Seattle Seahawks Draft Rumors: Jamal Adam Replacement in WSU Jaden Hicks

With several losses on defense this offseason, including safety Jamal Adams, the Seattle Seahawks have a chance to find a replacement in the draft in Washington State Cougars defender Jaden Hicks.

Sep 23, 2023; Pullman, Washington, USA; Washington State Cougars defensive back Jaden Hicks (25) / James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

The Seattle Seahawks have lot a ton on defense this offseason and have multiple holes to fill.

After losing both Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams, general manager John Schneider signed Rayshawn Jenkins to play opposite Julian Love, a free agent signing from last offseason.

Sep 23, 2023; Pullman, Washington, USA; Washington State Cougars defensive back Jaden Hicks (25) / James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

But in his prime, Adams was a unique player. While he never gained footing in Seattle, his play prior to the trade is legendary. And the Seahawks might have a chance to find a similar player in the draft.

Pro Football Focus NFL Draft analyst Trevor Sikkema spoke to Seattle Sports and his high on Hicks coming to Seattle.

“He was so overwhelmed as a freshman and as the article highlighted, he even questioned whether or not he could play at the D-1 level. And he was like, ‘I don’t even know if I’m good enough to do this.’ And to answer that question, he kind of said, ‘No, no, no, I am good enough to do this and I’ve just got to get better. I’ve got to work out harder,'” Sikkema said. “He got in the film room, he became a great communicator, great anticipator and because of that, you saw that athleticism, that former corner athleticism shine from him, but he’ll also come down and make some tackles for you.”

Sikkema thinks Hicks fits into the mold of what NFL safeties are becoming recently.

“With the league going a lot more towards two-high shells anyways, he’s certainly got the range to be good in a two-high set and you could bring him down into the box a little bit and have him more towards the line of scrimmage,” he said. “And like I mentioned, he’s a really good back-end communicator. So I think that he’s somebody who could kind of fill that role – obviously, Jamal Adams was a top-10 pick – so it’s tough to kind of project a guy who I think is going to go second or third round to necessarily that. But he is definitely somebody that I like.”