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# ‘Next Man Up’ Reaches New Threshold as Seahawks Head to Nation’s Capital With Short-Handed Safety Group
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/next-man-up-new-threshold-seattle-seahawks-short-handed-safety-group-washington-commanders/
- Published: 2026-09-26T22:55:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T05:55:14.000Z
- Author: Corbin Smith
- Tags: Analysis, Seahawks, A.J. Finley, Maxen Hook, Julian Love, Rodney Thomas, Nick Emmanwori

RENTON, Wash. - Every NFL team preaches the mantra “next man up,” but few teams actually execute the idea better than the Seattle Seahawks, who have built one of the strongest rosters in the league with an emphasis on the “Power of 70” through stockpiling and developing talent on the 53-man and practice squad.

Under the watch of coach Mike Macdonald and general manager John Schneider, the Seahawks have been able to consistently weather the storm when it comes to injuries, including benefiting from the presence of an experienced, proven backup quarterback in Drew Lock in the first two weeks of the 2026 season. Injuries have been especially problematic at the safety spot, where rookie Bud Clark suffered a season-ending broken ankle in the preseason, Nick Emmanwori missed the first game recovering from offseason ankle surgery, and Ty Okada has sat out the first two games with a hamstring injury, but veteran Rodney Thomas II more than picked up the slack as the team raced out to a 2-0 start.

But with Okada still not ready to return and star safety Julian Love ruled out with a new calf injury suffered in Thursday’s practice, even with Emmanwori slated to see an uptick in snaps after playing nine defensive plays in his season debut last weekend, the Seahawks will have their depth tested even further against the Commanders on the road on Sunday. Down both of their projected starters on the back end, Thomas will have to take on a far bigger role as a communicator in the secondary, and Macdonald may have to deploy a by-committee approach at the other spot with the team now down to third and potentially fourth-string players trying to step up.

Based on what Macdonald told reporters after Friday’s practice, fourth-year veteran A.J. Finley will get the first crack at filling in for Love. All the way back from a torn ACL that cost him the entire 2025 season, he has impressed the coaching staff with his athleticism and football acumen, including intercepting Sam Darnold during the annual fan fest practice at Lumen Field last month, earning himself the opportunity to make his first career NFL start.

“When AJ got the pick in training camp, I’m thinking about the journey he’s been on over the past year and the way he’s gotten his body back and his movement,” Macdonald said. “He had a great practice today. He’s on it now. He’s as sharp as a whip and he’s a great communicator, ball skills, all those things. I’m excited for him to have the opportunity.”

Breaking into the league as an undrafted rookie out of Ole Miss, Finley made the Chargers’ initial 53-man roster in 2023, suiting up for 12 games primarily as a special teams contributor. He played 26 defensive snaps as a rookie, followed up with 49 combined defensive snaps in his sophomore season split between the Chargers and Seahawks, before sitting out all of last season due to injury.

With just 77 career regular season defensive snaps to his name, per Pro Football Focus charting, the 6-3, 188-pound Finley has recorded four tackles and allowed three receptions on four targets with no interceptions or pass breakups in coverage. Most of the Alabama native’s defensive action has come in preseason games, producing 23 tackles and a pass breakup with no touchdowns allowed on 326 exhibition snaps, including six tackles for the Seahawks in three games last month.

In other words, in comparison to the experienced Thomas, who was a full-time starter for two seasons with the Colts at the beginning of his career and had four interceptions as a rookie in 2022, there’s not near as much to go off of in regard to what to expect from Finley in his first extended game action as a defensive player.

But considering how much experience will be sidelined with Love and Okada unable to suit up on Sunday, Finley will resemble a grizzled, seasoned veteran compared to the other option waiting in the wings in untested second-year safety Maxen Hook, who the Seahawks elevated from the practice squad to make his NFL regular season debut on Sunday in Landover.

Like Finley, Hook didn’t hear his name called in the 2025 NFL Draft, going undrafted out of Toledo despite performing well at the Senior Bowl and earning All-MAC honors multiple seasons for the Rockets in a star-studded secondary featuring multiple future NFL players. The Eagles signed him as a priority free agent and waived him during final roster cuts, and the New Palestine, Indiana native went more than a month before finding his next job, as the Seahawks signed him to their practice squad in early October and he stayed with the team for the rest of the year, receiving a Super Bowl ring and signing a future/reserve deal in February.

Speaking with a former teammate who helped mentor him last year, Hook has “plus-football smarts” and brings a physical edge to his game. He’s also an underrated athlete who ran a solid 4.55 40-yard dash and posted a respectable 8.51 Relative Athletic Score, making him an intriguing player to watch as he receives his first opportunity to play after biding his time on the practice squad.

Seattle has clearly seen something in Hook by keeping him on the practice squad since he first arrived nearly a year ago and Macdonald has spoken highly of him in the past, including vouching for him after a stellar performance this preseason. Playing in the first two exhibition games before sitting out the finale in Kansas City, he recorded eight tackles, including a tackle for loss, while not allowing any receptions on two targets in coverage playing snaps both as a free and strong safety.

Suiting up for his regular season debut, Hook will be the primary backup behind Thomas and Finley, presenting enough positional flexibility to be able to line up at either safety spot if called upon. He should also see extensive work on special teams, potentially filling in for Finley in the third phase of the game with the latter expected to play a ton of snaps on defense against the Commanders.

Thinking big picture, Finley and Hook’s lack of experience could be viewed as a reason to sound the alarm for a typically stingy Seahawks defense, and they will certainly miss Love’s presence on the back end. Asking either of the two youngsters who could fill in for him to be an outright replacement covering everything the star safety brings to the equation would be an unfair and unrealistic expectation and the Commanders do have some known commodities on the outside who could pose problems for them in coverage, including receivers Terry McLaurin and Stefon Diggs.

But at the same time, Macdonald and Seattle’s coaching staff, including defensive pass game coordinator Karl Scott, have proven time and time again that they can develop players and will have them prepared to play at a high level when needed, scheming to maximize their strengths and mitigate their weaknesses. If there’s another silver lining, Washington will be without quarterback Jayden Daniels, thrusting backup Marcus Mariota into action instead, which should make Love’s absence a bit more manageable.

Nonetheless, with a chance for the Seahawks to extend their franchise-record 12-game winning streak dating back to last November, all eyes will be on Finley as he takes on the task of playing the “next man up” card. How he performs in his first start could go a long way towards determining who wins on Sunday, and if he struggles, the microscope could then pivot to Hook, putting plenty of pressure on a pair of unproven safeties to fill massive shoes on the back end this weekend.