RENTON, Wash. – Money, cowbell, Bobo. All things people want more of.<\/p>\n
Seahawks fans have made it abundantly clear about the third one.<\/p>\n
Jake Bobo may not be the most athletic receiver in the NFL. His stat sheet never shines like some of the league\u2019s elite pass-catchers. But there\u2019s something about an undrafted, out-of-nowhere impact player whose last name, as Jake puts it, \u201cis fun to say.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just a few weeks into his rookie year in 2023, T-shirts with the words \u201cMore Bobo\u201d emblazoned on the front were selling online. That phrase would soon pop up on message boards heaping praise on the UCLA product.<\/p>\n
Plays such as the toe-tapping touchdown catch he made against the Cardinals two Octobers ago certainly boosted his popularity. But his blocking and special teams ability are what kept on the field.<\/p>\n
When I mentioned that Pro Football Focus gave him the best run-blocking grade among wide receivers in the NFL two years ago, he gave a \u201cthat\u2019s what I\u2019m talking about!\u201d<\/p>\n
Not too many receivers get pumped about blocking, I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, listen. You gotta have some self-awareness,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n
Good answer. Even better segue.<\/p>\n
Bobo is a long way from a lock to make the Seahawks\u2019 final roster. Doesn\u2019t matter that he has had two seasons in the books or that he\u2019s one of the more recognizable players on the squad. The receivers room at the VMAC is crowded these days.<\/p>\n
You got Jaxon-Smith Njigba, Cooper Kupp and Marquez Valdes-Scantling as the de facto 1-2-3 on the depth chart. But you also have rookie Tory Horton showing out in training camp, with the fifth-round draft pick making a series of snags in the middle of the field and on deep balls. Throw in return specialist Steven Sims, and that 53-man starts to look as cramped as a Twister board for a guy such as Bobo.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t lost on him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been here three years, for three camps, and it\u2019s the same exact thing,\u201d said Bobo, who had 19 receptions his rookie year and 13 last season. \u201cNow, my rookie year, was I just fighting for my life trying to stay alive? Yes. But we\u2019ve got a lot of talent in the receivers room. Guys who can play special teams. Guys who want to get the ball in their hands that can make plays.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bobo stresses that he\u2019s tight with his fellow receivers and that the competition is only bringing out the best in one another. But that competition has a chance to end with Bobo not being in a Seahawks uniform in the season opener vs. the 49ers. Key word there is \u201cchance.\u201d It\u2019s not a guarantee or even necessarily a probability.<\/p>\n
On Friday, a few minutes after praising what Horton had done in practice, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald was asked what that might mean for Bobo.<\/p>\n
His response?<\/p>\n
\u201cJake\u2019s an integral part of our football team. Talk about identity, how he plays on special teams, his clutchness catching the ball – the guy has incredible hands,\u201d Macdonald said. \u201cAnd then now with how we\u2019re going to be blocking on the perimeter, I mean, we\u2019re gonna want 19 out there push-crackin\u2019 safeties and doing all those things, too. He brings a lot to the table.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Seahawks\u2019 new offense – their third in the past three years – will have an emphasis on running the football. And when you have a guy who can block for said runners, his chances to make the team increase. But back to that self-awareness – Bobo knows he\u2019s in a battle. A friendly one, but a battle nonetheless.<\/p>\n
\u201cI obviously want to be here. I want to play for the Seahawks, but if that\u2019s not the case, that\u2019s not the case,\u201d said Bobo, adding that if he works hard things will fall into place. \u201cBut like I said, I\u2019m not really worried about that right now. Now in a couple weeks? Then I\u2019ll be a little worried about it \u2026 when it comes down to the end of August cut line. But we\u2019ve got such a great group. We\u2019re just trying to take care of each other right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bobo isn\u2019t well-liked just because of his rags-to-receptions story. He is one of the more engaging, laid-back players on the team as well.<\/p>\n
Fans want him to succeed every bit as much as he does. But it\u2019s production, not popularity, that will earn him a spot with the Seahawks. The organization has gone through significant changes the past three years. One constant? Jake Bobo fighting like hell to survive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RENTON, Wash. – Money, cowbell, Bobo. All things people want more of. Seahawks fans have made it abundantly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247272,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2081],"tags":[265,637,7,636,11729,122,6,47357,1890,47358,238,632,635,237,261,2635,9,638],"class_list":{"0":"post-247271","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-seattle-seahawks","8":"tag-american-football","9":"tag-american-football-teams","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-gridiron-football-variants","12":"tag-jake-bobo","13":"tag-national-football-league","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-nfl-seasons","16":"tag-nfl-teams","17":"tag-nfl-teams-seasons","18":"tag-seahawks","19":"tag-seasons-in-american-football","20":"tag-seasons-in-american-sport","21":"tag-seattle","22":"tag-seattle-seahawks","23":"tag-seattleseahawks","24":"tag-sports","25":"tag-team-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114940690243542205","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}