Heaps: Cody Barton should be most excited Seahawks player after NFL Draft
May 6, 2022, 2:46 PM | Updated: 2:46 pm
Seahawks linebacker Cody Barton looks on prior to a game against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 21. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
(Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The Seahawks made nine picks in the 2022 NFL Draft and addressed a number of key positions of need.
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Seattle added two offensive tackles, which is important because both 2021 starters are still free agents.
The Seahawks also took two cornerbacks and edge rushers to bolster the secondary and pass rush.
The team also added a running back with some big question marks at that position as well as two receivers to add depth to that room.
But one position the Seahawks didn’t address despite there being an apparent hole at that unit is linebacker.
Because they didn’t, former NFL quarterback Jake Heaps thinks that one player in particular has to be feeling pretty good after the draft.
“I don’t believe that there is one player that should be more excited than Cody Barton,” Heaps said on Seattle Sports 710 AM’s Jake and Stacy Thursday morning. “Linebacker Cody Barton should be thrilled that during the draft, there was no linebacker taken. As I look into this year in 2022, there’s no one that’s being given a greater shot to earn a job and to step into a role than Cody Barton.”
Heaps said that the combination of releasing franchise legend Bobby Wagner as well as not drafting a linebacker this year shows that the Seahawks have a lot of confidence in Barton.
“And if I’m Cody Barton, I am stoked, I’m excited about this opportunity,” Heaps said.
Barton, a 2019 third-round pick out of Utah, has mostly played on special teams in his three-year career, but has filled in sporadically as a starting linebacker.
Barton most recently started the 2021 season finale as Wagner was injured, and he played essentially all of the Seahawks’ second-to-last game as Wagner was hurt on the first play of the game. Between those two games, Barton tallied 18 tackles and a tackle for loss.
“Cody Barton has been waiting a long time. He’s going into the final year of his contract and now he’s going to get his shot his opportunity, and there’s no one that should be more excited,” Heaps said. “You get a full-time spot now and you’ve gotta go out and earn it … This is Cody Barton’s job to lose, truly. And if he goes and plays well, he’s walking himself right into a nice new contract for the following season.”
Listen to the second hour of Thursday’s Jake and Stacy at this link or in the player below.
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