Seahawks Buck Trends With 2 Small School Rookies Earning Spots on 53-Man Roster

RENTON, Wash. - During their 13 years calling the shots as coach and general manager for the Seahawks, Pete Carroll and John Schneider have rightfully earned a reputation as two of the best in the business at unearthing and developing late round and undrafted talent.

Making the playoffs eight times in the past 10 years, players such as Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse, and Poona Ford have been integral pieces of that sustained success after not hearing their names called on draft weekend. Late round sensations such as Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor, and Chris Carson also were foundational talents who helped spearhead the best decade in franchise history.

With two more undrafted rookies - safety Joey Blount and linebacker Josh Onujiogu - earning spots on Seattle's initial 53-man roster on Tuesday, it's something Carroll takes great pride in as a pinnacle of his program built around competition.

“I have always looked at the makeup of the kid and the mentality of the kid, it doesn’t really matter where you are drafted if you have it," Carroll said after Tuesday's practice. "Joey and Josh, those guys are great examples. They put their head down and competed their tails off. They showed that they have the right kind of makeup to help your club. They might not have the numbers, or they might not have the place they came from that might boost their opportunity, but fortunately for them, they both were healthy, stayed out there, and were able to show us."

But prior to Tuesday, despite Carroll and Schneider's obvious success stories mining overlooked undrafted and late round stars such as Sherman, Baldwin, and Ford over the years, the Seahawks haven't had many players on their team who played collegiately below the Division I level. In fact, since they arrived in 2010, the franchise only has drafted three players (David Moore in 2017, Ty Powell and Michael Bowie in 2013) from programs in Division II or lower.

None of their notable undrafted stars came from those lower levels either. Before emerging as one of the NFL's best route runners and a two-time Pro Bowler, Baldwin played at Stanford. In the same conference, Kearse excelled for Washington. Slipping through the cracks because of his lack of height, Ford was named Defensive Lineman of the Year in the Big 12 dominating in the trenches for Texas.

With a few exceptions to the rule such as Moore, who enjoyed three quality seasons in Seattle as a reserve receiver coming from tiny East Central Oklahoma, Carroll and Schneider have largely preferred players heralding from Power 5 conferences. Of their 118 draft choices, 88 of them came from schools in the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12, and SEC, or nearly 75 percent.

Considering the immense talent in those five conferences compared to non-Power 5 schools and lower levels, that may be a normal rate compared to the rest of the NFL. Still, given Carroll's desire to find quality players with the right makeup regardless of where they come from, it's surprising Seattle has made such minimal investments in small school prospects over the years.

However, that previous trend took a 180 degree turn this offseason, starting with the Seahawks decision to roll the dice on little-known Lenoir Rhyne receiver Dareke Young with their final selection in April's draft. Selected 233rd overall, he became the first non-Division I player picked by Carroll and Schneider since Moore, who also received the call as a seventh-round flyer from a Division II program.

Shortly after the conclusion of the draft, Schneider and his staff went outside the box for a small school prospect again. Intrigued by his size (6-foot-2, 252 pounds) and ridiculous college production (13.5 sacks in 2021), they signed Onujiogu as a priority undrafted free agent out of Framingham State, a Division III program in Massachusetts.

Four months later, Young and Onujiogu both find themselves on Seattle's initial 53-man roster after impressive training camp and preseason performances. It's an unprecedented - and welcomed - development for the organization with two small school rookies earning a spot on the team.

Making noise from the outset and putting his immense athletic gifts on display, Young developed a rapport with quarterback Drew Lock early in camp, regularly coming through with clutch catches during team drills and exhibiting better route running savvy than anticipated. He reeled in a touchdown in his NFL debut against Pittsburgh in the preseason opener and while drops were an occasional problem for him, he finished tied for first on the team with seven receptions for 73 yards in three exhibition contests.

“He never looked like anything but a guy that belonged regardless of where he came from. A few of us know where Lenior-Rhyne is, and he just never looked at that," Carroll said of Young on Tuesday. "He looked like he belonged right from the day one. He’s physically really fit. He’s a big, strong kid, fast. He ran routes better than we thought he would. He was clean in-and-out of his breaks. He’s strong with the catch."

According to Carroll, what really set Young apart - and ultimately contributed to pushing veteran Freddie Swain off the roster - was his ability to contribute on multiple special teams units and willingness to do the dirty work as a blocker on the outside. Given his previous background playing running back in a modern Wing-T offense at Lenoir Rhyne, his versatility hasn't necessarily been a surprise.

"It really matters to him to be a physical player. And it showed up and we really liked him early on," Carroll added. "It was just, is he going to be able to hold it throughout camp? And he did. The quarterbacks know that he’s out there. He’s going to make the strong, good catches. We know in the running game, he’s going to be a factor too, so we are excited about what he has done.”

While Young landed on Carroll's radar as early as rookie minicamp, Onujiogu reported for his first training camp viewed as a longshot to make Seattle's roster. After all, the team had used a pair of draft picks on Boye Mafe and Tyreke Smith in April and those two players were slotted behind Darrell Taylor and free agent signee Uchenna Nwosu on the depth chart at outside linebacker. With Alton Robinson also returning, there didn't appear to be room for an undrafted free agent to crash the party.

But Smith battled injuries to both of his hips, starting camp on the PUP list before returning for a pair of padded practices, only to aggravate his other hip and miss the entire preseason. Capitalizing on his absence, Onujiogu started to see reps with the first-team defense in the latter stages of camp and made a splash in the Seahawks preseason finale, registering four quarterback pressures and a sack in a 27-26 loss to the Cowboys.

With Smith heading to season-ending injured reserve, Onujiogu landed on the right side of the roster bubble and now will have a chance to carve out a role on defense and special teams.

"Josh was just really consistent and brought it and did a nice job and surprised us that he was able to stay in the competition throughout all this time," Carroll remarked.

As Carroll pointed out, one of his favorite aspects of an otherwise difficult day when trimming rosters down to 53 players remains the stories that emerge for individual players. In the case of Young and Onujiogu, they took a road few successfully travel coming from small schools and immediately snagging roster spots.

The best part? As Carroll excitedly explained, for Young and Onujiogu, their respective stories have plenty of chapters left to be written and they will have a chance to mold themselves into the next pair of unheralded success stories to make an impact in the Pacific Northwest.

"Everybody has a story behind their background of where they came from, how it worked out for them, and how this turned out. Those two guys certainly have a unique story that leads them to being on an NFL roster. It’s great.”

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