Seattle Seahawks Draft Profile: Chad Muma

Seattle

With the 2022 NFL Draft set to kick off in Las Vegas on Thursday, April 28, the Seahawks will have a chance to kickstart a new era for the franchise with eight selections, including a top-10 pick and four picks total in the first three rounds.

Over the next month leading up to draft weekend, the AllSeahawks writing staff will dish out in-depth profiles on numerous prospects who could be targets on Seattle’s big board.

Next up in the series: Wyoming linebacker Chad Muma.

Background

Beginning his collegiate career as a core special-teamer, Muma finally cracked Wyoming’s starting lineup in his sophomore season and recorded 51 tackles and a sack in a promising 12-game effort. The following year, despite appearing in half as many games in a COVID-shortened season, he put up more tackles (71) and sacks (3.0) on his way to earning first-team All-Mountain West honors. Then, as a senior, Muma obliterated his personal-best in tackles with 142 and snared a trio of interceptions, repeating as a first-team All-Mountain West member and receiving third-team AP All-American honors as well.

Strengths

Muma is one of the more well-rounded linebackers in this year’s draft, offering a good balance of physicality, speed, quickness and smarts. His skills as a tackler may be the best of the class, displaying a natural ability to wrap up and drive with his hips to finish off plays in a loud manner. Ball carriers rarely escape his clutches, thanks in part to the above-average strength he showed with his 27 bench press reps at the combine.

He’s not the fastest linebacker by any stretch of the imagination, but he plays with a high motor and has good enough burst in short space to get to the ball in a timely manner. He weaves his way through traffic well to avoid unnecessary blocks and maneuver congested spaces, exhibiting a good sense for where the ball is going. This is apparent when he drops into zone coverage, too, showing impressive discipline and play recognition with good breaks on the ball.

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weaknesses

While his background as a safety translates well to his play in coverage, Muma lacks some hip fluidity which leads to occasional struggles in certain matchups. It also crops up with his change of direction, often making him a tick or two late to his burst.

Additionally, he needs to show more consistency in his strength, particularly in the run game. As noted, his physicality as a tackler jumps off the page, but his aggressiveness at the line of scrimmage comes and goes in times when it really shouldn’t. Whether it’s a matter of hesitancy or just a general lack of effort, he could stand to maintain more hostility when coming downhill.

Fit in Seattle

For now, Cody Barton looks set to replace Bobby Wagner as the Seahawks’ starting MIKE linebacker. But given the fact he’s entering the fourth and final year of his rookie contract and has just five career starts under his belt, it would behoove Seattle to bring in a hedge for the possibility that Barton proves incapable of succeeding in the role full-time.

Muma is capable of playing all three linebacker spots, but in the event Barton does pan out and remains in Seattle long-term, that could create some issues for the Wyoming product. He doesn’t possess the pass rushing skills the Seahawks now expect from their SAM, and WILL won’t be an option either with Jordyn Brooks developing into a core defender. In the end, Muma would have to oust Barton to make it work in the Pacific Northwest, and there are plenty of reasons to think he would succeed in that endeavor if given the chance.

Previous Seahawks NFL Draft Profiles