Will Seahawks’ J.D. McKissic be more of an RB or WR in 2019?

The Seahawks kick off training camp on July 25, and until then, Brock Huard and Mike Salk will count down the top 25 most intriguing Seahawks every weekday at 8:30 a.m. Their list continues with No. 21: RB/WR J.D. McKissic.

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Quick look:

• 5-11, 194 pounds
• Entering fourth season with Seahawks
• Limited to five games in 2018 due to injury, but had 453 combined yards and three touchdowns in 2017

What Brock Huard is saying…

“He’s a little bit of everything, and that’s why he’s intriguing,” Huard said. “I said this last preseason: J.D. McKissic is like a New England Patriot. This is what Bill Belichick covets; guys who have flexibility and just love to play football. Pete Carroll said at a press conference after he was hired, ‘We are gonna find guys that love to play football. Well, if I had to rank the 90 guys on this roster based on guys who just love to play football, McKissic would be in the top 10 percent — there is no question about it. He just wants his chance to play. In college he caught 100 passes, and he has done whatever has been asked of him here as a Seahawk and he’s done it at a pretty high level. He unfortunately is just a bit of a tweener. Is he a running back? Eh, yes. Does he have enough size to run between the tackles in this scheme? Probably not. Is he only a third-down running back? No. Is he a receiver? Well, he’s not an X or a Z, but he can probably play in the slot.

“He’s kind of in between all of this. But he’s going to probably be prioritized in 2019 in ways he hasn’t before because of what he does on special teams. That’s where this team has prioritized this offseason. Because of that, I think he’s going to get every opportunity to flourish as a returner.”

Why is he on this list?

“I think he probably makes the team because, as Pete Carroll says, Tyler Lockett probably becomes your No. 1 receiver now,” Mike Salk said. “Does that limit the amount of time he can spend as a returner? It almost has to. But McKissic is intriguing to me because this is a do-or-die year for him. We’ve seen little glimpses of what he’s capable of. His versatility does make him a bit of a tweener — but it also makes him valuable. It allows you to shore up both the running back and wide receiver positions, because even thought he’s not necessarily the best at either of them, he’s good enough at both of them to be able to take the last spot and allow you an extra player at another spot on the field where you need to have some additional depth. He brings a lot of value, he brings some explosiveness. But you’ve got to see it. He has to force them to let him on the field to do his thing, which means you have to take reps away from somebody else. He has to earn those.”

Listen to Huard and Salk’s full segment on J.D. McKissic’s place on the 2019 Seahawks:

Brock and Salk’s 25 most intriguing Seahawks: 

No. 25: G Phil Haynes
No. 24: LB Shaquem Griffin
No. 23: T/TE George Fant
No. 22: WR David Moore

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