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Seattle Seahawks get UDFA steal in LB Emmanuel Beal

By Sayre Bedinger

ARLINGTON, TX - DECEMBER 2: Kenny Hill #7 of the TCU Horned Frogs tries to get away from Emmanuel Beal #14 of the Oklahoma Sooners as Austin Schlottmann #51 of the TCU Horned Frogs looks on in the first half of the Big 12 Championship AT&T Stadium on December 2, 2017 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX - DECEMBER 2: Kenny Hill #7 of the TCU Horned Frogs tries to get away from Emmanuel Beal #14 of the Oklahoma Sooners as Austin Schlottmann #51 of the TCU Horned Frogs looks on in the first half of the Big 12 Championship AT&T Stadium on December 2, 2017 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) /
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The Seattle Seahawks may have gotten themselves a steal in undrafted free agent linebacker Emmanuel Beal from the Oklahoma Sooners…

The Seattle Seahawks certainly made some headlines in the 2018 NFL Draft, starting with their top pick.

The Seahawks surprised pretty much everyone when they took San Diego State’s Rashaad Penny in the first round.

They then made one of the most notable picks in the draft when they took linebacker Shaquem Griffin in the fifth round, pairing him back up with his brother Shaquill.

Seattle has been in the headlines a ton this offseason, mostly for the fact that they are dismembering the Legion of Boom piece by piece.

With that said, the Seahawks added a linebacker after the draft that could potentially be of help going forward. That linebacker is former Oklahoma Sooners player Emmanuel Beal.

A junior college transfer from Columbus, OH, Beal joined the Sooners in 2016 and made an instant impact on their defense.

Of course, Big 12 defenses are not exactly nationally renowned, but Beal was productive enough that he deserved a chance to put his skills on display at the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine.

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He never received an invitation.

At 6-feet, 223 pounds, Beal showed out at the OU pro day, running a 4.58-second 40-yard dash with a 35-inch vertical jump, showing off his explosiveness.

He’s obviously not the ideal size for a linebacker at the next level, but Beal has enough athleticism and production in college to warrant a look in training camp and I think he could become a productive special teams player and rotational linebacker, similar to another former Oklahoma linebacker in Corey Nelson.

Nelson was a former seventh-round pick of the Broncos whose athleticism translated immediately to special teams.

Beal showed growth from the inside linebacker position this past season, racking up 95 tackles with seven tackles for loss and his first career interception.

I think this is a player who is still really growing into his skill set. He might be more of a blank canvas at this point, which is why he wasn’t drafted, but he can make an impact and potentially crack this Seahawks roster with all of the changes happening in the past four months.

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