Former Ole Miss star signs with Seattle Seahawks practice squad

Former Ole Miss defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche has been signed to the Seattle Seahawks practice squad, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. The former first-round pick did not play in 2020 and signed with the Seahawks this offseason.

The move was made official one day after Nkemdiche was released by the Seahawks to reach the 53-man roster needed to enter the regular season. Due to the NFL’s loosened restrictions on roster movement, Nkemdiche can easily be called up to the active roster on Sundays if needed.

Nkemdiche’s early career

Coming into college, Nkemdiche was the highest-ranked recruit to attend Ole Miss since Eli Manning in 1999. He was the consensus number one player coming out of high school in the 2013 recruiting class. Nkemdiche would stay three years for the Ole Miss Rebels and finish his collegiate career with 81 total tackles (41 solo), 16 tackles for loss, and six sacks. In his final season, he earned first-team all-SEC honors and second-team all-American honors. However, he would be suspended for the team’s bowl game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys, after being charged with drug possession, in December of 2015.

Nkemdiche was taking with the 29th pick in the 2016 draft by the Arizona Cardinals. In his rookie season, he only played in five games and recorded just one tackle.

However, in his second season and Arizona, he had 32 tackles, 4.5 sacks, and one forced fumble before his season was cut short with a knee injury that required surgery. Nkemdiche would be cut by the Cardinals before the 2019 season even started with a failed physical designation.

Later in the season, he would sign with the Miami Dolphins while recovering from his knee surgery. He would play in just two games for the Dolphins before he was waived by them in November. Shortly after being waived, he was suspended by the NFL for two weeks.

A newfound respect

After a slow start to his career and sitting out all of last season, this year was considered a chance to reinvent himself. Nkemdiche said after not playing all of last year he has a newfound respect for the NFL.

“It wasn’t fun,” Nkemdiche told the media back in June. “It wasn’t a good time. But like I said, being back here, this is exciting for me. This is what I love to do. I’m just happy to have the opportunity to be back here and to be able to play football again.”

Despite being waived by the Seahawks, Robert Nkemdiche can continue his journey this season on the practice squad.