The Seattle Seahawks intentionally drafted several players who were coming off injuries in their final college seasons. The NFL draft is for the hope of future success rather than immediately filling holes, of course. If that last part happens, great, but that is not the expectation.
One player that might be a concern for a while is defensive tackle Rylie Mills. He tore his ACL late in the season, and it would not be shocking if he missed the entire 2025 campaign. If he does play, it will likely be late in the year.
But one injured rookie seems to be making progress at record-breaking speed, and he could have an impact early this coming season. Wide receiver Tory Horton hurt his knee in October and missed the rest of his final college year. At the time, he was just 35 yards away from breaking the all-time receiving yards record for the Mountain West conference.
Seahawks' Tory Horton appears ready to start helping the team
While he participated in the NFL combine, there were still doubts he might be fully ready to play in Week 1 of 2025. This theory was compounded after Horton wasn't doing much in rookie minicamp, which nearly immediately followed April's draft, except catching balls from the JUGS machine.
However, last week at the beginning of organized team activities, 2025 fifth-round pick Horton was participating in drills and running routes, according to the official Seahawks website. This means he went from only catching passes a month ago to running routes three weeks later.
There is no reason, at his current pace, to think Horton won't be ready to play when the season begins. The question might be where he slides into the depth chart. If fully healthy, he has the speed to take the top of a defense (he ran a 4.41 40-yard dash at the combine, even while likely not 100 percent healthy), and he is 6'3" and close to 200 pounds.
He needs to gain mass as well as keep his speed to hold up against NFL-type punishment, but he has sure hands, was a leader in the locker room at Colorado State, and could have a long and fruitful career with the Seahawks.
But in 2025? He might be no better than WR4. The safe assumption is that Jaxon Smith-Njigba will see the most targets, followed by Cooper Kupp. Veteran Marquez Valdes-Scantling might see the third-most. As new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak's scheme uses a lot of two tight end sets, the wide receiver group might see fewer snaps than in previous seasons.
Still, Horton has the ability and the proven productivity in college to earn reps quickly. Now that he appears healthy enough to compete for playing time, he should have an impact sooner rather than later for the Seahawks.
