are looking for ways to make the roster better, but heading into the 2025 season, it doesn't feel like there are obvious holes to address. Sure, there might be some positions that are deeper than others, but the Seahawks have talented players at just about every position group.
As for the youth, the Seahawks currently have 11 rookies on their 53-man roster, tied for the fourth-most in the league, and 40 of those 53 players are heading into their first, second, third or fourth seasons, including 26 players selected by Seattle in the past four draft classes. That's a lot of young talent on rookie contracts, a key component for success in a sport with a salary cap.
And if we're talking specifics, I'm really excited about the secondary, which was really talented before the draft, then added a very exciting player in Nick Emmanwori in the second round, and I can't wait to see what Ernest Jones IV can do with a full season in Mike Macdonald's defense. The Seahawks are also really deep and talented up front with a nice mix of veterans and young players.
On offense, I think the combination of scheme, coaching and the addition of Grey Zabel could help the line make a huge leap from where it was last season, and despite the loss of a couple of great players, I really like what the Seahawks have at receiver in Jaxon-Smith Njigba, Cooper Kupp and rookie Tory Horton. Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet give the Seahawks two high-end starting caliber backs to lead the run game, and at tight end, young players like AJ Barner and Elijah Arroyo, along with veteran Eric Saubert, will have opportunities to shine in an offense that figures to lean heavily on that position group.
@marrsman.bsky.social asks, "Other than QB, which Seahawks player is most critical for this season?"
A: This is a tough question to answer, and that's a good thing. The Seahawks have a lot of talented players on both sides of the ball, making it hard to definitively point out one player who stands out above the rest as the team's most indispensable player other than the starting quarterback, who in today's NFL, is pretty much always a team's most indispensable player. Several players come to mind as standouts who would be hard to replace, including linebacker Ernest Jones IV, defensive end Leonard Williams, cornerback Devon Witherspoon, receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, tackles Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas, and running back Kenneth Walker III, but the balance of the roster makes it hard to say one is more critical than the other, and again, that's a good thing. As great as it is to have superstars, being overly reliant on any one player—again, we're excluding the quarterback here because every team is overly reliant on quarterback play, that's just the nature of the game—can come back to haunt a team if that one player is suddenly sidelined by injury.
@mookiealexander asks, "Which Seahawks rookie will score a touchdown first: Jalen Milroe, Elijah Arroyo, Tory Horton, Robbie Ouzts, or perhaps a defensive touchdown from Nick Emmanwori?"
A: Tory Horton or Elijah Arroyo, as pass-catchers in prominent roles, seem like the most likely choices for the first rookie touchdown, but I'm going to go with Robbie Ouzts just because it'd be awesome to hear Lumen Field echoing with "Oooouzts!" cheers if he scored early in the game.
And, I mean obviously a Nick Emmanwori pick six would be an awesome way to kick off the season.
On a related note, @blessd35 asks, "Will Jalen Milroe see the field in Week 1?"
A: Yes? No? Maybe? We'll see what the Seahawks decide to do this week, but Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald has made it clear that the offense will have a package for Milroe to take advantage of his athleticism.
"We're going to have plays for Jalen in the game plans," Macdonald said. "He's going to rep those with the ones. However we build the package for him going into games, he needs those reps in walkthrough and full speed, so that's going to be important. How we do it, who gets how many reps—obviously Sam, it starts with how many reps he needs to get ready, then we kind of work off it from there."
We saw a little glimpse of what the Seahawks could do with Milroe in the second preseason game when, during the starting offense's brief one-drive appearance in the game, Milroe came in for a third-and-short QB sneak and converted while Sam Darnold was also still on the field. We'll have to wait and see if whatever package the Seahawks have in place for Milroe is one they'll debut in Week 1 and use every week, or if it's something they'll just break out occasionally.
@Lolzfps asks, "Which player will surprise us the most with his performance in Week 1?"
A: Making predictions for single-game performances can be something of a fool's errand, because so many factors in the course of a single game can affect an individual performance, be it an opponent's scheme, individual matchups, game situations such as the score or field position, or any other number of factors. But if we're talking bigger picture, one player I think folks outside of the team might be sleeping on a bit is tight end AJ Barner. A fourth-round pick out of Michigan in last year's draft, Barner was a player most expected to come in and be a factor on special teams and as a blocker, and he was those things, but Barner also thrived in limited opportunities as a pass catcher, scoring four touchdowns on 30 receptions. Now, with the Seahawks moving on from last year's starting tight end, Noah Fant, there will be more opportunities for Barner and the rest of Seattle's tight ends, and while there is understandably a lot of excitement about second-round pick Elijah Arroyo, Barner will probably be on the field the most of any of Seattle's tight ends, and in a Klint Kubiak offense, there should be plenty of opportunities for tight ends to make plays.
@curtis93069 asks, "Can we get the uniform combos for each game this year all at once?"
A: And ruin the suspense each week? Heck no. Plus, that would ruin my tradition of sarcastically tweeting VERY IMPORTANT UNIFORM NEWS every week when we do announce it. You don't want to take away a chance for me to be not funny on twitter, do you?
@erocy.world asks, "At what point this season can we say if Byron Murphy III is just OK or is an actual dude?"
A: I think a lot of Murphy's teammates and coaches would argue with the premise of this question and contend that Murphy is very much already an actual dude. No, the first-round pick didn't put up big numbers last season, but a lot of that had to do with how the Seahawks were using him, often asking him to play nose tackle and take on double teams. And by all accounts, Murphy was really good at that, it just didn't translate to tackles and sacks. It also didn't help that Murphy had an injury setback early in the year, a hamstring injury that caused him to miss three games.
As Murphy outlined this offseason, the plan is for him to play more three-technique defensive tackle this season, an alignment that will give him more chances to make plays. That should lead to more production from Murphy, with veteran defensive tackle Jarran Reed even saying he sees "defensive player of the year" potential in the second-year player, who he described as being, "strong as shit, he's fast, and he's strong as shit."
We'll see how much Murphy's role changes and what his numbers look like this year, but there's a reason he has been talked about by teammates and coaches a player primed for a Year 2 leap. They all saw the makings of a great player last year and in camp this season, and just about everyone who has been around the young interior lineman very much sees him as being "an actual dude" already.
@wenfot asks, "Will the Seahawks have a Corgi Cup halftime race again this year?"
A: I mean, I sure hope so. I'm not in any way involved in gameday entertainment, but when you have a chance to have dog races on the field at halftime, you've got to do it, right?
Check out photos of the Seahawks 53-man active roster heading into the 2025 season.
This is a 2025 photo of DeMarcus Lawrence of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence (0)
Seahawks cornerback Derion Kendrick (1)
Seahawks cornerback Derion Kendrick (1).
This is a 2025 photo of Drew Lock of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks quarterback Drew Lock (2)
This is a 2025 photo of Nick Emmanwori of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori (3)
This is a 2025 photo of Michael Dickson of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks punter Michael Dickson (4)
Seahawks kicker Jason Myers (5).
Seahawks kicker Jason Myers (5)
This is a 2025 photo of Jalen Milroe of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks quarterback Jalen Milroe (6)
This is a 2025 photo of Uchenna Nwosu of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks linebacker Uchenna Nwosu (7)
This is a 2025 photo of Coby Bryant of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks safety Coby Bryant (8)
Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III (9)
Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III (9)
This is a 2025 photo of Cooper Kupp of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp (10)
This is a 2025 photo of Jaxon Smith-Njigba of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11)
This is a 2025 photo of Ernest Jones IV of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV (13)
This is a 2025 photo of Sam Darnold of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14)
This is a 2025 photo of Tory Horton of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks wide receiver Tory Horton (15)
This is a 2025 photo of Elijah Arroyo of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks tight end Elijah Arroyo (18)
This is a 2025 photo of Jake Bobo of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks wide receiver Jake Bobo (19)
This is a 2025 photo of Julian Love of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks safety Julian Love (20)
This is a 2025 photo of Devon Witherspoon of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon (21)
This is a 2025 photo of Zach Charbonnet of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet (26)
This is a 2025 photo of Riq Woolen of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen (27)
This is a 2025 photo of Nehemiah Pritchett of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett (28)
This is a 2025 photo of Josh Jobe of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks cornerback Josh Jobe (29)
This is a 2025 photo of George Holani of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks running back George Holani (36)
This is a 2025 photo of Brady Russell of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks fullback Brady Russell (38)
This is a 2025 photo of Ty Okada of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks safety Ty Okada (39)
This is a 2025 photo of Robbie Ouzts of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks fullback Robbie Ouzts (40)
This is a 2025 photo of Chris Stoll of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks long snapper Chris Stoll (41)
This is a 2025 photo of Drake Thomas of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks linebacker Drake Thomas (42)
Seahawks linebacker Chazz Surratt (44)
Seahawks linebacker Chazz Surratt (44).
This is a 2025 photo of Tyrice Knight of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks linebacker Tyrice Knight (48)
This is a 2025 photo of Jared Ivey of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks linebacker Jared Ivey (51)
This is a 2025 photo of Boye Mafe of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks linebacker Boye Mafe (53)
This is a 2025 photo of Olu Oluwatimi of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks center Olu Oluwatimi (55)
This is a 2025 photo of Connor O'Toole of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks linebacker Connor O'Toole (57)
This is a 2025 photo of Derick Hall of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks linebacker Derick Hall (58)
This is a 2025 photo of Jalen Sundell of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks center Jalen Sundell (61)
This is a 2025 photo of Charles Cross of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks tackle Charles Cross (67)
This is a 2025 photo of Abraham Lucas of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks tackle Abraham Lucas (72)
This is a 2025 photo of Josh Jones of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks tackle Josh Jones (74)
This is a 2025 photo of Anthony Bradford of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks guard Anthony Bradford (75)
This is a 2025 photo of Grey Zabel of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks guard Grey Zabel (76)
This is a 2025 photo of Bryce Cabeldue of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks guard Bryce Cabeldue (77)
This is a 2025 photo of Mason Richman of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks offensive lineman Mason Richman (78)
This is a 2025 photo of Eric Saubert of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks tight end Eric Saubert (81)
This is a 2025 photo of Cody White of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks wide receiver Cody White (82)
This is a 2025 photo of Dareke Young of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks wide receiver Dareke Young (83)
This is a 2025 photo of AJ Barner of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks tight end AJ Barner (88)
This is a 2025 photo of Nick Kallerup of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Signed tight end Nick Kallerup (89) on May 2, 2025.
This is a 2024 photo of Jarran Reed of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seahawks active roster as of June 10, 2024 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks defensive tackle Jarran Reed (90)
This is a 2025 photo of Byron Murphy II of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks defensive tackle Byron Murphy II (91)
This is a 2025 photo of Mike Morris of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seattle Seahawks active roster as of June 9, 2025 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks defensive end Mike Morris (94)
This is a 2024 photo of Leonard Williams of the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. This image reflects the Seahawks active roster as of June 10, 2024 when this image was taken. (AP Photo)
Seahawks defensive end Leonard Williams (99)
