For the Seattle Seahawks, the biggest news from roster cutdown week was the release of veteran wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
What stands out from Seahawks’ 53-man roster decisions
When Valdes-Scantling signed a one-year deal with Seattle in March, he was expected to be the WR3 behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp. But after rookie Tory Horton surged ahead of him on the depth chart with a strong training camp and preseason, Valdes-Scantling’s roster spot began coming into question amid a fierce battle for the final receiver spots.
The Seahawks ultimately released Valdes-Scantling on Tuesday and went with Jake Bobo, Dareke Young and Cody White as the final three receivers on their initial 53-man roster.
From general manager John Schneider’s comments to the media on Wednesday, it appears that run-blocking may have played a significant role.
“The receiving corps is really strong,” Schneider said when asked about the back-end receiver decisions. “We really like it, especially the physicality of it. There’s a really nice combination of receivers. … There’s a really cool uniqueness to all of them, and there’s a cool physicality with Bobo and Dareke and Cody. And (that’s) really important in this scheme. You have to be able to block. And so we like the group.
“MVS, he came in and did a nice job and competed. Those guys, they just were ahead of him. So that’s the way it goes. Unfortunately, you’ve gotta get down to it at a certain time.”
As Schneider noted, run blocking is a particularly important trait in new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s scheme. And in terms of sheer size, the 6-foot-3, 227-pound White and the 6-foot-2, 224-pound Young are simply better blocking fits than the 6-foot-4, 206-pound Valdes-Scantling. The 6-foot-4, 207-pound Bobo is essentially the same size as Valdes-Scantling, but Bobo is regarded as a strong run blocker, having posted the second-best Pro Football Focus run-blocking grade among all NFL wide receivers back in 2023.
Special teams also was likely a big factor in the decision. Bobo, Young and White have each proven their special teams value at the NFL level, while Valdes-Scantling hasn’t been a regular special teams contributor since his 2018 rookie season.
Ultimately, it was Horton’s emergence that significantly lessened the need for Seattle to keep Valdes-Scantling on the roster. The speedy Valdes-Scantling was brought in to be a field-stretching deep threat who could take the top off of opposing defenses. But Horton is a speedy wideout himself, having run a 4.41-second 40-yard dash at this year’s NFL combine – a time that likely would have been lower had he not been coming off knee surgery.
“It was a very good signing for us at the time,” Schneider said of signing Valdes-Scantling in free agency. “We added Tory in the draft as a guy that could kind of take the top off. And so that’s kind of MVS’ specialty. So very similar to Tory in that regard.”
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