1 undrafted free agent who will make Seahawks’ 2024 roster

Cracking the Seahawks’ 2024 roster will be no easy task for rookies, especially the undrafted free agent variety. Seattle has had two killer drafts prior to this one, which means the depth chart is already stacked with young talent.

Seattle is particularly deep at wide receiver and cornerback.

At wideout, the team has star veterans DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, last year’s first-round pick Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and last season’s breakout undrafted rookie, Jake Bobo. In addition to that set top-four, the team also has Dareke Young, Dee Eskridge, Laviska Shenault, and a handful of other players.

At corner, the team boasts Pro Bowl 2023 first-round pick Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen, who made the Pro Bowl the year before as a rookie, and a bunch of solid vets like Michael Jackson, Coby Bryant, and Tre Brown.

So, how is Dee Williams, who played CB in junior college and WR at Tennessee — and neither all that well to be honest — going to make the Seahawks roster this offseason? On special teams.

The 5-foot-10, 190-pound Williams is a special kick returner and a special teams ace. He set a school record for the Vols with a 15.1 yards per punt return average, breaking a mark that had stood since 1951. He also scored two punt return touchdowns, averaged 21.1 yards on kick returns, and led the SEC in 2023 with four returns of better than 20 yards.

Williams is also a special teams gunner who forced a fumble on a fake punt during his junior season.

This coming season, special teams is set to change in a major way in the NFL. The league is making a massive change to the kickoff, which has been more or less the same for 100 years. Taking a page from the XFL, the kickoff coverage and kick return blocking teams will now line up five yards apart at the 35 and 30-yard lines, respectively.

This new kickoff rule could drastically increase the importance of having the right return man and the right coverage players on special teams. That’s where a player like Dee Williams could be more valuable than ever in the new age of NFL special teams.

And while Williams’ lack of a true position would be a massive issue if he were trying to crack the top of the Seahawks roster, it is actually an advantage at the bottom of it.

In addition to his special teams value, the fact that Williams can play on both sides of the ball is an asset as the 52nd or 53rd man on the roster. If he was Seattle’s nickel or slot receiver, that would be a problem. If it’s late in a tough NFC West battle and the team has lost a few WRs or CBs to injury over the course of the game, having a player like Williams is actually like having two players in one roster slot.

While it may not be the splashiest move of the Seahawks offseason, don’t be surprised if Dee Williams is one of the only 2024 undrafted free agents to make the final depth chart.