Getty SEATTLE, WA - NOVEMBER 29: Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider pats defensive back Jeremy Lane on the helmet before a football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at CenturyLink Field on November 29, 2015 in Seattle, Washington. The Seahawks won the game 39-30. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
The Seattle Seahawks are continuing to tweak their 90-man roster heading into voluntary OTAs, and they made a pair of signings after two players showed real promise during rookie minicamp.
According to John Boyle from Seahawks.com, the team officially signed cornerback Elijah Jones and offensive tackle Liam Ryan. Both players went undrafted, with Jones going pro this year and Ryan coming out of college in 2021.
They aren’t the biggest names, but both Jones and Ryan did enough during rookie minicamp to impress the front office and coaching staff. They’ll be hoping to have a big enough impact in training camp to make the final 53-man roster heading into the 2022 season.
Get To Know Elijah Jones
A lot of players around the NFL started as 5-star high school prospects before going to college football powerhouses and developing into first-round picks. For Jones, his path to the NFL hasn’t been nearly as glamorous.
After graduating from North Fort Myers High School, Jones attended Ellsworth Community College where he played for two years. It was here where Jones started to make some noise, generating three interceptions as a freshman in 2016 and another four picks in 2017 as a sophomore.
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Jones was a 3-star JUCO transfer according to 247Sports.com when he left to play for the Kansas Jayhawks. While he didn’t generate any turnovers over three seasons with the program, he did become a much more productive tackler, finishing with 34 total tackles and four tackles for loss.
The 6’2″ cornerback spent his final college season at Oregon State, appearing in five games for the Beavers. He recorded five tackles and a pass breakup in those games.
Although he went undrafted, Jones will have a chance to prove himself throughout the team’s offseason workouts and training camp. Head coach Pete Carroll loves his bigger cornerbacks, and Jones will at least have that going for him.
Get To Know Liam Ryan
The Seahawks drafted Washington State offensive tackle Abraham Lucas in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft. After a strong showing at rookie minicamp, Lucas’ teammate Liam Ryan will also be joining him in Seattle.
Ryan wasn’t the biggest name coming out of high school, ranked as just a 2-star recruit out of La Verne, California. He still got a handful of FBS offers, however, ultimately committing to play for the Cougars.
After redshirting his first year and seeing limited action as a redshirt freshman, Ryan became a full-time starter at left guard in 2018, earning a Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention. He then kicked out to left tackle as a redshirt junior and had another solid year and was rated the third-best screen-blocking offensive tackle in the nation according to the school’s website.
Ryan then started all four games in the team’s COVID-shortened 2020 season, earning an All-Pac-12 honorable mention for his play.
At 6’5″ and 293 pounds, Ryan has the versatility to play on the inside or outside of the offensive line. However, it’s likely he’ll be tried out primarily as an offensive guard after he spent some time playing that position at rookie minicamp according to The Athletic‘s Michael-Shawn Dugar.