Film Breakdown: Grey Zabel, Seahawks’ Draft Class Pass First Test vs. Raiders in Exhibition Opener
SEATTLE, Wash. - Showcasing a much-hyped incoming 2025 draft class for the first time, Grey Zabel, Tory Horton, and the rest of the Seattle Seahawks’ latest crop of rookies didn’t disappoint in a 23-23 tie against the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday night at Lumen Field.
After using nine of their 11 draft choices on offensive players in April, many of those selections, including Zabel, Horton, tight end Elijah Arroyo, and fullback Robbie Ouzts played significant snaps early in the exhibition opener, helping lead two strong drives that advanced deep into Raiders’ territory. Zabel and Ouzts helped running back George Holani rush for 61 yards on just seven carries in the opening half before exiting for the sidelines to grab a ball cap, while Horton led the team in receptions and receiving yards while scoring a 10-yard touchdown to build a 16-3 halftime advantage.
Looking back at the first audition for Seattle’s newest rookie class, which draft picks stood out the most? And which undrafted players put themselves on the map? Breaking down the film with grades, here are evaluations for eight of the team’s rookies from the preseason opener:
Grey Zabel
Overall Grade: 82 (Pass Protection 80, Run Blocking 84)
The crown jewel of Seattle’s latest draft class, Zabel didn’t have the perfect debut, but he wasn’t far off from that either. Though he did have a couple reps where opposing defenders found a way to get underneath his pads and create initial push rushing from the interior, he recovered nicely on each of those snaps, setting an anchor and preventing further penetration into the pocket. Even on Drew Lock’s unfortunate interception on the opening series, he offered stellar protection to give the quarterback time to make the ill-fated throw to Tory Horton, failing to take advantage of the solid pocket he had to work with.
Where Zabel truly stood out, however, was in the run game. One of the most athletic blockers in the 2025 draft class, he demonstrated his light feet and lateral quickness getting to his spot on zone runs and creating both vertical and horizontal displacement with his underrated power once he got hands on defenders. While he got caught leaning a few times on the opening series and fortunately didn’t contribute to any blown up runs as a result, he gave the Raiders front line major fits on the next drive, regularly putting defensive tackles on skates, including finishing off fellow rookie Tonka Hemingway with a tasty pancake at the end of an outside zone lead run and kicking a defender back inside on George Holani’s 24-yard score to cap off the possession.
Robbie Ouzts
Overall Grade: 90 (Run Blocking 92, Receiving 88)
It’s rare for a fifth round pick who plays fullback to become a fan favorite in a preseason game, but that’s exactly what Ouzts did in his first NFL action. As coach Mike Macdonald astutely pointed out post-game, the former Alabama tight end wasted little time making an impactful block against a front with a down safety that the Seahawks had not practiced much against going into the exhibition opener, taking care of All-Pro defensive end Max Crosby as a lead blocker on a toss sweep play out of a strong I-formation set. This block played a crucial role in Holani springing free on the toss, making a defender miss before rumbling out of bounds for a 19-yard gain on just the second play from scrimmage.
Shortly after his well-executed block on Crosby, Ouzts exhibited his underrated receiving acumen, slipping out of the backfield on a play action pass and coming wide open on an out route, snagging the throw from Lock and turning upfield ready to lower the boom before being tackled out of bounds for a 17-yard gain that put Seattle deep in Las Vegas territory.
As impressive as Ouzts’ opening drive was, his best effort came on the ensuing possession after the Seahawks came up empty earlier. Closing in on the red zone, Seattle came out of the huddle in 22 personnel with two tight ends and two backs, motioning the rookie in the backfield into a strong I-formation set pre-snap. Calling a dive run with right guard Anthony Bradford fold blocking to the left, Holani quickly cut back outside with Zabel and tackle Josh Jones washing their defenders inside and Ouzts throwing a fantastic block on safety Chris Smith, leaving no defender to stop the back from turning on the afterburners and diving inside the pylon for six points on a scintillating 24-yard run.
Tory Horton
Overall Grade: 87 (Receiving 85, Punt Return 90)
Building off the momentum he has gained on the practice field over the past week and change, Horton turned in the best night of any Seattle receiver, even if there were a few missed opportunities. Lock wasn’t able to get the football to him in the red zone on the first possession, resulting in an interception that wasn’t at all the rookie’s fault. Later in the half, the two appeared to have a mix up route-wise with Lock throwing a ball out of bounds and Horton continuing to run a vertical downfield, so that may or may not have been on the wideout in that instance.
But even considering those miscues that may not have even been on him at all, Horton led all Seattle receivers in yardage (31), flashing his smooth route running skills on a 13-yard out route that drew an illegal contact penalty and later scoring his first career touchdown off a short curl route from the slot by spinning his way through multiple tacklers to sprint his way into the end zone. His most impressive play came on special teams, however, as he produced one of the best five-yard punt returns you will ever see. Shaking and baking his way through oncoming traffic immediately after catching the punt, he spun out of a tackle and juked his way out of another, nearly pirouetting his way out of another one before being dragged down.
Nick Emmanwori
Overall Grade: 83 (Run Defense 84, Tackling 86, Coverage 78)
Compared to how the Seahawks have deployed Emmanwori in practice, Thursday night didn’t offer many similarities. In training camp, he has spent much of his time in the box either functioning like an extra linebacker or rushing off the edge, but all 11 of his snaps on two series came from the slot. He wasn’t targeted at all in coverage, and only on one instance did a receiver appear to have a step on him on a drag route initially, but Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell wasn’t looking in that direction for his first read anyway and the speedy defender did recover to take that option away.
For fans seeking a splash play from Emmanwori, without any targets, he didn’t even have an opportunity to do that in coverage. But he did show off his elite speed on a run blitz against a counter play out of shotgun, managing to chase down top-10 pick Ashtyn Jeanty from behind after working down the line of scrimmage for no gain even after an initial hesitation step, helping lead to a second consecutive punt for Las Vegas. There’s not near as much to glean from his performance barely playing 10 snaps, but it was still a stellar effort in limited time without any noteworthy mistakes for the second rounder.
Elijah Arroyo
Overall Grade: 79 (Receiving 84, Run Blocking 70, Pass Blocking 72)
Of Seattle’s draft picks who played on Thursday night, Arroyo saw the most extended playing time, logging 36 offensive snaps and playing into the second half. With that playing time, he only received two targets in the passing game, but he caught both of them. His first reception came on a simple drag route as an inline tight end in 11 personnel, recovering from an initial stumble off the snap to gain a step on a linebacker crossing the field before hauling in the first down reception from Lock and maintaining the catch through contact. His other catch came on a quick four-yard dump off pass and certainly wasn’t anything to write home about.
In the blocking department, Arroyo had an inconsistent first game, struggling to keep his hands engaged onto defenders at times. Early in the second half, a couple of unsustained blocks led to quick run stops on teammate Damien Martinez, but he did hold up well on a handful of pass blocking opportunities, giving up no pressures and producing a couple of timely chips on defenders that kept Jalen Milroe clean. This will be a continued area of improvement that the rookie will have to attack to become a better all-around tight end, but there was some progress in the exhibition opener compared to his college tape at Miami.
Jalen Milroe
Overall Grade: 78 (Passing 76, Rushing 80)
In order to start in the league down the line, continuing to polish up mechanics and accuracy will be the main area of development for Milroe, and while he didn’t have the most impressive passing stat line on Thursday night, the opener should be viewed generally as a positive in that regard. After checking in to start the second half, he was fortunate a late throw to Dareke Young on a curl route wasn’t intercepted, but he bounced back from that play to complete six out of 10 throws for 61 yards with no turnovers, including ripping a 15-yard strike to undrafted receiver Tyrone Broden on a bootleg play action concept to set up a touchdown run for Jacardia Wright two plays later. Most importantly, his mechanics were in sync and he didn’t have any throws get away from him.
Of course, a big part of what makes Milroe such a curiosity as a potential franchise quarterback down the line for the Seahawks remains his elite athleticism and running ability. Fortunately for fans in attendance, they did get to see some Milroe magic on the ground, as offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak sprinkled in some designed runs for the mobile signal caller and he wound up rushing for 38 yards on three carries. Most of that yardage came on a perfectly executed read option concept in the shadow of Seattle’s own goal post, as the rookie did a fantastic job holding his mesh point as long as he could to force the edge defender into wrongly taking the running back before pulling the ball and darting outside behind a block by rookie tight end Marshall Lang for a 27-yard pickup.
Jacardia Wright
Overall Grade: 83.5 (Rushing 86, Pass Blocking 70*)
*Weighted for two snaps in blitz pickup
With the leaves starting to change colors, the only other certainty in the Pacific Northwest this time of year seems to be the ascendance of an undrafted rookie running back during the Seahawks preseason. Following in the footsteps of past exhibition phenoms such as Troymaine Pope and SaRoderick Thompson among others who have donned the navy and action green, Wright came out running hard and with a purpose once he subbed in to start the second half, ripping off an 11-yard run on the first play from scrimmage while showcasing excellent vision to cut back against the grain on an inside zone read behind a block from rookie tackle Mason Richman.
Unfortunately, Wright’s longest run of the night - a 45-yard scamper where he made a linebacker whiff out of his cleats at the line of scrimmage before rocketing out to the sideline with defenders behind him in pursuit - didn’t count because of a blatant holding penalty on Brady Russell. But the rookie out of Missouri State kept bringing the hammer as a downhill back and flashing more burst than advertised, bolting outside on a 10-yard run in the red zone that nearly ended with a touchdown. He followed up that play with more excellent vision, cutting back in traffic at the goal line off a double team combo block to find pay dirt and extend Seattle’s lead early in the fourth quarter.
Jared Ivey
Overall Grade: 81 (Run Defense 86, Tackling 85, Pass Rush 78)
Despite being a First-Team All-SEC performer, Ivey went undrafted in April largely due to a poor testing performance at his pro day workout, and his first training camp has been an uneven one with plenty of flashes and some frustrating post-snap situations. But with the pads on and tackling allowed under the lights, the 6-5, 274-pound defender stepped up to the plate and delivered in extended action for the Seahawks, racking up six tackles while playing incredibly active football along the line of scrimmage with more than 10 snaps as an overhanging edge and a five-tech defensive end.
During the third quarter, the Raiders ran a pair of quarterback sneaks with O’Connell, but Ivey blew up the first one, preventing the signal caller from surging forward for a first down. He nearly repeated the feat on the very next snap, and one can argue that the Seahawks should have gotten off the field, as the visitors received a quite generous spot from the officiating crew despite the rookie’s efforts to turn the line of scrimmage into a brick wall. Away from those two plays, he had an impressive sequence in the third quarter where he registered three consecutive run stops of three or fewer yards to force Las Vegas into going for it on fourth down, and earlier in the game, he joined defensive tackle Quinton Bohanna to generate a tackle for loss. Not having any pressures will be noted, but he did force a couple quick throws in that regard as well.
