It was no surprise Tuesday to learn that L.J. Collier — Seattle’s first-round pick in the 2019 draft — was moving on, signing a one-year deal with the Arizona Cardinals.
After the fanfare of his selection at No. 29 overall died down, Collier’s career never really worked out with the Seahawks.
On draft day, the Seahawks envisioned Collier playing the same role as Michael Bennett, who had departed a year earlier.
“He’ll play the spot where Michael Bennett played, and we’ll ask him to do a lot of similar things and in time, you know, we’ll see what that means,” coach Pete Carroll said during the 2019 draft. “But that’s where we’re starting anyway.”
But Collier’s career began as ominously as possible when he was carted off the field in his first week of training camp in July, 2019, with an ankle injury the team later said was bad enough that there was an initial fear he would miss the season.
That injury limited Collier to 11 games and 152 snaps and three tackles as a rookie.
Hopes that Collier might fulfill his potential bloomed some in 2020 when he got healthy and started all 16 games, making 22 tackles and three sacks. Those were the only sacks of his Seahawks career.
The addition of veteran Kerry Hyder and emergence of Rasheem Green in 2021 put Collier back on the bench. Not only was he on the bench, but for six of the first eight games he was inactive despite being healthy, the team preferring to go with Robert Nkemdiche as a reserve.
All involved hoped the switch to a 3-4 in 2022 might benefit Collier. In June, defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt praised the way Collier seemed to be adapting.
“Out of the entire group of guys on defense, he’s had one of the better springs out of everyone,” Hurtt said. “So really excited for him and where he is going. … He’s come in bigger and stronger and faster than what he has been in previous years.”
That optimism faded quickly when Collier suffered an elbow injury in August and was placed on injured reserve to start the season. After returning to practice, he suffered a thumb injury.
He ended up playing in eight regular-season games in a reserve role, with a career-low 149 snaps.
Because of his contract expiring after the 2022 season, no one expected he’d be back in Seattle, with the Seahawks reshaping their defensive line and Collier looking for a fresh start.
He’ll get it in Arizona, where he reportedly signed a veteran salary benefit contract at $1.08 million and a $157,000 signing bonus — he made $10.8 million in his four years in Seattle.
Collier, hard as all tried to make it work, will be saddled with a legacy of making the least impact of any of the nine first-round picks of the Carroll/John Schneider era.
Collier stands as an emblem for a 2019 draft class that, four years later, also hasn’t quite developed as hoped.
With Collier gone, Seattle has two of the 11 players it drafted that year remaining on its roster.
One is one of the team’s brightest stars — receiver DK Metcalf. And the other is a projected starter, guard Phil Haynes.
But the other nine are gone, including three drafted among the first 88.
It was a draft in which Seattle originally had just four picks but used a trade of Frank Clark to spark what became eight trades overall to end up with 11 picks, tied for the most of the Carroll/Schneider era.
Here’s a look at each player:
Round 1, 29th overall, DE L.J. Collier, Texas Christian: Collier leaves Seattle making 40 tackles in 45 games.
Round 2, 47th overall, DB Marquise Blair, Utah: Blair’s first training camp was as exciting as any Seattle rookie in a while, eliciting comparisons to Earl Thomas. But those lofty hopes never developed, and two major knee injuries limited him to 22 games with Seattle. He is now an Eagle.
Round 2, 64th overall, WR DK Metcalf, Mississippi: Seattle traded picks 77 and 118 to New England to move up to grab Metcalf. It will forever stand as one of the better moves of the Carroll/Schneider era.
Round 3, 88th overall, LB Cody Barton, Utah: Barton was a full-time starter last year but signed last week with Washington on a one-year deal worth a guaranteed $3.5 million. Seattle has essentially replaced him with free agent Devin Bush, the 10th pick in the same 2019 draft, on a contract worth up to the same $3.5 million.
Round 4, 120th overall, WR Gary Jennings, West Virginia: Jennings, who had been coached on a YMCA basketball team by Russell Wilson, continued Seattle’s mid-round receiver curse, never playing in a game before being waived midway through his rookie year. He has played one NFL game (Miami in 2019) and is currently with St. Louis in the XFL.
Round 4, 124th overall, OL Phil Haynes, Wake Forest: Haynes has played just 22 games, but performed well in sharing the right-guard spot last season with Gabe Jackson and was re-signed to a one-year deal worth $4 million last month. Haynes is expected have the starting role in 2023.
Round 4, 132nd overall, DB Ugo Amadi, Oregon: Amadi was a starter or co-starter at nickel in 2020 and 2021, with 12 official starts overall. He was traded in camp last year when it was apparent he might be cut due to the emergence of other corners. He’s with the Saints after playing two games with the Titans and one with the Chiefs last year.
Round 5, 142nd overall, LB Ben Burr-Kirven, Washington: Burr-Kirven was one of Seattle’s core special-teams players his first two seasons, and coaches envisioned him competing for a starting spot with the oncoming departures Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright. But a serious knee injury in the preseason in 2021 derailed those plans, causing him to miss the last two seasons. He was released by the Seahawks earlier this month.
Round 6, 204th overall, RB Travis Homer, Miami: Homer had a more-than-serviceable career as a core special-teams player and backup and third-down/two-minute running back before signing last week with the Bears on a two-year deal worth up to $4 million.
Round 6, 209th overall, DT Demarcus Christmas, Florida State: Christmas missed his rookie year with a back injury and was waived the following season. He has not played in an NFL game but played in 15 games last season with Saskatchewan in the CFL and remains on its roster.
Round 7, 236th overall, WR John Ursua, Hawaii: Ursua had a solid initial training camp that even earned some initial stylistic comparisons to Doug Baldwin. But he failed to win a roster spot in 2020, spending the year on the practice squad, then suffered an ACL injury in 2021 and was not brought back in 2022. He suffered another knee injury training in the spring of 2022 and is not on an NFL roster.