The Seahawks used the ultimate spherical of the 2022 NFL Draft to herald some potential depth at vast receiver, drafting Bo Melton out of Rutgers and Dareke Younger out of Lenoir-Rhyne. Whereas Melton and Younger nonetheless face a little bit of an uphill battle to make the ultimate 53-man roster, they’ll get a true look all through the preseason, based on ESPN’s Brady Henderson.
Melton’s numbers out of Rutgers won’t bounce off of the web page. In his greatest season, Melton caught 47 passes for 638 yards and 6 touchdowns, including two extra scores on the bottom with 6 rushes for 69 yards. The shortage of eye-popping statistics could also be extra a mirrored image of the gamers round Melton than a mirrored image of his personal capability, as Rutgers hasn’t been recognized for top-tier quarterback play lately. Nonetheless, Melton led the Scarlet Knights in receiving yards in every of the final three years, accumulating 132 catches for 1,683 yards and 11 touchdowns over that span.
Younger is a little bit of a undertaking out of Lenoir-Rhyne. Resulting from COVID-19 and harm, Younger has solely performed in seven video games over the past two seasons. Within the 5 video games he appeared in final yr, he caught 25 balls for 303 yards and 4 touchdowns, together with an eight-catch, 160-yard, three-touchdown efficiency vs Mars Hill in September. The numbers on this shortened season practically match the numbers from the 2 full, fourteen-game seasons he performed in 2018 and 2019, displaying the super potential for what a matured Younger might’ve completed in yet one more full season with the Bears.
Each Melton and Younger have impressed all through the offseason in Seattle. Within the crew’s preseason loss to the Steelers this previous Saturday, the 2 led the receiving group, Melton with 2 receptions for 47 yards and Younger with 4 catches for 30 yards and a landing.
Whereas the top-two spots atop the depth chart are set in stone with Tyler Lockett and D.Okay. Metcalf, accidents to others within the receiving corps ought to enable Melton and Younger loads of alternatives to earn their roster spots. Freddie Swain was anticipated to return into the season because the No. 3 vast receiver after ending third within the room in receiving yards final yr. After struggling for a lot of camp, although, Swain was not too long ago sidelined with a minor harm, leaving the door barely ajar for somebody to overhaul him. Free agent addition Marquise Goodwin has stood out to this point in camp, giving him an actual probability to work his method into the beginning group, however he, too, was sidelined not too long ago with an harm. In the meantime, second-year receiver D’Wayne Eskridge has struggled to remain on the sphere and remains to be recovering from accidents in an try to return to play.
The absences of Swain, Goodwin, and Eskridge within the preseason will present Melton and Younger ample taking part in time with the beginning offense. This certainly not ensures that they may cement themselves on the ultimate roster, however, equally, in the event that they proceed to carry out, Swain, Goodwin, and Eskridge could not need to get too snug. It may be tough for a seventh-round choose to make the 53-man roster as a rookie, however these two go catchers are getting a primary probability to beat the chances.
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