Seahawks Add Safety Depth to Practice Squad
With veteran starter Julian Love still nursing a hamstring injury and his status for Week 6 against the Jacksonville Jaguars remaining up in the air, the Seattle Seahawks added safety depth to their practice squad prior to Wednesday’s practice.
As announced on the team’s official social media accounts and website, the Seahawks signed undrafted rookie safety Maxen Hook to the practice squad, taking the place of guard Shane Lemieux, who landed on the practice squad injured reserve. He spent training camp with the Eagles before being waived at the end of August.
A native of Indianapolis, Indiana, Hook starred at Toledo as one of the best Group of 6 safeties in college football, earning three All-MAC selections during his time with the Rockets. A two-time captain for the program, he finished his decorated collegiate career with 352 tackles, eight tackles for loss, seven interceptions, and 15 passes defensed, earning an invitation to participate in the Senior Bowl and the NFL combine during the pre-draft process.
The 6-0, 202-pound Hook brings positional versatility with him to Seattle, as he logged more than 600 snaps as a free and strong safety at Toledo along with 387 snaps in the slot, according to Pro Football Reference charting. During the preseason in Philadelphia, he played more than 20 snaps at both safety positions with a handful of slot snaps, recording nine tackles and allowing five catches on seven targets and a touchdown in coverage.
Here’s my scouting report on Hook going into the 2025 NFL Draft:
“Previously starring at New Palestine High School in Indiana, Hook didn’t receive any scholarship offers from Power 4 programs, opting to stay fairly close to home by committing to Toledo. He saw extensive action in an abbreviated six-game season during the pandemic in 2020 before breaking into the starting lineup in 2021, finishing 12th in the MAC with 95 tackles. In his final three seasons with the Rockets, he amassed 257 combined tackles, seven interceptions, eight pass breakups, and two fumble recoveries while logging snaps as a free safety and strong safety in the box, securing First-Team All-MAC honors three consecutive years and participating in the Senior Bowl to tie up his college career.
Compared to other box safeties in this class, Hook has a slight frame at 202 pounds, but after struggling some with missed tackles earlier in his career at Toledo, he trimmed his missed tackle rate to under eight percent in his final two seasons. He had above-average ball skills for the position, demonstrated with seven career picks and 12 passes defensed with 606 free safety snaps to go along with over 1,500 snaps in the box. He offers enough physicality to be able to cover tight ends and running backs when near the line of scrimmage, but he has been susceptible to allowing big plays as a center fielder, including a 72-yard touchdown surrendered last season. In the pros, his best bet will be carving out a role on special teams and as a situational safety who can help in run support and handle big nickel duty in specific sub-packages.”
Currently, the Seahawks have five safeties on their 53-man roster, including Love, Coby Bryant, rookie Nick Emmanwori, Ty Okada, and D’Anthony Bell. Former sixth round pick Jerrick Reed II, who has been elevated for two games so far this season, remains on the practice squad along with Hook, giving the team additional insurance in case Love isn’t able to return on Sunday in Jacksonville.
