With the status of Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II remaining up in the air as they work back from injuries, the Seattle Seahawks could have insurance coming soon in second-year defensive tackle Cameron Young.
Speaking with reporters prior to Wednesday’s walk-through session, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald indicated that he expects Young to be designated for return to practice after missing the first four games on the PUP list.
The former fourth-round pick out of Mississippi State has not practiced since the conclusion of the 2023 season due to a knee injury, including missing all of training camp and the preseason.
One of Seattle’s impact rookies from the 2023 draft class, Young suited up for 16 games with one start in his first year with the organization, contributing 18 tackles, a tackle for loss, and a quarterback hit. Per Pro Football Focus, he added three pressures, primarily factoring in as an early-down run stuffer while seeing significant snaps as a nose tackle and 3-tech defensive tackle.
Unlike last season where the Seahawks didn’t have a veteran nose tackle on the roster, Young will return with veteran Johnathan Hankins holding down the fort as the starter, while Quinton Bohanna offers depth on the practice squad. For that reason, though Williams and Murphy may not be ready to play on Sunday against the Giants, the team won’t have to rush the young defender back from injury and ask him to jump right into action as he reacclimates to the practice field.
As is the case with any player coming off injured reserve or the PUP list, once Young begins practicing, Seattle will have a 21-day window to activate him to the 53-man roster or he will revert back to the PUP for the remainder of the season. He can be activated at any time during that window, and such a decision likely will hinge on the health of Williams and Murphy moving forward, coupled with how quickly he gets back up to speed after a long layoff.
While the Seahawks are expected to welcome Young back this week, Macdonald told reporters tackle Abraham Lucas and safety Jerrick Reed II are not quite ready to start practicing yet and will remain on the PUP list for now. Lucas has been rehabbing from offseason knee surgery, while Reed continues to recover from a torn ACL suffered late in his rookie season.
