Tag: Ugo Amadi

3 things to know about new Eagles DB Ugo Amadi

Three things to know about new Philadelphia Eagles defensive back Ugo Amadi after he was acquired from the Seattle Seahawks in a trade for J.J. Arcega-Whiteside

The Eagles made a big move on Monday, trading J.J. Arcega-Whiteside to the Seattle Seahawks for defensive back Ugo Amadi.

Amadi will now join Jonathan Gannon’s hybrid defense, and he brings the ability to play cornerback and safety while also flourishing on special teams.

Amadi, a fourth-round pick out of Oregon in 2019, was a part-time starter for the Seahawks the past two seasons as a nickel cornerback but fell out of favor and was in jeopardy of being released after asking for a change of scenery.

He’ll join another crowded but versatile defensive backs group in Philadelphia, and his experience could push him to the front of the pack.

Here are five things to know about the newest Eagle.

4 takeaways from the Eagles trading J.J. Arcega-Whiteside to the Seahawks for Ugo Amadi

Takeaways and observations from the Philadelphia Eagles trading J.J. Arcega-Whiteside to the Seattle Seahawks for defensive back Ugo Amadi

The Eagles announced Monday that they are trading tight end/wide receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside to the Seahawks for defensive back Ugo Amadi.

A 2019 second-round pick drafted ahead of DK Metcalf, Terry McLaurin, and others, Arcega-Whiteside has caught 16 passes for 290 yards and a touchdown during three mediocre seasons.

An analytics-based drafted pick, Arcega-Whiteside was a red zone monster at Stanford, and the assumption was that his college success would translate to the NFL. That wasn’t the case, and after three seasons at wide receiver, Arcega-Whiteside attempted a move to tight end in hopes of breaking out.

With the move now complete, here are four takeaways from the deal.

Seahawks take low-risk gamble trading for J.J. Arcega-Whiteside

Now both have an opportunity for a fresh start.

The Seattle Seahawks turned a few heads with an unexpected trade Monday afternoon. Seattle sent fourth-year defensive back Ugo Amadi to the City of Brotherly Love in exchange for Philadelphia Eagles tight end/wide receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside.

Neither player had caught on or found a meaningful way to contribute on their respective teams. Amadi was primarily a backup with Seattle and was typically a weaker link in the secondary, while Arcega-Whiteside made a negligible impact for Philadelphia’s offense. New additions to both the Seahawks and Eagles at those positions – namely rookie corner Coby Bryant with Seattle and star receiver A.J. Brown for Philly – ultimately made both Amadi and Arcega-Whiteside expendable.

Now both have an opportunity for a fresh start.

The Seahawks are certainly set at receiver with Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf headlining the act, but there is always room to improve depth, especially with versatility. Arcega-Whiteside recently switched positions to tight end this offseason. Perhaps Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron can use this versatility in creative ways to help the offense and revive Arcega-Whiteside’s career.

If not, the move won’t be a costly one for the Seahawks. Arcega-Whiteside is only due a non-guaranteed $1.64 million.

Interestingly, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside has often been linked with Seahawks star DK Metcalf. During the 2019 NFL draft, the Eagles selected Arcega-Whiteside with the No. 57 overall selection. Famously, the Seahawks picked DK Metcalf seven picks later at No. 64 overall. The Eagles have been routinely mocked for committing what appears to be a major draft blunder.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbycpfe4qgv9nf6 player_id=none image=https://seahawkswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[lawrence-related id=92366]

[vertical-gallery id=92474]

Seahawks announce 4 roster moves, including putting Cody Thompson on IR

That includes the Seattle Seahawks, who just announced a handful of moves in addition to the reported trade of cornerback Ugo Amadi.

NFL teams had until Tuesday afternoon to cut their rosters from 90 players down to 85 as part of the first phase of trimming down towards the regular season. That includes the Seattle Seahawks, who just announced a handful of moves in addition to the reported trade of cornerback Ugo Amadi.

Here’s a quick review of today’s transactions.

Eagles trade J.J. Arcega-Whiteside to Seattle for Ugo Amadi

The Philadelphia Eagles traded wide receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside to the Seattle Seahawks for safety Ugo Amadi.

With NFL teams required to trim their rosters down to 85 players by Tuesday, August 16th, this is a time where organizations might make some roster moves. One such move happened on Monday, with the Philadelphia Eagles trading wide receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside to the Seattle Seahawks for defensive back Ugo Amadi.

The move gives both players a shot at making rosters come final cutdown day, with Amadi providing some defensive back depth in Philadelphia while Arcega-Whiteside gets a chance at a fresh start in Seattle.

Tom Pelissero reported on the move first for the NFL Network:

Drafted in the second round of the 2019 NFL draft, Arcega-Whiteside never grew into the receiver the Eagles were hoping for. With additions in recent years at the position such as Jalen Reagor, as well as the emergence of Quez Watkins as a reliable option, the team moved him to tight end prior to the 2022 NFL draft. Then, with the acquisition of A.J. Brown prior to the draft, and the selection of Grant Calcaterra in the sixth round, Arcega-Whiteside faced a real uphill battle at sticking on the roster.

Amadi was a fourth-round selection by Seattle in the 2019 NFL draft, and has started 12 games over his career at safety for the Seahawks. He started seven games a year ago, recording an interception and 54 total tackles.

 

Seahawks trade DB Ugo Amadi to Eagles for WR J.J. Arcega-Whiteside

The Seahawks intended to waive Ugo Amadi. Instead, they found a taker in the Eagles, who sent J.J. Arcega-Whiteside in exchange.

With the first round of roster cuts looming, the Seattle Seahawks intended to waive defensive back Ugo Amadi. Instead, Seattle managed to find a taker for his services.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Seahawks are sending Amadi to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for wide receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside.

Amadi was a part-time starter for Seattle over the past two seasons, where he played primarily at nickel cornerback. The former fourth-round pick was competing with Justin Coleman and Marquise Blair at nickel during training camp.

In Saturday’s preseason opener, Amadi was working with the third-team defense.

New Seahawks addition Arcega-Whiteside is a former second-round pick in 2019, although he’s failed to live up to his billing in the last three seasons. In his rookie season, he appeared in 16 games with five starts for the Eagles, where he caught 10 passes for 169 yards and one touchdown.

Last season with Philadelphia, Arcega-Whiteside played primarily on special teams. He caught two passes for 36 yards in 16 games.

This offseason, Arcega-Whiteside converted to tight end. In the Eagles’ preseason opener, he was targeted once in eight offensive snaps. He played 15 snaps on special teams.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbycpfe4qgv9nf6 player_id=none image=https://seahawkswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[listicle id=92442]

Seahawks trade former Oregon DB Ugo Amadi to Philadelphia Eagles

Former Oregon Ducks defensive back Ugo Amadi was reportedly traded from the Seattle Seahawks to the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday.

Former Oregon Ducks defensive back Ugo Amadi is on the move, getting shipped from the Seattle Seahawks to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for wide receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

Amadi joined the Seahawks as a fourth round pick out of Oregon in the 2019 NFL draft. He appeared in 47 games over the past three seasons, starting 12 and totaling 125 combined tackles, six tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and one interception while playing primarily out of the slot.

However, the return of Justin Coleman and the emergence of former Utah defensive back Marquise Blair gave Amadi plenty of competition in Pete Carroll’s defense, and after a down year in 2021 he’ll head to Philadelphia in exchange for a once promising wide receiver who was selected a few spots ahead of DK Metcalf in 2019.

Amadi will come in and challenge for snaps as Philadelphia’s nickel cornerback, and will likely factor in on the special teams as well.

[listicle id=27392]

Seahawks plan to include CB Ugo Amadi in initial 2022 roster cuts

According to a report by Brady Henderson at ESPN, Seattle intends to make cornerback Ugo Amadi one of those cuts.

The Seahawks and every other NFL team has until tomorrow afternoon to cut their offseason roster from 90 players down to 85.

According to a report by Brady Henderson at ESPN, Seattle intends to make cornerback Ugo Amadi one of those cuts.

This should come as no great surprise, since Amadi has often been the team’s weakest link in coverage over the last two seasons.

The addition of a couple new players further endangered Amadi’s chances of making the roster. First, the Seahawks re-signed veteran nickel corner Justin Coleman, who played the slot position better than anyone else has under head coach Pete Carroll from 2017-2018. The team also drafted two cornerbacks this year and in recent days Coby Bryant has been getting playing time in the slot.

It’s only been one preseason game, but the Seahawks probably wouldn’t be planning to cut Amadi unless they felt good about how Bryant has performed.

Update:

The team has abruptly changed course on Amadi. Instead of releasing him, Seattle is trading Amadi to the Eagles for wide receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbycpfe4qgv9nf6 player_id=none image=https://seahawkswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[lawrence-related id=92447]

[listicle id=92426]

Seahawks have 3 of NFL’s best DBs in coverage rate over expectation

Three Seahawks are on the list, including cornerback John Reid at the top.

Pro Football Focus has published an interesting analysis regarding defensive backs who cover at a rate higher than expected given their NFL Scouting Combine athletic scoring.

Here’s how PFF’s Haley English describes the model.

“I built a linear regression model that takes into account the top two principal components, as well as the defender’s position, to predict a player’s NFL coverage rate. Some players greatly exceeded their NFL combine athleticism, where their actual coverage rate was much higher than their predicted coverage rate from their combine results.”

And here’s the chart, which shows the league’s top 15 defensive backs in coverage rate over expectation. Three Seahawks are on the list, including cornerback John Reid at the top.

via PFF

This speaks to Seattle’s ability to recognize underrated talents on the back end of a defense. Coach Pete Carroll certainly has his faults as an evaluator, but nobody knows DB play better.

[lawrence-related id=91525]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbycpfe4qgv9nf6 player_id=none image=https://seahawkswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[vertical-gallery id=91470]

Seahawks’ young safeties getting reps in offseason with veterans out

With veterans Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs out with injuries, the Seattle Seahawks’ young safeties are getting more reps this offseason.

The Seattle Seahawks have been without a number of veterans during OTAs as they recover from injuries. With safeties Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs still sidelined, defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt gets to get a closer look at some of the other players in the position. For him, he sees the positive in the young guys getting the chance to get some reps.

“They’re getting valuable reps that obviously if Jamal and Q were here, they probably don’t see,” Hurtt told reporters after Tuesday’s practice. “So now you have an opportunity to develop young talent behind them and create some depth. I always look at things not from a negative standpoint, but from a positive and what we can do that’s going to help us be better forward.”

The younger defensive players will get more opportunities to step up into leadership roles as well, able to find their voices with the established players still absent.

“Because Q (Diggs) is such a dominant, great player, dominant personality, when he speaks, everybody’s going to listen naturally,” Hurtt said. “But with him not being here, guys like Ryan, guys like Josh, guys like Ugo, it forces those guys to have to speak, get out of your comfort zone. You don’t have (No.) six back there. You don’t have (No.) 33 back there to be the quarterback right now so you got to go ahead and handle it. It kind of speaks to the development part I was talking about.

“It’s a great opportunity for them to expand their game.”

[lawrence-related id=89909]

[listicle id=89899]