The Seattle Seahawks have received widespread praise for their 2025 draft class.

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With their first-round pick, they addressed their most glaring need by drafting offensive lineman Grey Zabel. Over the next two rounds, they added a trio of intriguing players with rare athletic traits: versatile safety Nick Emmanwori, field-stretching tight end Elijah Arroyo and dual-threat quarterback Jalen Milroe.

And in the later rounds, they grabbed several potential value picks in defensive lineman Rylie Mills, wide receiver Tory Horton, running back Damien Martinez and wideout Ricky White III.

The high marks for Seattle’s draft class were further reflected in a recent article by The Athletic’s Mike Sando, who spoke to NFL team executives to gain their perspectives on opposing teams’ drafts.

“The top of the draft was really good for them,” one executive said, according to Sando. “They got three of the better players in the whole draft.”

But despite that, there was one criticism.

“The catch: Seattle targeted non-premium positions with its first three picks,” Sando wrote.

As Sando mentioned, the Seahawks’ first three picks were a guard, a safety and a tight end. And in terms of salaries, those three positions are typically on the lower half of the spectrum in terms of salaries.

That prompted Seattle Sports’ Mike Salk to ask NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah whether he thinks it’s an issue that the Seahawks spent their first three picks on non-premium positions.

“I don’t think so, because I don’t think they forced it,” said Jeremiah, a former NFL scout, to Brock and Salk. “… You can go in there with a plan in place (to) address the premium positions. But if it falls a certain way, you get in trouble when you’re trying to just force it and jam it in there.

“At the end of the day, the goal is to have blue (chip) players. You want to have elite players scattered across your roster. And depending on who you talk to, they’ll tell you, we need to have eight to 12 blue-caliber players – guys that could be considered in the top 10 of their position in the NFL.

“So if you can get one of those elite players at one of those non-premium positions – (especially) in a draft like the one we just had (with limited blue-chip prospects) – that’s just doing it smart, in my opinion.”

Listen to the full conversation with NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah at this link or in the audio player at the bottom of this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

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Guard Serena Sundell, the younger sister of the Seahawks offensive lineman Jalen Sundell, was among a trio of players waived by the Seattle Storm on Monday.

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The Storm also cut 2024 third-rounder Mackenzie Holmes and Brianna Fraser as they appear to have set their roster for the start 2025 season, which begins with a road matchup Saturday against the Phoenix Mercury.

Serena Sundell, a 2025 third-round pick out of Kansas State University, led the nation with 7.3 assists per game and set Kansas State’s program record with 262 assists last season. The 6-foot-1 guard averaged 14.1 points and 4.4 rebounds. She was a two-time All-Big 12 selection and named as an AP All-American honorable mention this past season.

With Sundell being waived, none of the Storm’s three third-round picks from the 2025 draft made the roster. The team waived guards Jordan Hobbs and Madison Conner last week.

Holmes, a 6-foot-3 forward, missed all of last season while recovering from surgery on her left knee. The former Indiana University standout was a two-time All-American with the Hoosiers. She averaged 17.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.8 blocks during a decorated five-year career at Indiana.

Fraser, a 6-foot-3 forward, was a McDonald’s High School All-American in 2015 before playing four seasons at Maryland. She’s played for multiple professional teams overseas and participated in training camps for the New York Liberty and Connecticut Sun but hasn’t appeared in a WNBA regular season game.

The Storm’s roster is now down to a league-minimum 11 players. That includes forward Katie Lou Samuelson, who is out for the season with a torn ACL. General manager Talisa Rhea told reporters last month she expects the team to start the season with 11 players.

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Seattle Reign FC was narrowly defeated by the visiting Houston Dash at Lumen Field on Sunday evening. The lone goal of the match was scored in the second half and though the Reign fought to make a comeback, they were unable to find an equalizer.

The match kicked off in drizzling rain, and it was clear from the first whistle that it would be a battle for dominance as the teams settled into the match in front of a crowd of 6,841 fans. The first 15 minutes were largely spent in the middle of the field, with neither team registering a shot.

As the match went on, Houston claimed more possession of the ball, though the Reign began to generate offensive momentum, threatening the Dash in the 30th minute. Forward Lynn Biyendolo started a Reign counter near midfield, receiving a ball in between Houston’s central defense, but as she attempted to control it while forging forward, she was whistled for a handball.

The Reign’s best chances continued to come from Biyendolo wreaking havoc as she tried to work through the defense. The rest of the half brought just one shot for the Reign, as forward Ana-Maria Crnogorčević struck a low shot just off frame in the 37th minute.

Coming out of the locker room after halftime, the Reign made no changes to the lineup, while Houston made just one change up top.

In the 53rd minute, Ji started an attacking opportunity for the Reign as she used her technical skill to dance through the Dash, eventually creating an opportunity for forward Maddie Dahlien to earn a shot, but it was blocked.

The visitors took the lead in the 57th minute, as a cross from forward Ryan Gareis was threaded diagonally through the Reign’s box and midfielder Maggie Graham touched it home.

Now working back from a deficit, the Reign were forced to get into the attack more. Head Coach Laura Harvey made a triple substitution in the 71st minute, bringing on the fresh legs of defender Shae Holmes, midfielder Ainsley McCammon and forward Emeri Adames.

Adames made an immediate influence on the match , settling a ball with her chest outside the box and half volleying it toward goal. It looked like she would level the score, but the ball rang off the crossbar instead.

Goalkeeper Claudia Dickey was called into action to make her first save of the match in the 80th minute, when Yazmeen Ryan dribbled to the near post and fired off a low shot.

In the dying minutes of the match, Seattle desperately searched for an equalizer, midfielder Maddie Mercado forcing the Houston goalkeeper to push the ball over the bar to keep the Reign off the board. Defender Shae Holmes also hammered a shot toward goal, but it was slightly off target. At the final whistle, the Reign fell 1-0 to the Dash.

UP NEXT: Reign FC travels to Kentucky to take on Racing Louisville FC on Friday, May 16 at 4:30 p.m. PT.