The Seahawks may turn to an undrafted rookie at wide receiver

Brady Henderson, ESPNAug 25, 2023, 06:00 AM ET
Close

RENTON, Wash. — There’s a fascinating story brewing in Seattle, where an undrafted rookie wide receiver with a pronounced athletic limitation is playing his way onto the Seahawks’ 53-man roster.

Jake Bobo is not fast. In fact, it’s almost unheard of for NFL receivers to run as slow as the 4.99 he clocked in the 40-yard dash in March. But that hasn’t stopped Bobo from being one of the Seattle Seahawks’ standout players this summer. He constantly gets open in practice, he’s made a few big plays over the first two preseason games and he’s even getting some first-team reps while Seattle has been short-handed at receiver.

The injuries to Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Dareke Young, plus Dee Eskridge’s suspension, make Bobo look like an increasingly safe bet to make the team. But make no mistake, he’s built a strong case on his own merit. With roster cut-downs coming on Tuesday, Bobo will get one more chance to solidify his spot when the Seahawks close out the preseason Saturday against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.

He might have already done so.

“Jake’s flying pretty high right now,” coach Pete Carroll said. “He’s done great. He hasn’t just done well in the few plays in the game; he’s done well in practice throughout. He’s been really steady … He looks like he’s part of the flow to me. I don’t see any reason why we would think different.”

At 6-foot-4 and 207 pounds, Bobo is a big target with reliable hands. But you need look no further than his below-average speed to understand why he wasn’t drafted after his strong season with UCLA (57 catches, 817 yards, seven touchdowns) as a grad transfer from Duke.

Bobo was invited to the scouting combine but didn’t work out there. He ran the 4.99 at UCLA’s pro day, ending any real chance of getting selected. He said about five teams were interested in signing him once the draft ended. The Seahawks, his first choice, gave him a $10,000 signing bonus, tied for the second-highest among their 2023 UDFA class.

For context, the slowest 40 time by a wide receiver at the combine in the last 20 years was 4.85, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Only seven receivers in that span ran 4.80 or slower. This year alone, five offensive linemen ran 4.99 or better in Indy.

Bobo’s 40 time may have been artificially slowed a bit since he ran it on a wet field. He said he’s been clocked on a stopwatch in the low 4.7s, which is considerably faster than 4.99 but still plodding by NFL receiver standards.

And yet …

“He’s making plays,” running back Kenneth Walker III said. “Everybody sees it.”

A few minutes before Walker spoke with reporters on Wednesday, Bobo made the play of the day in an 11-on-11 period — and maybe the play of the summer — when he went full-extension to make a diving catch on a throw up the seam from quarterback Geno Smith. A few snaps later, he made an athletic adjustment to catch an over-the-middle throw that linebacker Bobby Wagner tipped.

In the Seahawks’ Aug. 4 scrimmage, Bobo led all players with seven catches for 76 yards and a touchdown. In two preseason games, he’s caught five passes for 98 yards and a touchdown.

All that playmaking has given rise to an oft-cited phrase among teammates and coaches: “More Bobo.”

“I’m very impressed with Jake,” Smith said. “Bobo has been great. I think back to minicamp and OTAs when he was making plays and no one really knew who he was and now it’s a little bit of a mantra going with ‘More Bobo.’ Everybody wants to see him make plays, but every day he comes out, he’s consistent, he gets open and he catches the ball. Right now we just have to continue to push him and make him better, but he’s doing all the things he needs to do.”

Including the dirty work that sometimes goes unnoticed.

In the second preseason game, one play after Bobo juked a Dallas Cowboys defender with a double move to get open for a 28-yard catch, he helped spring a long Zach Charbonnet run by running off one defender before blocking another. Carroll called it a “terrific play.”

“For me, it is all about the little things,” Bobo said. “… It’s run-blocking, knowing my assignments, running routes where I might not be the primary progression but running it so I can get somebody else open. All the little things in my game definitely are huge in order for me to have success.”

Part of the pre-draft concern with Bobo was whether his lack of speed would also hinder him on special teams, where young receivers have to make their mark in order to stick if they aren’t at the top of the depth chart. Bobo has done that despite not playing much special teams since his freshman and sophomore seasons at Duke.

In the first preseason game, he kept a punt from bouncing into the end zone by tip-toeing the goal line and swatting the ball backwards. He’s recently been practicing as a punt returner, a role Smith-Njigba had been working at before his injury.

“Watch,” Bobo said. “It’s not all about speed. It’s about change of direction, change of pace and how I can manipulate defenders into thinking I’m running faster than I am.”

In addition to becoming a popular player in Seattle’s locker room, Bobo has become a fan favorite. He’s noticed the support on social media.

“I think people like to root for the underdog, and maybe that’s a little bit of that,” he said. “I’m here for it all and very grateful.”

What separates Bobo from past preseason sensations who never stuck around — remember Troymaine Pope and Kasen Williams? — is that the Seahawks might actually need him to contribute right away. Smith-Njigba may not be ready by the opener following wrist surgery. Same with Young, who’s dealing with a core-muscle injury. Eskridge is suspended for the first six games.

That means Bobo could conceivably be Seattle’s third receiver behind Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf when they open their season Sept. 10 against the Los Angeles Rams.

That’s more Bobo than anyone could have predicted after that 4.99 40-yard dash in March.

“I feel so fortunate that we got him outside of the draft,” Carroll said. “So we will see how far he can take it but he’s in the middle of everything right now.”