Can Seahawks UDFA Nelson Ceaser carve out a roster spot?

The Seattle Seahawks may have skipped out on drafting an edge rusher, but they did add one of the more intriguing prospects as an undrafted free agent.

Houston’s Nelson Ceaser surprisingly didn’t get his name called on Day 3, which is where he was projected to go. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler gave Ceaser a fifth-round grade in his draft guide:

A two-year starter at Houston, Ceaser lined up as the field defensive end in former defensive coordinator Doug Belk’s four-man front, primarily in a two-point stance. After learning from former Cougars defensive ends like Payton Turner and Logan Hall, his production showed gradual improvement each season in college. He set career bests as a senior, including a Big 12-leading 9.5 sacks, in the program’s first season in the conference. Ceaser attacks with upfield burst and speed and shows just enough bend to access different pass-rush lanes. Against the run, he has range and hustle, although his subpar anchor and physicality at the point of attack will be tougher to mask at the next level. Overall, Ceaser finds himself slowed down by power-based blockers, but he shows variety in his pass rush, and NFL teams should be encouraged by his athletic flashes and football character. He projects as a part-time rusher with promise.

Ceaser was All-Big 12 First-Team in his senior season, recording a conference-leading 9.5 sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss. At the end of conference play (exempting bowl games and the playoff), Ceaser was third in the conference in pressure rate. One of the two men ahead of him (and the only DT in the top-5)? Byron Murphy II, the Seahawks’ top draft pick.

The most obvious competition for Ceaser (other than fellow UDFAs such as Sunny Anderson and Rason Williams II) is Darrell Taylor. Seattle re-signed Taylor to a one-year deal instead of letting him walk in free agency, but his contract is such that his $3,116,000 salary is not guaranteed. Moving on from Taylor would only cost the Seahawks $20,000 in signing bonus dead money.

Taylor’s run defense grade wasn’t even good in his final year of college, and generally was never consistently good throughout his time at Tennessee. That problem has continued into the NFL, where Pete Carroll briefly benched him for waiver wire pickup Darryl Johnson Jr, whose immediate injury resulted in Taylor’s reinsertion. You can live with poor run defense if you’re an exceptional pass rusher, but even with Taylor’s nice looking 21.5 sacks through three seasons, his pressure rate has never been above 8.8% in three seasons. He’s consistently been a below-average edge rusher and compounds his struggles by being a bottom-tier run defender.

In contrast, Ceaser showed superior run defense grades in his final three seasons at Houston, although how much of that translate to the pros from a physical standpoint remains to be seen. He was named as one of the top late-down run defenders entering the NFL Draft:

Ceaser profiles well as a late-down rotational edge defender at the next level due to his understanding and use of leverage, particularly in the run game. The former Cougar racked up five run stops of third and fourth down to pair with a phenomenal 20.4% positively graded play rate compared to just 2% on the negative side.

One of the primary concerns about Ceaser is his physical attributes. Apart from hand size, nothing else is above the 75th percentile in any category.

Ceaser has the ability to at least be a situational pass rusher, even if he’s not a three-down player. I don’t expect Day 3 and UDFA players (especially at premium positions) to have a high ceiling. But his on-field productivity and versatility as an occasional off-ball linebacker make him one of my UDFAs to watch heading into training camp.