The Seattle Seahawks added tight end Ben Sims to their practice squad Tuesday afternoon after releasing another tight end, Josiah Deguara, earlier that day. When comparing the two players and factoring in their blockbuster deal for Quenton Nelson, this looks like an intentional change in direction — not just the eye-for-an-eye swap it may seem on the surface.

Deguara was a fullback in college, but was able to convince the Green Bay Packers to use a third-round pick on him in 2020 with the hopes he could succeed in the “H-Back” role that lives between a tight end and a fullback. Examples of this working in the NFL include Zach Miller for the Seahawks, the late Aaron Hernandez for the New England Patriots, and Chris Cooley for the Washington Redskins. Where Deguara’s pre-draft testing showed an 85th percentile athlete at fullback, the same numbers ranked in just the 66th percentile at tight end. He overcame this by being a willing blocker and a seemingly natural route runner at 242 pounds. He was also on a good team at the University of Cincinnati, which didn’t hurt.

Sims is a different beast entirely. He’s a natural receiving threat at tight end, standing over 6-foot-4 and recording 90th percentile times in the 40-yard dash and the 10- and 20-yard splits. He also had a 91st percentile broad jump and an 89.9th percentile vertical jump. He mirrors recently injured tight end Elijah Arroyo’s profile as well as any option you could expect to find on waivers.

Deguara seemed like a desperate ploy to get more blockers on the field, when Seattle needed to improve their run game at all costs just a week ago. Since then, running back Emanuel Wilson became their first 100-yard rusher of the season on Sunday Night Football, Arroyo underwent season-ending surgery, and the Seahawks traded two draft picks to the Indianapolis Colts for a future Pro Football Hall of Fame guard in Nelson to further solidify their rushing attack. As the Seahawks look to replace Arroyo’s profile with a size-and-speed receiving threat at tight end, Sims is the ideal prototype. Sims shouldn’t be expected to provide the sheer route-running talent Arroyo had, but possesses the two most important traits to be effective in that role.

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