Seattle Seahawks dig deep for WR prospect Travis Toivonen
The Seattle Seahawks had to dig deep to find wide receiver prospect Travis Toivonen, a former North Dakota player with a unique path.
There is really nowhere you can’t be discovered by NFL teams, these days. The Seattle Seahawks are a great example of that, having signed a player in the 2021 offseason from the Fan Controlled Football league (FCF).
Pardon?
The Fan Controlled Football league is a 7-on-7 league with unique rules (controlled by the fans, as the name states), rosters controlled by the fans, and fan-selected plays among other things. This fan experience is streamed on Twitch and is officially now part of the story of an NFL player.
That NFL player is former North Dakota Fighting Hawks receiver Travis Toivonen, whose final season at North Dakota was actually 2019.
He finished his four seasons with the Fighting Hawks with 139 receptions for 1,719 yards and 13 touchdowns. At 6-foot-4, 212 pounds, Toivonen is a big-bodied receiver with explosive leaping ability and some really nice route-running skills.
Seattle Seahawks dig deep for Travis Toivonen
Although he of course has a body of work from North Dakota to study, Toivonen’s work with the FCF is rather intriguing.
Let’s not get too crazy here. The odds of Toivonen making the Seattle Seahawks’ 53-man roster are absolutely slim.
Or are they?
Seattle has plenty of talent at the receiver position, especially at the top of the depth chart with DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett making up one of the best duos in the NFL. They also used their top pick in the 2021 NFL Draft on Western Michigan’s speedy playmaker D’Wayne Eskridge.
With David Moore off to the Carolina Panthers, Freddie Swain should see some more work as the team’s WR4, but beyond that — at least based on 2020 snap counts — it’s going to be fair game for anyone to crack this Seahawks roster in 2021.
Why not the dude who played in the Fan Controlled Football league?
The Seattle Seahawks have long coveted players with size at the receiver position. While Toivonen doesn’t have elite speed like some of those other guys, he has nice potential as a big slot with his foot quickness and red zone production.
His ability to high-point the ball and make contested catches could be viewed as an inability to separate when he’s tasked with getting vertical, but there’s plenty to work with here even if that is considered an issue.
We might be more likely to see Toivonen on a practice squad this year, in Seattle or otherwise, but his odd journey to the NFL makes his preseason story worth watching closely.