The 2026 NFL Draft isn’t considered to be as strong as some other recent draft classes. On top of that, as the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks are currently slated to pick at the very end of the first, second and third rounds.
As a result, it could be difficult for Seattle to add bona fide star power in this year’s draft.
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However, talent sometimes finds a way of slipping through the cracks. The Seahawks were the beneficiary of that last year, when they traded up to snag eventual Defensive Rookie of the Year runner-up Nick Emmanwori with the No. 35 overall pick.
With the Seahawks’ current collection of draft capital, are there any potential boom-or-bust prospects they could take a swing on in this year’s draft? Mike Salk posed that question to NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah during Wednesday’s edition of Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.
Here are two boom-or-bust prospects that Jeremiah mentioned.
Keionte Scott, CB, Miami
Scott is ranked by Jeremiah as the No. 7 cornerback and No. 44 overall prospect in this year’s draft class
A 5-foot-11, 193-pound nickelback, Scott played two seasons of junior college football at Snow College in Utah and three seasons at Auburn before transferring to Miami and experiencing a breakout 2025 campaign for the national runner-up Hurricanes.
Scott filled up the stat sheet this past season, totaling two interceptions, two pick-sixes, five pass breakups, five sacks, 13 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles during Miami’s run to the national championship game – highlighted by a 72-yard pick-six in the Hurricanes’ College Football Playoff quarterfinal win over Ohio State. He finished 10th among all FBS cornerbacks in Pro Football Focus grading, including third in run defense grading.
“I love his play style, because it’s just ultra-aggressive,” Jeremiah said. “It’s aggressive versus the run. He jumps routes. He’s a playmaker. He ran extremely fast. He plays with a ton of energy. But there’s that fine line right between being real aggressive and being a little bit reckless.
“So he (could be a player) that we’ll be looking up a few years from now, like, oh my gosh, how did this guy go in the second round? Much like you experienced last year with Emmanwori. Or it could be a player a couple years from now where it’s like, gosh, how did they take him in the second round? Like, he was reckless. That was a reach.
“He’s one who’s got that wide variance of outcome.”
KEIONTE SCOTT. PICK-SIX. 🚨@CanesFootball takes the 14-0 lead in the @CottonBowlGame!
📺 @SportsCenter x @CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/Nw6vhdi3Yi
— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) January 1, 2026
Malachi Lawrence, EDGE, Central Florida
Lawrence is ranked by Jeremiah as the No. 9 edge rusher and No. 46 overall prospect in this year’s draft class.
The 6-foot-4, 253-pound UCF product recorded 19.5 sacks, 27.5 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles over the past three seasons for the Golden Knights and earned first-team All-Big 12 honors in 2025.
Lawrence also excelled at the NFL scouting combine, ranking third among edge rushers in the 40-yard dash (4.52 seconds), second in the broad jump (10 feet, 10 inches) and tied for second in the vertical jump (40 inches).
“I really like him,” Jeremiah said. “Plays with his hair on fire, but he’s just raw. He doesn’t have it all figured out just yet, but he is very toolsy, very twitched-up, very explosive.”
2 games 2 sacks 😈@Mzlzchi is a problem for opposing teams pic.twitter.com/hnZlEsE0p2
— UCF Football (@UCF_Football) September 12, 2023
Seattle Seahawks offseason coverage
• Rost: New favorite emerges to be Seattle Seahawks’ first-round pick
• Huard’s Seahawks NFL Draft Profile: ‘The toughest dude in the draft’
• Bump: A veteran edge rusher Seattle Seahawks could still add
• ESPN’s Schrager: Seattle Seahawks’ roster is still ‘loaded’
• ’26 vs ’14: Comparing Seahawks’ post-Super Bowl roster turnover