Bump: 3 candidates to fill Seahawks’ kick returner opening

The Seattle Seahawks have an opening at kick returner.

Seattle waived kick returner/wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. on Monday, one day after he muffed two kicks in the Seahawks’ 26-21 win over the New York Jets. Shenault also lost a fumble on a kickoff during a Week 6 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

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Shenault had served with undrafted rookie Dee Williams as Seattle’s two primary kick returners this season. The NFL’s new kickoff rules encourage teams to use two returners on the field at the same time.

With Shenault gone, who could fill his role and join Williams on kick returns? During Tuesday’s edition of Four Down Territory on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy, former NFL wide receiver and punt returner Michael Bumpus listed three potential candidates. Here’s a look at each of the three players and what Bumpus had to say about them.

• Kenny McIntosh: McIntosh, the team’s No. 3 running back, is the only player other than Shenault or Williams to return a kick for the Seahawks this season. The 2023 seventh-round draft pick has returned two kicks for 35 yards and also has four carries for 16 yards at running back. During his college career at Georgia, McIntosh returned 14 kicks for an average of 26.8 yards per return. He has appeared in all 12 games this season, logging 123 special-teams snaps and 13 offensive snaps.

“Kenny McIntosh (ran the 40-yard dash in) 4.62 seconds, but he’s played in 126 snaps on special teams,” Bumpus said. “He’s even returned some kicks. Naturally, he’s gonna get a look.”

• Cody White: After being inactive for the first eight games of the season, White has earned playing time the past four games after a breakout performance during Seattle’s Week 9 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Filling in for injured star wide receiver DK Metcalf, White caught two passes for 44 yards in that game and also blocked a punt. White, a third-year former undrafted wideout, has logged 49 special-teams snaps and 62 offensive snaps over the past four games. During his college career at Michigan State, he returned one kick and 19 punts.

“His (40-yard dash) time is 4.66,” Bumpus said. “Not very fast, but we saw him get behind defenders (as a receiver), and he’s already been playing a lot of snaps on special teams since he had his breakout game.”

• Dareke Young: Young, a 2022 seventh-round pick, returned one kick for 27 yards during the preseason. The 6-foot, 224-pound wide receiver has appeared in nine games this year, logging 136 special-teams snaps and 22 offensive snaps. He has some unique versatility, having appeared at fullback for nine snaps during his 2022 rookie season. He returned nine kicks for an average of 20 yards per return during his college career at Lenoir–Rhyne, a Division II school in North Carolina.

“Dareke Young, give my man a chance,” Bumpus said. “Dareke Young has played 136 snaps on special teams. He ran a 4.46. … I’m voting for Dareke Young. Get that man the rock. Let him go.”

Hear the full Four Down Territory segment at this link or listen to the audio player in this story. Tune in to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

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