Seahawks Wide Receivers: Biggest question and breakout candidate

With the reigning Offensive Player of the Year headlining the group, the Seattle Seahawks’ wide receiver room has high expectations at the top. But with a massive gap in production between Jaxon Smith-Njigba and the next-closest receiver, this season’s squad carries a few questions, some tough battles, an intriguing puzzle, and a potential breakout player.

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Here’s a preview of the WR situation ahead of training camp for the reigning Super Bowl champs.

Who’s at camp?

JSN, Rashid Shaheed, Cooper Kupp and Jake Bobo return with a group that also includes 2025 draft pick Tory Horton, Ricky White III, Cody White, special teamer Irvin Charles (acquired in a trade with the Jets), running back-turned-receiver Velus Jones Jr., Montorie Foster Jr. (a UDFA and former substitute teacher added shortly before the Super Bowl), and rookies Rashad Rochelle (Weber State) and Emmanuel Henderson Jr. (Kansas).

What’s the biggest question?

Can new offensive coordinator Brian Fleury find a way to better incorporate Rashid Shaheed?

JSN led all Seahawks receivers (and every other NFL receiver) last year with 1,793 yards. The next closest receiver for Seattle was Cooper Kupp with 593. No other Hawks receiver finished with more than 200. And while that’s fair for Shaheed, who was here for half a season and became a massive contributor on special teams, Seattle would surely love to take advantage of his speed and iron out the kinks that kept him from taking off on offense during Seattle’s championship run – especially now that he’s signed a three-year, $51 million extension.

Two of Shaheed’s three biggest games last year came with New Orleans, as did both of his touchdowns on offense. Part of the issue? Despite familiarity with the offense under Klint Kubiak, who was Seattle’s offensive coordinator last year and the New Orleans OC prior to that, adapting to a new team and a new quarterback (Sam Darnold) midseason isn’t easy. Plus, Shaheed didn’t have to be a huge factor; Seattle’s run game was much more effective in the final third of the season and JSN remained the primary target.

But JSN’s historic target share feels unlikely to repeat, and Darnold will need another downfield threat… so, how about the fastest guy on the field?

“If Shaheed could take another step, this could be a top five or six unit in the NFL,” said Seattle Sports’ Michael Bumpus, a Seahawks Radio Network analyst and former NFL receiver.

Who could have a breakout season?

Tory Horton feels like a great candidate here, though he’s working his way back from a shin injury that’s already limited him through a chunk of the offseason.

If Horton can fight off the injury bug and put together a healthy season, he’s well-rounded enough to be a dynamic contributor on offense and special teams. He finished with 161 yards and five touchdowns on 22 targets across just eight games last season.

“This is the one I think can make the biggest jump this year,” Bumpus said of Horton. “Obviously, that’s because he didn’t play a lot last year. But I think he has the tools. He’s got the speed of Rashid Shaheed — somewhere near, maybe not as fast — and I think he has the smoothness of JSN and can be the linear guy Cooper Kupp is. Every receiver in this group is a different type of receiver, and I think that’s always beneficial to an offense.”

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