The Seattle Seahawks may already have their 2025 draft class sitting in the franchise’s upper tier, and the fifth round could be the piece that pushes it even higher.
John Schneider landed Grey Zabel and Nick Emmanwori, two players who helped bring the Lombardi Trophy back to the Northwest. That alone would make for a strong draft haul. But Seattle had 11 picks in all, and the real separator might end up being what Schneider did with three selections in the fifth round.
He used one on Notre Dame defensive lineman Rylie Mills, another on Colorado State wide receiver Tory Horton, and then went with Alabama tight end Robbie Ouzts with the second-to-last pick in the round. At the time, some draft experts were caught off guard by the Ouzts pick.
So far, the class hasn’t needed those three to be instant stars. That patience could end up paying off.
None of the three played more than 300 total snaps in the 2025 regular season, and injuries were the main reason. Mills came in hurt and didn’t get on the field until Week 15.
Horton’s best game came in Week 9, when he caught two touchdowns against Washington, but the tibia fracture he had suffered early in the year got worse and shut him down. Ouzts opened the season as the starting fullback in Klint Kubiak’s new offense, then missed time with two separate injuries.
Now, in training camp, both Mills and Horton look fully healed. More importantly for Seattle, both are showing the kind of traits that made them attractive draft bets in the first place.
Mills and Horton were both viewed as day two talents before late injuries in college pushed them down the board. That made them fifth-round bargains, especially for a Seahawks roster built well enough that Schneider didn’t need immediate production from every pick.
At defensive tackle, Seattle already had Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II starting, with Jarran Reed and Brandon Pili providing depth. That gave the team room to take a swing on Mills.
Mills also flashed in last year’s Super Bowl, when he picked up his first NFL sack. Reports from camp say he’s again showing the kind of long-armed, leverage-driven game that can create problems at and behind the line of scrimmage.
Horton brought a different kind of appeal. His speed and length were enough to turn heads, and the production backed it up: back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and 16 touchdowns.
A knee injury during his final college season raised concerns, and then the tibia issue surfaced as a rookie just as he was starting to show what he could do as both a receiver and return man. Even so, he’s been clocked as very fast in camp.
For Seattle, Horton looks like the cleanest answer to a clear need. The team is still searching for a complement to Jaxon Smith-Njigba on the outside, and Horton appears built for that job. Mills also has a path to a bigger role this season, especially if Reed’s workload gets trimmed because of age.
Ouzts is the one who has the most work to do. He’s struggled to stay available, and the Seahawks’ recent addition of blocking fullback Brock Lampe could threaten his place on the roster. He’ll need to get healthy and show he can hold up.
There’s even a case that Horton’s injury may have helped Seattle in the long run. John Schneider may have made the Rashid Shaheed trade at last year’s deadline anyway, but it’s fair to wonder whether that move would have happened if Horton hadn’t landed on injured reserve. Seattle wound up winning the Super Bowl and now has both Horton and Shahid in the mix for more offensive punch.
The fifth round also produced useful players elsewhere, including Jordan Philips and Elijah Roberts, who became solid rotational defensive linemen, and tight end Oronde Gadsden, who had a good season for the Chargers. Still, Horton and Mills appear to have the highest ceilings of that group.
If they keep trending the way they have in camp, they would join Zabel and Emmanwori as core pieces from a draft class that already looks foundational. If Ouzts bounces back too, even better. For a team that came away with 11 picks and hit on its early ones, landing at least two fifth-round contributors could make an already strong roster even tougher to deal with.
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