NFL exhibition games are money grabs, complete wastes of time and job interviews, all at the same time, but for the sake of this discussion, let’s focus on the latter.
Seattle has 90 players on the roster, but by the end of this month, it will only have 53. Preseason games are one of the best ways to determine which players are worthy of employment. Seattle has its first Thursday night against the Denver Broncos at CenturyLink Field.
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You’re familiar with how this goes — the starters will only play a series or two, then backups will handle the rest. Fans will fall in love with a late-round or undrafted player by the end of the night, and players will see their value rise and fall based on their first meaningful snaps of the summer.
With that said, here’s a look at one Seahawk at each position who has the most to gain Thursday night.
Quarterback: Geno Smith
The difference between Geno Smith and Paxton Lynch hasn’t been significant, I must admit, though I think the former has looked slightly better in the pocket and was the better of the two quarterbacks in the mock game last weekend.
If Smith, the more experienced of the two backups, wants to truly create some distance between himself and Lynch, he can start by putting together a strong performance Thursday night. It’s not easy to pull Russell Wilson off a football field, but coach Pete Carroll will probably find a way after the offense’s opening series, meaning Smith and Lynch will be given the keys to the offense for the better part of the evening. But because they’ll be playing behind reserve offensive linemen, the passer with better mobility and the ability to improvise is likely to have more success. And as commissioner Oliver Luck intimated earlier this summer, the loser of this backup battle may find themselves in the XFL, which is all the incentive any former NFL starter should need to put their best foot forward.
Running back: J.D. McKissic
Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny are locked in as the top two running backs. The third spot, reserved for the third-down back, is up for grabs. Based on the training camp pecking order, McKissic is in the lead, which makes sense considering how dynamic he’s proven to be when healthy.
He’s the best pass-catching running back on the roster and he’s probably the fastest. But that doesn’t mean rookie Travis Homer or veteran C.J. Prosise can’t make a case for themselves Thursday night. Prosise is also a receiving threat out of the backfield and Homer might be the only running back capable of keeping up with McKissic in a footrace. Because it feels like McKissic is ahead of those two on the depth chart, it might only take a few explosive plays against Denver, either as a runner or a receiver, for the coaching staff to feel great about inserting McKissic into the role that got Mike Davis paid this offseason. If Homer flashes more potential or if Prosise looks like the 2016 version of himself then, well…
Receiver: David Moore
Moore is one of a few veterans whose starting spot seems to be in jeopardy because of a rookie. Whether Seattle would like to paint in this way or not, Moore will be battling with DK Metcalf the entire preseason, starting Thursday night. That said, it’ll be interesting to see how long Moore plays in this game. Even though he, Jaron Brown and Tyler Lockett are the “starters” right now, Moore and Brown can probably use all the reps they can get since Seattle just drafted rookies at their positions. The DK Metcalf Hype Train hasn’t slowed down since May, and depending on what happens Thursday, it may have thousands of new passengers jumping aboard, so Moore needs to remind people that he’s still a capable deep threat who caught just as many touchdowns as Doug Baldwin last season.
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Tight end: Jacob Hollister
Hollister has quietly been the surprise of camp. When it comes to pass-catching he’s been as impressive as anyone on the roster, including Metcalf. Now that Ed Dickson may miss up to six weeks pending a knee surgery, Hollister, who missed practice Monday with a groin injury, can continue to show his playmaking ability in the passing game with live reps against an actual opponent. Who knows, maybe after a few spectacular grabs there will be talk of Hollister as the No. 1 tight end by the end of the night.
Offensive tackle: Jamarco Jones
Duane Brown and Germain Ifedi shouldn’t play at all in this game, and if they do, it may only be for a series or two. So, as was the case with the QBs, Jones will get plenty of live reps to see if he’s ready to protect passers at this level. The 2017 fifth-round pick, who can play either tackle spot, was coming along nicely before suffering a season-ending injury last preseason, but judging by what I’ve seen in training camp, he’s still got some work to do. Jones is essentially a rookie offensive lineman so how he performs Thursday will show whether equipped he is to handle the freak athletes that line up on the edges in this league.
Offensive guard: Ethan Pocic
Pocic, a second-round pick in 2017, has been in the starting rotation at left guard because of injuries to Mike Iupati and rookie Phil Haynes. He’s looked fine in practice, but when it comes to Pocic, what he does in practice doesn’t matter much: He needs to show up in games. In the four games Pocic was asked to start last season — against Denver, Chicago, Kansas City and Arizona (Week 17) — Wilson was sacked a total of 21 times. This team has plenty capable guards like Jordan Simmons and Jordan Roos, in addition to Iupati and Haynes (supposedly), so if Pocic doesn’t make a good first impression Thursday it’s fair to question how long Seattle keeps that experiment going.
Defensive tackle: Nazair Jones
Jones and Pocic are in similar situations. Jones fell out of the rotation in 2018 and Seattle appears to have other capable players at that position, some of whom have surpassed him on the depth chart (Al Woods, Poona Ford, Earl Mitchell) meaning this preseason may be his last chance to make a positive impression on the coaching staff. The good news for Jones is that he’s in his third year and should handle himself fairly well against backup offensive linemen in a preseason game. That’s not saying a whole lot, I know, but so much of this game is about confidence, and if getting to the quarterback a few times and knocking a couple running backs down in the backfield has Jones playing confidently again, then that should make it easier for him to secure a roster spot.
Defensive end: Rasheem Green
The defensive end position feels so wide open that Green could make an argument for the starting unit with a monster performance Thursday. He’s got that type of potential, as we saw last preseason, it’s just a matter of staying healthy and being consistent. Green has the talent to get at least one sack and one tackle for loss in every preseason game, and that’s exactly what he needs to do when he’s matched up against second- and third-string linemen. With first-round pick L.J. Collier likely out for the entire preseason, Green will have more opportunities to be that Michael Bennett-type of hybrid Seattle drafted both him and Collier to be.
Cornerback: Akeem King
The starting slot corner spot is King’s to lose. Jamar Taylor and Kalan Reed have been playing well in practice, but I haven’t seen either of them line up with the first-team defense as often as King. The question King needs to answer is whether he’s able to stick with shifty slot receivers at 6-foot-1, 215 pounds. King’s best day as a Seahawk came in Week 16 against the Chiefs when Seattle called on him to guard tight end Travis Kelce. As impressive as that was, Kelce was moving in slow motion compared to the type of wideouts King will be covering in the slot. We’ll learn a lot about King’s potential when he takes the field Thursday night.
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Safety: Ugo Amadi
Amadi, a fourth-round pick, will likely play free safety and slot corner on Thursday, but he’s only behind Tedric Thompson on the free safety depth chart, so that’s the spot Amadi will play most in these preseason games. Once Thompson is done for the night, which will be after a few series, Amadi should get at least two quarters to hold down the back end of the defense, and it won’t take long to figure out how’s doing back there: if deep passes starting flying over the middle, then that’s probably on the rookie. The quarterbacks are going to test him, and if he responds well, then there might actually be a legit free safety competition moving forward.
Special teams: Rashaad Penny
Right now “potential” is the best word to describe the former first-round pick as a returner. He needs to be more than that. Even if Lockett starts out the game as the top kick returner (that’s a bad idea, by the way) Penny, McKissic and maybe even Amadi will get a few looks back there as well, assuming Denver puts points on the board. It honestly may be too late for Penny’s play as a running back to match his draft position but there’s still time to show he can be the explosive special teamer he was at San Diego State.
(Top photo of Geno Smith: Joseph Weiser / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
