Seattle Seahawks Shore Up LB Corps, Reunite Michael Barrett With Mike Macdonald

apparently it's trade season in August with the Seahawks making their second trade already this month to sh up their linebacking core and reunite Mike McDonald with a former player from Michigan I'll be diving into all the trade details coming up next year on our Thursday edition of locked on Seahawks you are locked on Seahawks your daily Seattle Seahawks podcast part of the locked on podcast now Network your team Every Day greetings 12 this is Corbin Smith host of the locked on Seahawks podcast your daily Seahawks podcast part of the lock on podcast Network your team every day a special thanks to all the TW who are listening in and thank you as always whether you're tuning in from bton Washington or Charleston South Carolina thank you as always for making lockon Seahawks your first listen five days a week we're drawing closer to Saturday's preseason finale and the Seahawks are in the middle of trade season their second trade in a couple of weeks they dealt Nick Harris back to the Cleveland Browns a few weeks ago with Conor Williams coming in as the projected new starting center and then on Thursday dealing Mike Jackson the reliable veteran corner to the Carolina Panthers for rookie linebacker Michael Barrett a seventh round pick out of Michigan now this nightm there might not seem like a fair trade in the sense that Mike Jackson has started 21 games the last two seasons and at least in my opinion he has been a quality starter when he has had his opportunities and Michael Barrett is a seventh round pick that has never played a regular season snap in the NFL but the reality is that this deal came together because Mike Jackson was kind of on the outside looking in at this point in the cornerback group Seattle had Devin Witherspoon reiek woen and Trey Brown in front of him Arty Burns was getting snaps ahead of him in the slot you've got Nehemiah pidget DJ James who were drafted on day three and who knows if both those guys are going to make this 53 man roster from the outset but the Seahawks are excited about the potential of both those players it is a deep position group and with Jackson being in the last year of his deal and having a salary that was north of two million this year because he was a restricted free agent tender signing this came together and it wasn't necessarily unpredictable in fact I'm not surprised I mentioned earlier this off season and earlier in training camp that if there was a player that the Seahawks were potentially going to be dangling as trade pain it would be Mike Jackson because again he is a player that has proven in 21 starts of the Seahawks that he is a capable NFL starter he's a solid tackler he makes plays in the football not a lot of interceptions only one of them the last couple years but he gets his hands on the football he plays with physicality he's got good size and he's got that dog mentality so with a lot of teams in the league being in far worse shape than the Seahawks are at quarterback there's some teams that' been hit by injuries Carolina is one of them they're looking for all the help they can get at quarterback so this trade was able to come together with the Seahawks bringing in a linebacker in Barrett who previously played for new coach Mike McDonald one season at Michigan now Barrett was mostly a special teams player less than 150 defensive snaps that year but he played on defense some for Mike McDonald that year and he really catapulted that to great success ESS his last two years of the Wolverines he was a all big 10 selection each of the last two seasons and so Barrett already has that build-in relationship with Mike McDonald the scheme may not be perfectly what it was in Michigan but he should have a lot of carryover from That season he played for McDonald is the defensive coordinator in an arbor and so he should be able to hit the ground running and from Seattle's perspective here you're able to move a cornerback in Jackson Who again he was reliable he was steady you got 111 tackles you got 16 pass breakups two fumble recoveries from him he only gave up three touchdowns in coverage in 21 starts this is a player who did a lot of positive things for the Seattle Seahawks but he's not a star he was not going to start for this football team there was a chance he might not have made this football team so to be able to go out and get somebody that is going to plug a significant hole at least from a depth perspective Michael Barrett is going to be able to do that for the Seahawks you now look at what they've got Tyrell Dodson and jome Baker Baker did return to practice today so that is a really good sign that he's going to potentially be available for week one those are your starters right now in the short term but beyond those two players the Seahawks don't have a single linebacker on their roster with more than 19 regular season defensive snaps John rigan being the seasoned veteran there with less than 20 career regular season defensive snaps that factoid does not change with Michael Barrett coming in is a seventh round pick he has never played an NFL snap either but what this does does give the Seahawks and I'll dive into this a little bit more in the next segment we look more at the linebacker depth and what this could mean Beyond 2024 this gives the Seahawks another young player that they already have some familiarity with that they can continue to develop they can come in and play some special teams for him right now and I think there have been some questions there at that position behind the veterans Dodson and Baker who have both had some injuries either in the offseason program or in training camp and they're on one-year deals they're on Pro it deals so the Seahawks are trying to round out a position that depthwise is not near where the cornerback position is at so Mike Jackson became Expendable from my understanding there have been a few teams that have called about his availability this should not come as a surprise again good veteran quarterbacks there's going to be some value you weren't going to get a fourth or fifth round pick for him because he started 21 games only had one interception didn't start a lot of games the rest of his career most of his playing time has been the last two years in Seattle so he wasn't going to be a guy that was going to be fetching that type of draft Capital but you could maybe get a late round picker in this case a guy that was just picked in the seventh round and the way that I'm looking at this Michael Barrett gives the Seahawks another draft pick this year because if they would have had another pick in the seventh round they didn't have any seventh rounders in this year's draft if they would have had a seventh round selection I think there is a very good chance that Michael Barrett is the player they pick if he was still on the board because Mike McDonald holds him in high regard he did get to coach him for a year The Scouting Department was looking at his last couple years at Michigan at McDonald said that today after practice so this was a guy that was very much on Seattle's radar and they had a lot of questions at linebacker both short and long term so drafting two of them nobody would have batted an eye and these two players are so different but you're looking at a guy who is a really sound run Defender he's got solid pass rushing numbers as well he can play pretty solid coverage he is a pure middle linebacker so there's a lot of different things the Seahawks can do with him but I think right now this was about getting the depth to be bolstered some with players like John rigan Patrick oconnell trying to battle for a final roster spot Seattle's looking for somebody maybe that could move the needle a little bit more I don't know that b or Barrett I keep would say Michael Bennett but Michael Barrett I don't know that the ceiling is necessarily that high for him but I think you're looking at a guy who has played a lot of football at Michigan against really good competition he always stepped up the occasion when they were in the playoffs played really well to win the national title last year was a key contributor for that football team you're looking at a guy who can come in for you with a pretty high floor and so maybe he's somebody that in quick order can play some snaps for you on defense but the Seahawks want to see if a possibility so for them this was a win-win and I know there's got to be some disappointment in the building because Mike Jackson's a player that they developed yes he was with a couple teams before him but he developed into a capable NFL Corner after he came to Seattle and those are the kind of projects that are really tough to move on from but there just wasn't a place for him in this secondary right now to be able to make an impact and so making this trade to get a rookie linebacker who's got four years of affordable CL control in his contract as a seventh rounder and getting him before the start of his rookie season I can't say that I've seen this happen very often where a team trades one of their draft picks in a deal in August to bring in a veteran but Carolina needs quarterback help Seattle's linebacker so this ended up being one of those things that really fit well together and of course you've got the relationship between John Schneider and Scott fitter who used to be on Seattle's front office staff under John Schneider so there's already that worked in relationship Carolina's got Dave Canales as the head coach there's a lot of familiarity there between the two sides that were able to come together and make this deal the Seahawks are hoping that Barrett's going to be able to develop into a solid player and I'm going to build off that coming up next Beyond just looking at the trade details where Michael Barrett can fit in right now for the Seahawks some of the skills that he brings to the table and why this should brighten the outlook for the Seahawks moving forward I'll be talking about that up next here on Thursday edition of locked on Seahawks this episode is brought your way by game time you shouldn't have to skip a mortgage payment when you buy tickets to your next big event game time is the fast and easy way to buy tickets for all the sports music comedy and theater near you with killer last minute deals all in prices and views from your seat along with their best price guarantee game time takes the guest work out of buying tickets you want to see the Seahawks in their home opener Saturday preseason finale at field against the Browns you can get seats at one of the loudest venues in the NFL in the lower bowl for under 50 bucks great seats without breaking the budget and you're going to get to see some exciting young Talent as well as some starters with the regular season approaching game time has deals on tickets right at the day of the event and the game time guarantee means you'll always get the best price to write in your own memories if you find 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second time this month that they have made a trade first dealing Nick Harris the Cleveland Browns a few weeks ago with him becoming Expendable with their depth at center now making a move to bolster the depth at linebacker sending veteran Corner Mike Jackson to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for seventh round pick linebacker Michael Barrett who will now be reunited with Mike McDonald of course that was one of the big storylines when this trade was first announced this morning that Mike McDonald's getting one of his guys a player that he coached for a year at Michigan now granted he was not a starter Junior Coulson who was in the same draft and went to the Chargers in the third round he was an instant starter for Mike McDonald but Michael Barrett was more of a rotational Defender and a special teams Cog that year nonetheless Mike McDonald got a chance to work with him he knows the kid really well and from the conversations that I've had Michael Barrett was a player who I had on my radar as a high Target for the Seahawks on day three with their needed linebacker not just because of the familiarity with Mike McDonald but watching the film I saw a darn good well-rounded football player that was a very underrated piece on that defense had a lot of big names that got drafted much higher than him Barrett is not the most explosive athlete in fact I would not say that he is an above average athlete in the linebacker position he did run a 4740 which isn't great but it's not slow by any means for an inside linebacker his other testing was not good though he had a 20th percentile short shuttle run 4.55 seconds that is not good for an offb linebacker but when you turn on the tape and you watch this kid play you see him moving at a different speed than his athletic testing would suggest and I think some of it is the IQ some of the people that I talked to in the pre-draft process who knew Michael Barrett or had watched him closely at Michigan that was the first thing that jumped out in their scouting and just their understanding of the players that he is an incredibly smart football player he's instinctive and when you know what you're doing you can play fast and so even though he's not not a great athlete for his position he actually moves pretty well when you turn on the tape you see some ability to run sideline to sideline he can get downhill and thump people he's really solid in coverage as well only gave up one touchdown in coverage the last two years under seven yards per reception had a touchdown return for a pick six two years ago for the Wolverines and maybe the thing that jumps out to me the most Mike McDonald has not been quiet about this you watched Baltimore the last two years you know how much he likes to Blitz players from the second and third levels and linebackers certainly are included in that mix Michael Barrett was the most effective pass rusher in college football for linebackers last year at least based on pass rush win rate 31.3% of his blitzes were considered a win last year he generated 19 pressures when you include the playoff games last year had three sacks he had three and a half the year before so maybe not ey dropping or jaw-dropping numbers but this is a guy who has been productive when he had his opportunities he had 16 pressures in the regular season last year on just 46 Blitz attempts so it's not like he was a high volume Blitzer but when he was sent by Michigan very effective can get after the quarterback get quarterback hits get sacks and generate pressure so he checks off all those boxes that Mike McDonald has always been looking for and what I think is fascinating about this Edition not just the fact that this is a player that I was high on I had a fifth round grade on him and we talked about him in the pre-draft process this is a guy that I was very very high on higher than most people were ended up going in the seventh and I think the athletic testing the fact he's 24 as well he was on campus for six years at Michigan he's one of those older prospects there were some other factors that led to him to fall to that point but I think he's a very good player for a seventh round pick but I'm intrigued by the possibility of pairing him with Tyrese Knight now you end up with two draft picks even though you're not the team that picked Barrett you now have two draft selections at the linebacker position who have four years of Club control on cheap rookie contracts who really have contrasting styles that I believe are going to work really well together Barrett is not a great athlete I've already mentioned that a few times like the testing match is that but he plays faster than that on the field he's well routed he can stop the run even though he's only 5'11 he's 233 pounds he's short and stocky so he can take on blocks he can shed Blocks he's physical against the run 19 pressures last year he had three forced fumbles a couple of pass breakups he's been one of the better offb linebackers in coverage in college football the last two years and so the Seahawks could certainly use that and then you look at tyres Knight totally different player Knight didn't have the greatest comine ever for a linebacker but he is a Twitchy athlete he is a sideline to sideline disruptive hair on fire going after the quarterback style player that really fits that weak side linebacker position well that's where the Seahawks have been been playing him so far so when I look at a long-term outlook here I don't think the Seahawks are going to be counting on either one of these players to play a lot of snaps this year if there's an injury then obviously it could happen but I think Seattle's looking 2025 and Beyond with this move to get Michael Barrett put him with Tyrese Knight as your weak side and middle linebackers Mike McDonald is looking at foundational pieces that's what he's hoping that he has here two guys with different skill sets that both have great strength ranks that are different they are better suited to play the two specific linebacker positions with those skill sets and they have complimentary talents that really should make a well-rounded middle of this defense they've obviously got to develop and there two different players in the sense that as I mentioned I think it's a high floor lower ceiling player in Barrett that's already pretty well developed it doesn't have as many tools as many traits to really expand upon his talent whereas tyres Knight it feels like the sky is the limit for him with what he already did at utap and being a guy that still seems kind of raw in some ways so it's two different types of players that are on different trajectories and yet they could really work well together in this defense so I think that's what the Seahawks were thinking here you know they're hoping that Michael Barrett with that past experience playing for Mike McDonald what he did at Michigan just the really sound technical football player that he is that putting him next to Tyrese Knight that they could have two building blocks at that linebacker position who could play together from 2025 to 2027 on cheap rookie contracts and potentially play at a high level and I think that that is something that they absolutely had to do they needed to bring somebody in whether it was through a trade or on the waiver wire they needed to add somebody else this linebacker spot that had upside that potentially could play on Sundays for them on defense Michael Barrett is going to give them that again I don't think he's going to be asked to do much this year other than special teams he was a good special teams player at Michigan for Jay Harbaugh so there's already that relationship there as well but I look at this the situation with the Seahawks their Outlook at the position at least long term is dramatically better looking with this deal I really like it and that doesn't mean you can't add a linebacker in next year's draft which is looking like is going to be a better draft at linebacker than it was this past season you could add somebody else in up the competition but this puts the Seahawks in a better position both now and down the road with two guys who could be building blocks for this defense and I think that makes this an exciting trade and and it really makes things a little less cloudy obviously if Tyrell Dodson or derome Baker plays really well this year there's going to be calls for them to resign one or both those guys and that changes everything but if you're looking for players that Mike McDonald has handpicked to play in his defense that are young players that he can develop and groom right now he's got both of them en tyres Knight and Michael Barrett so that should be an exciting thing for sew fans and yes as I said the organization trading away Mike Jackson probably that was a Bittersweet thing because he developed in Seattle into the player that he is and he was a favorite within the building but you have to move guys sometimes to get what you wanted and he just didn't have a spot that was standing out right now in that secondary to begin with get what you can give him a better opportunity to play elsewhere and add to that linebacker group so I think this is a chance to be a really Thrifty trade for the Seattle Seahawks down the line because I do think Barrett is one of those rare late round guys that has the goods to be able to start you saw it on tape at Michigan I think he can start in the NFL there may be some limitations on his ceiling but putting him with Tyrese Knight I think it at least creates an exciting future potentially for the Seahawks at linebacker up next the Seahawks will face the Browns on Saturday night in the preseason finale and for fans in attendance of the game hey you're not just going to be watching third and fourth stringers a lot of starters going to get to play including Gino Smith I'm going to be diving into what I'm going to be watching on offense with the starters in particular as they get their first action of the Season heading towards week one against the Broncos I'll be diving in with that analysis coming up next year on our Thursday edition of locked on Seahawks you've heard us talk a lot about FanDuel America's number one sports book well we have something a little different for you now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a three- week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV then with a YouTube TV base plan you'll be able to watch every single regular season Sunday afternoon out of Market game all you need is a Google account and a current form of payment and you can cancel anytime bet at everything from Gino Smith's MVP odds he's a bit of a Dark Horse might be worth your time Byron Murphy the second's rookie the year odds or even Mike McDonald getting coach of the year in his first year at the helm for the Seahawks just throw in a $5 bet and you'll get a three-week free trial to NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV just visit fanduel.com locked on to download America's number one sports book welcome back to the Thursday edition of locked on Seahawks I'm your host Corbin Smith a special thanks to each and every one of the twelves that are listening in and thank you as always for making locked on Seahawks your first listen five days a week we greatly appreciate it the preseason about to wrap up on Sat Saturday night Seahawks Browns at Lumen field and the good news for fans who will be in attendance a lot of times at preseason games you don't get to see many if any starters that is not going to be the case in this game now who knows how long the Seahawks and Browns are actually going to let their starters go it might only be a series or two but fans and attendance are going to get to see goo Smith they're going to get to see a number of starters on both sides of the ball for the Seahawks I want to focus mostly on offense here because as Mike McDonald said after practice today the defense you have gotten to see not very much but you've gotten to see some of your starters these first two preseason games on offense you really haven't had a chance to see the vast majority of the guys who are expected to start against the Broncos on September 8th so this is going to present that opportunity to lather him up a little bit particularly the offensive line let him get out there with the pads on get some hitting in Gino Smith gets some live reps running Ryan Grub's offense so I want to focus on the offense today what I'm going to be watching with those start STS in particular now there's going to be some guys that aren't out there Noah Fant being one of them phell brown maybe he's back for week one it sounds like the Seahawks are more optimistic than I anticipated on that front but they're not going to have their top two tight ends in this game I don't expect Ken Walker the third is going to play much if if at all Zack shanet maybe not either because he just got back to practice two days ago so there's GNA be some missing pieces but as far is what I'm going to be watching in this game number one offensive line continuity what is this group look like missing Abraham Lucas Conor Williams probably not going to be playing this game even though he practiced some this week not quite ready to push that yet but you're gonna have Charles cross out there Lake and Tomlinson Christian Haynes is gonna get his reps Anthony Bradford I want to see what that perceived starting group George Fant may be getting some rep there's a chance he right now right tackle you need to see what that group looks like especially when there's a chance I don't know if miles Garrett's going to be one of the starters that plays for the Cleveland Browns but if he does and Cleveland's got some other really good players on that side of the ball in the defensive line a few that Seattle's familiar with in Shelby Harris and Quinton Jefferson I expect those two are going to play in this game maybe miles Garrett gets some reps as well this is a solid litmus test at least for a preseason game against another team that's going to play some starters to really get an idea where this offensive line is at at least with the players that are healthy enough to play right now so the offensive line that stands out as number one for me number two and hopefully Gino Smith's got enough time to be able to show this on the field and he isn't getting pressured a bunch but getting to see Gino Smith running Ryan Grub's offense against a non Mike McDonald style defense and that's what he's been working against it practice hasn't played in the first two preseason games but those two teams the Titans as well as the Chargers they run very similar defensive schemes you're going to get different schemes in this game against the Cleveland Browns it's going to be vanela on both sides but still you're going to get a little different experience this is really that first taste of what Gino Smith is going to look like at least for fans running this offense you'd like to see who he's going to have out there to throw to what the O Line's going to look like but Gino Smith indeed is going to be playing in this game and so I am eager to see if he's able to take what he's looked like on the practice field I think he's had a fantastic training camp put him under Center against another defense in a game situation even if it's only for one or two drives just let him get a few snaps in and let's see how this offense looks for Ryan Gruff before the bullets really start flying when they're playing the Denver Broncos in week one this is a really good opportunity for him to get a few quick throws off maybe take a few shots down field and just get himself better prepared to be able to run this offense in the real games coming up in a couple of weeks so of course gon be watching the o line going to be watching Gino Smith and how he looks in this offense how comfortable he is going up against other defense if he's got miles Garrett coming into his face what that looks like some real football to really evaluate this offense and where they need to continue to work before they play Denver in a couple of weeks as far as number three for me I mentioned this earlier I don't expect to see Ken Walker II third I don't expect to see Zack shanet in this game so it's all about the other two running backs who are going to get the snaps now George helani did not play very much in the last preseason game I've already expressed my opinion that that was because the Seahawks feeli like they've already seen enough from him in training camp practice the first preseason game making some big plays but they're going to need to have him and Kenny McIntosh pick up the man in this game with the starters George helani has been getting some snaps with the starters in practice the last couple weeks so maybe he's the one that gets the start in this game playing with Gino Smith and then they rotate Kenny MacIntosh and and we'll see how long Macintosh ends up playing in this game but I want to watch those two I think at this point I projected both of them to make this roster but I think this still a big game for both players so looking forward to the opportunity for those guys to have a starting offensive line or at least three fifths of a starting offensive line in front of them for a preseason game see if they can get that run game going are these guys going to contribute some catch and passes from Gino Smith in this game I'm going to be eager to watch the running backs and I'm expecting to see more of a 5050 split with those guys both getting opportunities at least early in this football game and the last thing I'm going to be watching here I don't know if we're going to see DK metf playing at all in this game I do not expect Tyler Lockett he's been dealing with a leg issue for several weeks that's really limited him in practice they're going to make sure he's healthy for week one but Jackson Smith and jig but Jake Bobo lisus Chenal the other standout receivers the Seahawks have I'm gonna be looking for the explosives that's really the big thing for me are we going to see the explosive plays from the receivers and that even includes your secondary players later in the game Esau Winston he's had he's had a little bit of a niche when it comes to snagging 20 plus yard catches Cody white at a 33 yard catch last week drid hey th this could be the last absolute last strike for him in this game can he come up with a big play downfield I want to see if the Seahawks are able to engineer some explosives it would be nice to see a couple explosive passes when Gino Smith is out there with the starting offense him to have the time to make those throws but I want to see what that looks like when you have more of your pieces together on the offensive side of the football and you get a real chance to see how the chemistry looks out there in this new scheme Jack Smith and jiga had a big game against Cleveland the regular season last year maybe he goes out and gets a couple big catches early before exting in treading his helmet in for a ball cap I just want to see this offense generate some chunk plays and maybe the Run game as well but I'm looking specifically the passing game with this being G Smith's first opportunity to play in game action running Ryan grubs scheme I want to see if that ends up leading into a couple big plays downfield in the passing game as always you can follow me on X and threads at Corbin Smith NFL make sure to subscribe to locked on Seahawks on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast to ensure you don't miss a single episode coming up tomorrow our blue Friday episode leading up to Saturday's pre-season finale Nick Lee will be joining me the two of us will have our weekly picks to click who we think's going to stand out on offense and defense and we're going to outlin some players to specifically watch on both sides of the ball heading into Saturday's finale you won't want to miss it enjoy the rest of your Thursday night and thanks for listening in go Hawks