The 2025 NFL Draft kicks off next week in Green Bay, giving the Seahawks and 31 other NFL teams a chance to add talent to their roster. And with five picks in the first three rounds of this year's draft, the Seahawks find themselves in a particularly strong position to improve their roster.

"Every year is totally different," Seahawks general manager and president of football operations John Schneider said. "Having those five picks in the first 92, it allows you to maneuver a little bit depending on how other people see it. That's one of the things that I'm trying to do down here."

If the Seahawks use those five picks in the first three rounds—they have five more on Day 3 of the draft—they obviously hope to add five impact players, but another benefit of that kind of draft capital is it gives Schneider and company a lot of flexibility to make trades should the right opportunity arise.

"Initially, you're like, 'Yeah, we're going to take five really good players,'" Schneider said. "But then you get in a situation where it's like, 'All right, that guy's a starter, we should probably move to go get him,' if you can. It depends on how other people see these guys. But yeah, it allows us the ability to just be more free throughout our draft process."

So with the draft coming up soon, Seahawks.com is taking a position-by-position look at where things currently stand for the Seahawks, as well as draft analyst Rob Rang's top draft prospects at each position. We'll also look at Seattle's draft history at each position over the past 15 drafts under Schneider.

So far we've covered the offensive line, defensive line and outside linebacker, tight end, and linebacker and running back, and today we focus on safety. Check back tomorrow when we turn our attention to receiver.

Seattle's 2025 Draft Picks: Round 1, No. 18 overall; Round 2, No. 50 overall; Round 2, No. 52 overall (from Pittsburgh); Round 3, No. 82 overall; Round 3, No. 92 overall (from Las Vegas); Round 4, No. 137 overall (compensatory pick); Round 5, No. 172 overall (compensatory pick); Round 5, No. 175 overall (compensatory pick); Round 7, No. 223 overall (from Pittsburgh); Round 7, No. 234 overall.

Safety draft history under John Schneider: Earl Thomas (No. 14 overall, 2010); Kam Chancellor (No. 133, 2010); Mark LeGree (No. 156, 2011); Winston Guy (No. 181, 2012); Ryan Murphy (No. 248, 2015); Lano Hill (No. 95, 2017); Tedric Thompson (No. 111, 2017); Marquise Blair (No. 47, 2019); Ugo Amadi (No. 132, 2019); Coby Bryant (No. 109, 2022—selected as cornerback, later converted to safety); Jerrick Reed II (No. 198, 2023).

Where The Seahawks Stand

At this time a year ago, the Seahawks were heading into the draft with one sure thing at safety, Pro-Bowler Julian Love, and with a couple of newcomers, Rayshawn Jenkins and K'Von Wallace, added to take on potentially big roles. And while the season began with that trio getting the bulk of the playing time at safety, things shifted as the year went along, with Coby Bryant eventually taking over a starting spot alongside Love. Bryant, who won over Mike Macdonald and the coaching staff in practice before getting his shot in games, first got his chance due to injuries at the position, but he played well enough to hang onto the role even when Jenkins and Wallace were back to full health.

Now, with Jenkins gone, having been released in a salary-cap related move, and with Wallace still a free agent, the Seahawks head into the 2025 draft with a pretty clear starting duo at that spot in Love and Bryant.

Love quickly emerged as a leader of the defense and earned Pro Bowl honors after the 2023 season, then signed a three-year contract extension last offseason, while Bryant emerged as a playmaker when finally given the chance, having converted from cornerback early in his career to safety, a move that began before the 2023 season.

"Guy is a Jim Thorpe Award winner," Macdonald said of Bryant last season. "Heck of a player. I think it was just a matter of finding the right role for him. Sometimes with those guys you try to maybe ask them to do too many things because he can do all these things, when maybe the best thing is to kind of pick one and choose. You know, it takes time to find the right thing. To his credit he's really embraced the challenge. When Rayshawn [Jenkins] went down, he was ready. So when preparation meets opportunities, that's when great things happen. You got to credit him for being ready to roll and then just his natural ball skills and playmaking ability. That's Coby. So we're excited about the year he's had and expect him to take the next level as we move forward."

So with that duo leading the way, the Seahawks don't necessarily need to add frontline talent to that group, but there could certainly be an opportunity to add depth, or, if the Seahawks want to lean on more three-safety sets, another starting-caliber player to join Bryant and Love on the field. Last year, the Seahawks did that early in the year with Wallace joining Jenkins and Love on the field, then later in the year, Jenkins was in that third safety role after returning from injury.

One option already on the roster to take on that third safety role could be free-agent signing D'Anthony Bell, and the Seahawks also have some young depth pieces they hope to see develop, including Jerrick Reed II, who will be healthy heading into this season after returning from an ACL tear that ended his rookie season in 2023, as well as Ty Okada. A draft pick could definitely factor into the mix as well, though as Macdonald noted at last month's NFL Annual Meeting when asked about Bell, the decision to use a lot of three-safety looks depends a lot on the quality of the three safeties.

"Really excited about him," Macdonald said of Bell. "I know he's got previous relationships with some of the guys on staff like Jeff Howard. They love him and the tape shows it, his enthusiasm shows it, so he's going to fit in just right with us. And again, the three-safety stuff, I think that's because we had three great safeties, so 'Hey, let's figure out a way to get these guys in the field at the same time.' So they earned those opportunities (last year), and if they go earn them, then we'll figure out a way to get them out there."

Rob Rang's Top 5 Safeties

Overview: The Seahawks appear set at safety with Julian Love and Coby Bryant emerging as legitimate playmakers and 2023 draft pick Jerrick Reed II flashing future starting potential as a special teams demon. Seattle is fortunate to have good, young talent at the position as this year's safety class lacks the sure things of recent years. That didn't appear to be the case entering the 2024 season when Georgia's Malaki Starks seemed like a Top 10 candidate. Nick Emmanwori stole the spotlight at the Combine, delivering one of the great workouts in recent memory. There are, however, several intriguing mid-round candidates who could pique the Seahawks' interest, along with the prospects listed below. Of them, I'm highest on a trio of standouts from blue-blood programs – Kevin Winston, Jr. (Penn State), R.J. Mickens (Clemson) and Andrew Mukuba (Texas) and explosive testing from Kitan Crawford (Nevada) and Marques Sigle (Kansas State) have their stock on the rise as the draft approaches, as well.

1. Nick Emmanwori, South Carolina, 6-3, 220, First Round

With the exception of blue-chippers Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter, Emmanwori might possess the highest upside of any defender in this class. His Combine workout was like something out of a comic book – leading all participants in the vertical jump (43"), broad jump (11'6) and 10-yard split (1.49 seconds) with a 4.38-second 40-yard dash. Emmanwori isn't just a workout warrior – his speed translated to the field in the form of six interceptions over the past two seasons, including two Pick-6s last year.

2. Malaki Starks, Georgia, 6-1, 197, First-Second Round

Starks gambled – and lost – a bit as the 2024 season wore on, giving up some explosive plays to talented opponents that have his stock a bit in flux as the draft approaches. It is important to remember that the one-time five-star recruit started every game the past three seasons for a Georgia defense teeming with talent, showing the ability to handle deep coverage duties over the top, dropping down to play nickel and attacking the line of scrimmage in run support. Recency bias could push Starks down the board a bit, but he projects as a quality NFL starter.

3. Xavier Watts, Notre Dame, 6-0, 204, Second-Third Round

Instincts and ball skills brighten up Watts' tape with his 13 interceptions over the past two seasons. Watts was the fortunate recipient of some "easy" interceptions over his career, but he has a proven nose for the ball, putting himself in position to make game-changing plays. He has the agility to drop down and play nickel corner and he excels in these one-on-one coverage opportunities, showing rare anticipation and feel for reading quarterbacks and their intended pass-catchers.

4. Lathan Ransom, Ohio State, 6-0, 206, Third Round

Teams willing to sacrifice a bit of versatility in coverage for raw physicality and reliable open-field tackling will like Ransom, who played in 55 games over five seasons at Ohio State, excelling on special teams and defense, alike. Ransom is a bit sticky in coverage – projecting better as a strong safety rather than as a centerfielder with range to cover sideline to sideline – but he can be a punishing hitter with a knack for punching the ball out, registering six forced fumbles over his career – including three this year for the national champs.

5. Billy Bowman, Jr., Oklahoma, 5-10, 192, Third-Fourth Round

Bowman has an even more impressive track record of big plays than the aforementioned Watts – returning three of his 11 career interceptions back for touchdowns while starting all four seasons of his career for the Sooners – but his below-average size for the position is likely to keep him in the middle rounds. Given that he played for their archrival, former Seahawks (and Texas) standout Quandre Diggs may not appreciate a comparison to Bowman, but their frames and games are similar.