Our Seattle Seahawks lifted the Lombardi last season, riding high on some absolutely clutch plays from their 2025 rookie class. We’re talking Grey Zabel locking down left guard, Nick Emmanwori dominating to finish second in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting, Robbie Ouzts getting big snaps at fullback, Tory Horton snagging five touchdowns before hitting injured reserve, and Rylie Mills even getting a Super Bowl sack on Drake Maye. It felt like John Schneider was on an absolute heater with those drafts. So, when the Emerald City retained most of our free agents and largely sat out the mid-tier market, it was totally reasonable to expect that 2025 class to take on even bigger roles in 2026. Here we are in October, and it just hasn’t happened. At least, not yet.
The Sophomore Slump Is Real
Yeah, Zabel is still a solid starting guard, though I honestly don’t think he’s quite hit last season’s peak. And Emmanwori is back from his ankle surgery, looking like his usual stalwart self as our Safety In Name Only, flying all over the field. Those are the bright spots. That’s about where the good times end for the rest of that class, though. We needed these guys to take that next step, to become even bigger forces for our Super Bowl champion squad, and the production just isn’t there. We can’t ignore it.
The Elijah Arroyo Conundrum
Then there’s Elijah Arroyo. What even is happening there? He’s barely a factor in 2026. One catch. One personal foul penalty on an interception where he was the target. That’s pretty much the sum total of his contributions this season. You look back to last year, Sam Darnold has thrown four interceptions targeting Arroyo compared to just one touchdown. Seriously? After a preseason that looked really promising, none of that has translated into the regular season. It makes you wonder why he played so much in that final preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs, when most of our starters and key depth were chilling or just played one series.
There have been totally fair questions about why Arroyo is listed as TE3 on the depth chart when he’s barely seeing the field more than Eric Saubert, who’s a journeyman blocking tight end not exactly known for his hands. And honestly, watching the All-22 this season, it looks like the coaching staff just doesn’t trust Arroyo in the run game. When he’s supposedly “blocking,” he’s often just on the opposite side of the play concept, almost irrelevant, even if he totally botches his backside responsibilities. OC Brian Fleury tried to flip the tendencies against the San Francisco 49ers, which ended in a 32-29 loss, by the way, and it was a mixed bag. And his route running? Yeah, Darnold probably left some opportunities on the table, but the Los Angeles Chargers game was a perfect example of how Arroyo is being used: run very far. Vertical routes, over and over. If you don’t trust a guy to block and you only use him on deep routes, that’s a massive predictability problem for our offense. And Sam was still definitely targeting him, which just adds to the confusion.
This is our Super Bowl champion team, not some rebuilding squad. We need the young talent that helped us get here to keep developing. Coach Macdonald and Brian Fleury have to figure out how to get more out of these second-year guys, especially Arroyo, and quick. We can’t afford to have this kind of stagnation if we want to stay contenders in the NFC.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Field Gulls.
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