The Seahawks may have found something real in Elijah Arroyo.
Seattle spent a second-round pick on the tight end in the 2025 draft, and that kind of investment usually comes with expectations that stretch well beyond a quiet rookie season. Arroyo didn’t exactly light it up last year, finishing with 15 catches and one touchdown in 13 games.
He was targeted 26 times and was charged with just one drop, which at least showed he was doing his job when the ball came his way. The problem was that the chances just weren’t there often enough.
At 6'5" and 255 pounds, Arroyo had the kind of frame that makes people imagine a mismatch waiting to happen. But as a rookie, he still had to prove he could become more than a receiving threat. For a tight end, the blocking piece matters too, and that’s part of what made the early evaluation feel unfinished.
Now, in 2026 training camp, he’s starting to look like a player ready to change that conversation. So far, Arroyo has been one of the Seahawks’ most noticeable standouts, and it hasn’t been a one-practice fluke. Day after day, he keeps finding ways to show up.
He’s already stacked a pair of touchdown grabs, one on a tip-toe finish in the end zone and another by simply overpowering the defender in front of him. Beyond the scoring plays, his route-running looks sharper, a sign that the work he put in this offseason is showing up against Seattle’s own defense. That matters because the players lining up across from him are no slouches.
If Arroyo can separate and finish against the Seahawks’ defense, that’s a pretty strong indicator he can do it against just about anyone. That’s the hope. And his timing with quarterback Sam Darnold seems to be building as well.
ESPN’s Brady Henderson put it this way: "It's one thing to make plays like that in a noncontact spring practice, when pass catchers tend to shine because defenders aren't fully contesting throws. Arroyo is doing it in the more realistic setting of training camp. Can he continue to do it when the games begin?"
There’s also the scheme fit to consider. Seattle’s new offensive coordinator, Brian Fleury, comes from a San Francisco 49ers system that used tight ends heavily, with George Kittle as the obvious example.
For that offense to hum at its best, the tight ends have to be both dangerous and dependable. Arroyo is giving the Seahawks a reason to think he can be exactly that.
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The Seahawks have already invested in pass catchers such as Rashid Shaheed and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, which makes Hortons emergence more than just a nice camp story. If he keeps building on this start, Seattle will have a real decision to make about how much to lean on him, even as the team stays mindful of his injury history and the need to keep him available once the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]