Ted’s Talk: Predicting Tyrice Knight’s rookie season

The Seattle Seahawks had the second pick of the fourth round at No. 102 but traded back and added more draft capital. Then, at No. 118, they went against the mock draft hive mind and chose linebacker Tyrice Knight from the University of Texas-El Paso. Knight is a tackling machine but will need plenty of refinement to be a consistent contributor at the NFL level.

Athletic Profile/Comps

Relative Athletic Score (RAS)

Mockdraftable

Hmm, there’s a theme here that’s a bit concerning in that Knight is undersized for his position just like Byron Murphy II and Christian Haynes. Maybe the new regime is big on “Short Kings” or want to build a team with great natural leverage!

Knight is a decent athlete overall, but his RAS speed scores are great, particularly the 1.59 second 10-yard split. His agility grade is just “OK” which doesn’t inspire confidence considering the necessity for quick lateral movements at LB. Hey, at least looking at his spider graph on Mockdraftable shows that he’s got a very good wingspan for the position so that’s something.

As for the comps, there’s one standout on Mockdraftable – Mike Macdonald’s former centerpiece in Baltimore, Roquan Smith. Don’t get too excited, though, because a closer look with RAS shows that even though they’re a similar size, Smith is faster nearly cracking into the 4.4’s on his 40. We also don’t have shuttle or 3-cone scores to compare which weren’t a strength for Knight.

The RAS comparison for Knight and Lavonte David has more substance.

Knight and David have near-identical size and the speed scores are also very, very close. While Knight is a bit stronger, David separates himself a bit in the shuttle…again, potentially important for the LB position. Although David only had one Pro Bowl and one All-Pro season, he’s started all 181 games he’s played in the NFL and should surpass the 1,500 tackle mark this season. If Knight can have even half the career of David, this would be an absolute steal.

Just for fun, I found a few former Seahawks LBs that are in the same RAS range, athletically.

Although should we really count Iyiegbuniwe since he didn’t make the team in 2022 after being signed that offseason? And why did I remember him and check for the comp? I’m a sicko.

Gut reaction to the pick

When Seattle traded back from No. 102, I was happy. There were still plenty of good players available and the Seahawks were able to recoup a fifth-round pick. On the clock at No. 118, a lot of those players I was eyeing were still sitting on the board.

As Tyrice Knight’s name appeared on the screen, my feeling was honestly apathetic. I wasn’t mad. I wasn’t excited. It was “fine.”

Linebacker was a need and Seattle had met with Knight, so we knew he was on their radar. It wasn’t a surprising pick, other than the fact that many people thought he would be drafted later. Clearly, that’s subjective since Seattle’s front office felt that Knight warranted that selection. Mike Macdonald cut his teeth as a LB coach and Schneider seemingly deferred to him a bit with this selection. That, in itself, is at least a little encouraging.

There are others, including Senior Bowl Director and ex-Seahawks employee Jim Nagy, who are also bullish on Knight.

Seattle needed competition at the LB position. There were other options on the board and yet they preferred Tyrice Knight, who visited Seattle. It all made sense, even if it didn’t have me jumping for joy.

Rookie season prediction

The Seahawks completely remade the LB corps this offseason, bringing on Jerome Baker and Tyrel Dodson on one-year contracts. I’m expecting them to be the starters when the regular season opens in September. With their contract situations, each will be playing for their potential future with the team.

Knight, on the other hand, should have a secure roster spot for at least years while he develops and will probably be a pet project for Mike Macdonald given his LB coach background.

This year though? He’ll likely be relegated to special teams and will need to earn snaps on defense. Preseason will be especially important for his development as he learns a new system. Macdonald said Knight will likely start at WLB but also wants to work him at MLB. If Knight improves throughout the season and earns the coaches’ trust, there’s a good chance that the Seahawks will head into next offseason with Knight as one of the starting LBs along with one of Baker or Dodson on a longer term contract.

I could see a rookie season similar to 2019 third-round pick Cody Barton, who was mainly a backup and special teamer but started 2 games due to injury late in the season. Knight will be a focal point for everyone in preseason and will rack up the tackles while also looking overmatched at times. He’ll start the season as the top backup LB and will finish with 25 tackles and be involved in 1 turnover on special teams, be it a forced fumble or fumble recovery.