Camp Takeaways: Rookie DBs Dazzle as Seahawks’ 2026 Draft Class Continues to Shine

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Seattle Seahawks cornerback Michael Dansby prepares for a drill during the team’s fourth training camp practice. Credit: Corbin Smith/Emerald City Spectrum [/caption]

RENTON, Wash. - The pads won’t start popping until later this week, providing a major caveat that encompasses any evaluations from four non-contact July practices. But heading into the first day off at training camp, the Seattle Seahawks continue to receive encouraging initial returns from their latest draft class.

The center of attention as Seattle’s top selection, Jadarian Price caught his second touchdown in as many days, this time hauling in a 30-yard wheel route from Jalen Milroe for six points and drawing an avalanche of cheers from the sellout crowd on the berm at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center. As has been the case throughout camp thus far, the first round running back has seemingly been force fed in the passing game by new coordinator Brian Fleury, catching passes everywhere from the flats to down the sideline on deep patterns coming out of the backfield.

But while all eyes remained fixated on Price, and understandably so as a top-32 selection tabbed to succeed Super Bowl MVP Ken Walker III, it was two of the four defensive backs drafted by John Schneider in April who stole the show in Tuesday’s session with splashy plays on the back end of Mike Macdonald’s defense.

Rotating in as both a traditional free safety and a slot cornerback, second round pick Bud Clark found himself in the right place at the right time at the goal line during a red zone 7-on-7 drill when teammate - and fellow rookie classmate - Michael Dansby extended his right arm out in front of receiver Montorie Foster Jr. on a slant in the end zone to generate a clutch pass breakup. With the carom going right to the ball hawking defender, the former TCU star plucked the pass out of the air with a running start and took off 99 yards for a crowd-pleasing pick six, leading to linebacker Ernest Jones racing 70-plus yards to celebrate with the rookie.

The first interception of his career on the practice field, Clark has demonstrated his underrated all-around skill set in the first four days of his rookie minicamp in Seattle. Before picking off Milroe’s ill-fated pass on Tuesday afternoon, he chased down the second-year quarterback from behind on a blitz for force an ugly incompletion and also shot into the backfield from the slot to snuff out a couple of run plays on Monday, acclimating well early to a new scheme that demands versatility in the secondary.

Early such success for a player of Clark’s caliber who produced 15 interceptions in his final four seasons with the Horned Frogs shouldn’t come as a surprise. However, as the third of three cornerbacks picked by the Seahawks this year and one of the final prospects drafted in the seventh round a few months ago, Dansby’s rapid ascent could understandably be filed in the “came out of nowhere” classification.

Maintaining momentum after a strong start in OTAs and minicamp, including intercepting Milroe on the final play of Monday’s session, it’s worth wondering if Dansby might be playing with a football-attracting magnet sewn into the fabric of his gloves. Every time one of Seattle’s quarterbacks has decided to challenge him thus far, he has answered the call and seemed to come through with a pass breakup at minimum, a trend that has continued throughout the first week of camp.

Only a few moments before Clark benefited from his recovery skills to deflect a potential touchdown away from Foster, Dansby stepped up his game against superior competition. Stepping into the lineup with the second-team defense, he stayed in veteran receiver Cody White’s hip pocket on a fade route without drawing a penalty, and despite giving up five inches to the wideout, he hung tough at the catch point and extended his left arm to knock Drew Lock’s pass away in the front right-hand corner of the end zone.

Once the pads come out on Thursday, Clark and Dansby will have to continue stacking quality days in practices that closer emulate a real game environment to stay in the mix competing for playing time at their respective positions, especially with tackling and run defense coming into focus as the preseason quickly approaches. But with the Seahawks needing to replace Riq Woolen and Coby Bryant, it’d be hard to envision a much better start for either player as they try to cut their teeth early with the defending Super Bowl champions.

What else stood out from Day 4 of Seattle’s training camp? Here are three more observations from the VMAC:

1. Milroe and second-year wideout Ricky White III took incremental steps forward with their best practices as Seahawks.

Up until Tuesday’s practice, Milroe’s inconsistencies with throwing mechanics, accuracy, and reading through progressions kept rearing their ugly head in the first three camp practices. This included drawing somewhat pointed criticism from Macdonald after Monday’s session, with the coach expressing frustration with how the practice ended on a bad decision by the young quarterback that ultimately was picked off by Dansby in the end zone.

But to Milroe’s credit, he responded favorably to Macdonald’s sharp critique incredibly well on Tuesday. Even the aforementioned interception to Clark that resulted in a pick six wasn’t a bad throw or read, as Montorie Foster Jr. appeared to have a step on Dansby on a slant, only for the rookie corner to quickly make up ground and get his hand into the passing lane at the last second. From a learning standpoint, he could have unloaded the ball just a hair quicker in retrospect.

Still, that pick six aside, Milroe flashed notable improvements in every aspect of quality quarterback play. He delivered crisp passes all over the field, whether from the pocket or on the move, including firing a bullet over the middle between two converging defenders to Foster for a touchdown and layering a beautiful throw across his body over the hands of a linebacker and in front of a full speed Clark bearing down from his free safety spot to tight end Eric Saubert on a deep crosser for a 25-yard gain.

On multiple occasions, Milroe stood firm in the pocket and rocketed sharp throws outside the numbers to connect with open receivers, connecting on the type of throws that have regularly given him problems since his time at Alabama. While the throws themselves weren’t always pretty, he also found plenty of success lofting the ball downfield, dropping a dime right into the bucket to Price on a wheel route for six points and getting bailed out to an extent on an underthrown go ball that Foster high-pointed for a contested 30-yard touchdown.

Much like the rookies, Milroe has to keep this rhythm going by seeing these improvements carry over for multiple practices in a row. If he can do that and find a semblance of consistency heading towards the preseason, the Seahawks will feel quite good about the progress of their talented, yet raw developmental quarterback.

2. Fleury’s usage of running backs in the passing game continues to be an eye opener in the early stages of camp.

Though they each heralded from the same coaching tree and players have indicated that the offense as a whole won’t be much different in 2026, former Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak and Fleury rose up the coaching ranks with different exposures before spending time on Kyle Shanahan’s staff in San Francisco. As a result, it shouldn’t be a shocker that Fleury has some of his own wrinkles and different philosophies that he will incorporate compared to his predecessor.

Only four days into camp, finding those differences will continue to be a quest for discovery. But if there’s an apparent contrast that has emerged in a matter of days on the practice field, Seattle will be utilizing running backs as a bigger focal point in the passing game. Last year, the team finished 31st in the NFL with just 63 passes thrown to backs, while San Francisco finished first with 169. Some of that boils down to the Christian McCaffrey effect, but Shanahan has a history of heavily emphasizing backs as receivers, and Fleury seems destined to follow more in line with that approach.

After dropping a few passes in the first camp practice, Price has rebounded with three straight excellent sessions, demonstrating comfort as a pass catcher on swing routes, “Texas” routes, and crossers coming out of the backfield as well as downfield with wheel routes. Mixing in with all three offensive groups, he has caught passes from all three quarterbacks, including Sam Darnold and Milroe each connecting with him for touchdowns over the past two practices. George Holani and Emanuel Wilson have also gotten their hands on several catches, further emphasizing a major difference compared to last year’s offense.

By the time the regular season rolls around, the Seahawks may dial back on the proliferation of targets to running backs in the passing game, falling closer in line to how Kubiak ran the offense. But the increased opportunities for Price, Holani, and others in camp shouldn’t be viewed as a mirage with Fleury’s background learning under Shanahan clearly having a strong influence on his philosophy.

3. Minus Nick Emmanwori, Rodney Thomas and D’Anthony Bell doing their best to fill the gap as a duo.

Rehabbing from recent ankle surgery, the Seahawks opened camp without Emmanwori, leaving a major void in Macdonald’s defense without the do-it-all, position-less unicorn. It can be argued there isn’t another player in the NFL who offers comparable size, athleticism, and football skills, let alone having another player like that on the same roster.

But with that said, the Seahawks have more than enough talent in their deep, versatile safety room to be able to help compensate for Emmanwori’s absence in the short term with a by-committee approach mixing and matching the skill sets of capable, experienced reserves. Thus far, they have been rotating Thomas and Bell onto the field in nickel and dime sets with positive results, allowing Macdonald to still be able to call most of his defense with the two players helping bridge the gap schematically.

In Thursday’s session, the 6-1, 211-pound Bell spent extensive time playing in the box as a strong safety/pseudo-linebacker, flying downhill to get clean wraps and “two hand taps” on ball carriers in the run game. He also sprung free on a pair of blitzes from the slot to generate quick pressures, showcasing an element of his game that has gone under the radar for much of his NFL career and been highlighted in the first four days of practice.

As for Thomas, who previously started for two seasons with the Colts, the rangy playmaker may have turned in the best play of the entire afternoon on Tuesday, deftly baiting Lock into throwing what appeared to be an open out route to Foster. Muddying up the read with his positioning in coverage, even with the throw being an accurate one and thrown with anticipation, the veteran promptly undercut the route and used his long arms to pluck the ball out of the air at full extension for a fantastic interception along the sideline.

Looking towards the regular season, the Seahawks hope to have Emmanwori back and ready to roll for the season opener against the Patriots. But if somehow he isn’t quite fully recovered by that point, Macdonald and his staff can take solace in the fact that they have quality NFL-proven alternatives available to keep the seat warm for a game or two until the star returns.