Seattle, WA
Robbie Ouzts Drafted in the 5th round by the Seattle Seahawks
In a surprising move, the Seattle Seahawks selected Robbie Ouzts with a compensatory pick at the end of the 5th round. Most projections had Ouzts going undrafted, so seeing him called in round 5 signifies the team sees a specific purpose for the unique player.
Ouzts had very little production as a tight end at Alabama over his few years as a starter, but was always a trusted blocker for the Tide. I had personally said leading up to the draft that I thought Ouzts was about 20 years too late to football, and he had the body type to be a legitimate fullback in the 2000s.
Well, the Seahawks immediately announced Ouzts as a fullback and not a tight end, so it seems they agree. They just fired offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb and his Air Raid/Spread college offense and hired Clint Kubiak, who ran an offense with the New Orleans Saints (and the 49ers before that) that actually did regularly use a fullback, so the Seahawks are likely looking at Ouzts to be a day 1 starter at a new position for them.
Roll Tide, Robbie, and may you carve out a long NFL career in a position that didn’t exist in the college game!
Seattle, WA
49ers Set to Face the Seattle Seahawks in Divisional Round
The San Francisco 49ers will continue their postseason run, next up against the No. 1 seed Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field for the NFC Divisional Round.
The 49ers defeated the No. 3 seed Philadelphia Eagles on the road during Wild Card Weekend. With the win, San Francisco advances to the NFC Divisional Round. As the lowest seed in the conference, the 49ers will face the top seed team, the Seahawks. San Francisco and Seattle will meet for the third time this season, the 49ers taking the first matchup and the Seahawks taking the second. Winner of the Divisional Round will advance to the NFC Championship, the final round ahead of Super Bowl LX at Levi’s® Stadium.
Time, date, and broadcast information for the 49ers vs. Seahawks Divisional Round contest will be announced following the conclusion of the NFL’s Wild Card Weekend.
Seattle, WA
Seahawks Will Host Rams Or 49ers In Divisional Round
The Seahawks will host an NFC West opponent in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Whether that opponent is the Rams or the 49ers will be determined on Sunday when the 49ers play the Eagles in Philadelphia. Also still to be determined is the date and time of the game.
The Rams, who are the No. 5 seed, beat the Panthers on Saturday to advance, and since Seattle, as the No. 1 seed, hosts the lowest-seeded team that advances out of the wild card round, the sixth-seeded 49ers would come to Lumen Field if they win on Sunday. If the Eagles win, however, the Rams would come to Seattle, while the Eagles would head to Chicago to face the Bears, who beat the Packers on Saturday night.
The Seahawks split the season series with both teams, losing to the 49ers in Week 1 and the Rams in Week 11 before beating the Rams in Week 16 and the 49ers in Week 18 as part of a seven-game winning streak that helped them win the NFC West and earn the No. 1 seed.
Next weekend’s game at Lumen Field will be the Seahawks’ first home playoff game with fans in the stadium—they hosted a wild card game in an empty stadium following the 2020 regular season—since they beat the Lions in the wild card round during the 2016 season. Prior to that empty-stadium loss to the Rams five years ago, the Seahawks won 10 consecutive home playoff games dating back to the start of their Super Bowl run in 2005. The Seahawks have reached the Super Bowl in each of the three previous seasons that they earned the No. 1 seed.
Seattle, WA
Paul Arriola, Pedro de la Vega and the Seattle Sounders return in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’
Forgotten. Absent. Inconsistently healthy. Weights of expectation.
These heroes offered glimpses and scenes of their greatness in 2025.
Paul Arriola, X Man
Paul Arriola gave us a glimpse of his former greatness before his injury. Once a DP, once the highest value transfer within MLS, once recruited to skip MLS entirely for what was at the time a much better league, Arriola’s all comps contributions per 90 would compare to wingback style players Jordi Alba and the now-gone Ali Ahmed.
Arriola slides right in that space, with his 0.57. Now, a discerning reader such as yourself will imagine small sample sizes and opponent quality. You would be correct. But Paul also put up similar numbers in MLS in 2018, 2021 and 2022. His time in MLS as a whole is .40/90 (in the realm of last season’s Christian Espinoza).
Defining Arriola’s role is always going to be hard. He’s played as many wide roles as exist in the modern game. With Seattle, he could be a left or right winger in a four-front if they choose to run a 3-2-4-1, or a wingback in a 3-4-2-1 or a conventional winger in a 4-2-3-1. No matter his role, he’s been strong. His calls to the US National Team ran every year from age 20-27, when he put up better numbers there than he did in league play. He’s now 30.
Pedro de la Vega, the injury saga
Sounders fans know how bright Pedro can burn. So do, Lanus fans, Argentina fans, Cruz Azul fans, Santos Laguna fans, Tijuana fans, Puebla, Galaxy, Inter Messi and a smattering of other MLS teams. The Leagues Cup player of the year and wonder goal nominee is absolutely thrilling, when available.
Lanus, Argentina and Seattle also know his history of injuries. Injuries are why he’s in Seattle.
PdlV only played 41% of available minutes in all competitions. A healthy winger of his quality should be around 66% or so. His absolutely stellar all comps performance of 0.72 is on par with Hany Mukhtar, at 20th in MLS play. Pedro is ahead of Diego Rossi, Djordje Mihailovic, and Dejan Joveljić.
When you think about how the Seattle Sounders will make up ground for the inevitable decline of Danny Musovski the names Arriola and de la Vega should be bandied about.
They weren’t merely better than the people who replaced them on the Sounders – they’re better than the majority of high-profile players in the league.
In 2025 Craig Waibel raised the floor and the peak. Injuries gave us only a few glimpses of that peak.
2026 is when the multi-competition heroic Sounders can once again show their prowess and why their presence as a top tier club is eternal.
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Catching up on Sounder at Heart
Here’s what you missed on the site this week.
Sounders
Next match: Sunday, February 22, 2026 v. the Colorado Rapids | 6 p.m. PT | Apple TV/FS1
Reign
Schedule to come next week.
Defiance
Schedule to come.
Looking back at the news
Everything else you need to know
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- Man admits racist abuse of footballer Jess Carter (BBC)
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