Seattle Seahawks Coach Mike Macdonald Praises Rookie LB Tyrice Knight

The Seattle Seahawks need some new production at the linebacker position after Bobby Wagner left the team in free agency. The team addressed the need in last week's NFL Draft with UTEP's Tyrice Knight, whom Seattle selected in the fourth round.

Knight has a lot of potential, especially after being given the stamp of approval from new head coach Mike Macdonald, who has been a linebacker coach during his career and helped turn Patrick Queen into a Pro Bowler in Baltimore last season alongside Roquan Smith.

"I think he brings some thump at the point of attack and then when we brought him in, we got to meet him and we just really liked the person and the competitor," Macdonald said. "His demeanor is soft-spoken right now, but I think he's a very clear communicator and then just a guy throughout the process we started to really like. Linebackers are paid to make tackles. He makes a lot of tackles, so that's a good thing."

Knight ranked fifth in all of Division I last season in tackles with 140, including 84 solo stops, and the Seahawks hope that production can translate to the next level. Throughout his entire career with the Miners, Knight racked up 390 tackles while tallying 32 tackles for loss, proving to be disruptive and reliable bringing down ball carriers.

Having Knight's pedigree for tackling coupled up with linebackers being Macdonald' specialty tabs the fourth-round pick as a potential day three gem for this Seahawks rookie class. It's quite possible that he could be the biggest playmaker out of any rookie coming to Seattle this offseason, though he will have two established veterans in Jerome Baker and Tyrel Dodson ahead of him on the depth chart when OTAs begin this month.

Before he begins to hunt for a job against Baker and Dodson, Knight and the rest of the rookies will participate in the team's minicamp, which starts on Friday and goes until Sunday.