Few players make the rare jump to the NFL after playing minimal football in high school, but a unique advantage gives Jack Westover a shot to make the Seahawks.
RENTON, Wash. - Undrafted rookies have odds squarely stacked against them to make an NFL roster, trying to scratch and claw for reps with established veterans and draft picks ahead of them on the depth chart and little to no margin for error when opportunity strikes.
"I think the coolest thing for me is just being able to come in and have the respect of the vets, as far as the playbook goes X's and O's wise, just having that respect," Westover said prior to Seattle's third training camp practice. "Then obviously, having gone on the field and earned a different type of respect as far as playstyle, and so it's been cool to be able to just have that conversation with them and have them just be open to it.
But Westover didn't give up on his dream despite the adversity and thanks to his athletic profile and raw skills, he remained on the radar for several local programs. Rather than play for a smaller school and potentially transfer down the road, he chose to walk on at Washington, taking the challenging path of paying his own way to school with hopes of earning a scholarship.
Packing on muscle to his frame during his time on campus and developing himself into a quality all-around player, Westover blossomed into a 250-pound tight end over the course of six seasons with the Huskies program. After struggling as a blocker early in his college career, with the extra work in the weight room paying dividends, he learned how to win at the point of attack despite lacking prototypical size and length for the tight end position.
Recovering from ruptured ligament in his wrist, Westover didn't participate in athletic testing at the NFL combine, but he returned to catch passes from Penix and run the 3-cone drill and short shuttle at Washington's pro day on March 28. Going undrafted, it didn't take long for the Seahawks to lock him up as one of their priority free agents,, who joined new coach Mike Macdonald's staff as offensive coordinator in February after spending a few days in the same role at Alabama.
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