Seahawks 90-Man Roster Primer: Tommy Champion

After a busy offseason, the Seahawks have added significant depth at both tackle positions. But following a year on the practice squad, Champion hopes he will be a leg up on the team's incoming rookies and give himself a fighting chance at a backup job.

Author:
Henry Curi
Publish date:
Jun 13, 2021 7:30 PM EDT

With the calendar flipping to June and offseason programs in full swing across the country, NFL training camps will begin around the league in less than two months. To celebrate the new incoming season, we will be breaking down the Seahawks 90-man roster over the next several weeks, exploring best and worst case scenarios and what to expect from each player entering the 2021 campaign.

Tommy Champion, Offensive Tackle

Height/Weight: 6-foot-5, 320 pounds

2020 Stats: N/A

A JUCO product turned Mississippi State standout, Champion played 18 games through his two-season tenure with the Bulldogs. But prior to his collegiate career with a prominent SEC program, he made a name for himself in the junior college scene as the fifth-best ranked offensive tackle in the entire nation for Copiah-Lincoln CC. In his 2019 senior year for the Bulldogs, he started six of the 12 games he played and filled both the left guard and right tackle positions, proving his versatility as an offensive lineman while battling for playing time against several other NFL-caliber offensive linemen. In May 2020, Champion signed with the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent then signed to the team’s practice squad after being waived in September. He didn't receive a promotion for any regular season games, but signed a future/reserve deal in January.

Best Case Scenario: With training camp coming up, the Jackson, Mississippi native's versatility works in his favor as he sees preseason action at both right guard and right tackle. Performing well at both positions, the MSU grad takes full advantage of his extensive reps and has a leg up on the competition to solidify a reserve role and surprisingly win a roster spot prior to Week 1.

Worst Case Scenario: Champion gets easily beat out by veteran tackle Cedric Ogbuehi as well as incoming rookies Stone Forsythe and Jake Curhan. Buried on the depth chart, he gets cut after the second preseason game and doesn't return as a member of the practice squad.

What to Expect in 2021: With Ogbuehi and Brandon Shell in front of him in the depth chart, as well as the left tackle position being four players deep with Forsythe's arrival along with Jamarco Jones, it’s hard to picture Champion having enough chances to put himself in a position to make the 53-man roster. There's simply too much talent in front of him at both tackle spots and the team has plenty of depth at guard. Although his chances of fizzling out are high as a returning former undrafted free agent who didn't play any snaps last year, his journey may not be quite over in Seattle if he's able to do enough in limited action to justify a return to the practice squad. He will likely have to beat out Curhan for that to happen, which isn't out of the realm of possibility.