The Seahawks placed wide receiver Jake Bobo on season-ending injured reserve Saturday with a serious knee injury, ESPN reported. Bobo hurt his knee during Friday's joint practice with the Titans, per multiple reports. Seattle re-signed wideout Julian Hicks to fill the open roster spot.
Bobo isn't a household name. He's a role player. But he's a role player who scored a touchdown in the NFC championship game against the Rams at Lumen Field on Jan. 25. That's not nothing. That's a guy who shows up in big moments. Losing him for the season is a real problem for Seattle's receiver depth.
The popular take will be that this torpedoes the Seahawks' season. That's wrong. Bobo was a complementary piece, not a primary weapon. The offense wasn't built around him. His absence will open reps for someone else, and if that someone else can't produce, the issue was never Bobo. It was a lack of talent behind the top guys.
Bringing back Hicks is a low-cost move. He'll get a chance to compete, but the Seahawks shouldn't stop there. The front office has to decide if the current group is good enough or if a veteran addition is warranted. That decision will tell you more about Seattle's Super Bowl chances than Bobo's injury itself.
My verdict: this hurts, but it doesn't sink the season. The Seahawks have enough at receiver to absorb the loss. What they can't absorb is another injury at the position. If one of their top guys goes down, then the panic is justified. Until then, treat this as a roster shuffle, not a catastrophe. Expect Seattle to kick the tires on available veterans before Week 1.