I really hope they give O’toole and Ivey opportunities. They kept both on roster and weren’t willing to risk losing either one in the in season injury roster churns. I feel like in past years the 4-5 guys weren’t as protected and it feels both have talent from what we saw in the pre-season.
O’toole was my adopted rookie last year even though I thought he was destined for the PS. In my deep dive on him, his length metrics and athletic traits were comparable to a Crosby and Hendrickson, two players that were constantly linked the Seahawks. Furthermore, Hendrickson and Crosby weren’t the highly rated sure fire players they’d become as both were taken between 103 and 106 and probably going higher than the draftniks thought. Obviously, O’toole might not be as talented as either, I saw some rated him in the 5th round after his Pro Day showing but he went UDFA. However, he basically red-shirted while seeing a little pt but hopefully that meant he settled into his weight class a bit more, gotten healthier, gotten stronger, and was able to learn as well as refine and add to his skillset.
Ivey was more successful and more dominant on paper in college than O’toole and had a 3rd and 4th round grade before his poor athletic testing or lack of more or less plummeted his draft stock. However, he is lengthy, disruptive, and powerful and has a game that just shows up on tape despite his lack of elite athleticism. Again Ivey basically red-shirted I believe was inactive the entire time and like O’toole hopefully he absorbed as much knowledge as possible and took the opportunity to refine his craft. However, it’s possible he also took the much needed opportunity to develop and maximize his athleticism for the better.
O’toole and Ivey have very contrasting games that complement each other very well and can be utilized differently in the pass-rush mix. Not saying this is who they compare to 100% but if O’toole has gotten much stronger and has more of a handle in playing bigger while maximizing his own athleticism AND Ivey has redefined his own athleticism their ceiling of potential is like lesser versions of Avril and Bennett.
You add Derrick Hall to the mix who is starting to come into his own and his game and ceiling of potential looks like a mixture of some of the best stuff of DLaw and Nwosu.
However, there are two dark horse candidates that well one people do talk about but not in the edge mix but will still influence the the defensive structure and take away snaps in the DLine/edge rotation. And the other is more of a shot in the dark and perhaps a challenge for him to broaden his skillset and see more playing time.
The obvious one is Rylie Mills and what he brings to the table fully healthy and going into second season. He’s not exactly a pound for pound replacement in skillset for Mafe but he’s going to take up snaps and Seahawks can definitely develop, and have already done so, more pass rush packages utilizing bigger personnel.
The second one is Tyrice Knight. He doesn’t have length or size one covets on the edge yet he has always impressed me going downhill especially when asked to attack the QB and it shows up in his athletic testing with him having a very solid 1.52 10 yard split. The guy from a ILB standpoint is a very solid pass-rusher with the ceiling to get better. It was maybe some of his best part of his tape both in college and in the pros, the opportunities he got just pinning his ears back, he’s been a menace. So im wondering if he can be a candidate to get into the edge mix as more of a specialist type as he probably doesnt have the size and length to necessarily hold up full time against OTs. Yet Knight is still an intriguing thought and one that makes me think of Josiah Stewart from last year’s class (and current Ram) as they have similar height and wingspans although there is a considerable weight difference.
I think replacing Mafe is much easier with what we have on the roster compared to replacing Woolen. Now if Lawrence retires and they cant work something out with Nwosu then id be 10x more nervous about the pass-rush mix with Mills, O’toole, Ivey, and maybe Knight if he’s up to the challenge and adds a little more functional weight and Drake Thomas figures into their long term plans at ILB.
And its also possible they could release Nwosu down the road if they can re-sign Mafe to a reasonable deal if his market is much weaker than it looks as of now. And roll with a high potential guy entering his prime over an aging oft-injured player even though Nwosu is better and more complete than Mafe currently.
Derrick Hall does seem like the future though and they’ll likely work around where and whom the money is going to, to fit him in long term. So, it very much feels they have laid groundwork out for O’toole and Ivey to figure into their plans and why they held on to them despite not being used because thats a big time boon if they can get in the very least a competent and productive contributor from one of those guys and even better if they hit on both.
