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A strong day from Geno Smith, an inaccurate day for Sam Howell, and a return to Seahawks duties for Marquise Blair.
The Seattle Seahawks wrapped up their third day of training camp practices (and their second in front of fans). Two weeks from Friday, they’ll be on a plane to Los Angeles for their preseason opener against Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers.
Here’s a recap of all the news, notes, and everything else worth seeing and knowing on this last Friday before August.
In a surprise move, the Seahawks reunited with 2019 second-round pick Marquise Blair. The safety has had three serious injuries dating back to 2020, and he’s scarcely played since the Seahawks waived him in 2022. Jonathan Sutherland garnered a fair bit of preseason hype last year but didn’t make the team, and now Blair’s arrival means Sutherland has once again been let go.
Dre’Mont Jones leaves practice early
Our first bit of injury news from training camp comes courtesy of Dre’Mont Jones. The veteran defensive lineman is expected to move to outside linebacker this year, having dropped 10-20 pounds this offseason. An apparent collision with another player resulted in Jones exiting practice, but thankfully it doesn’t look to be calamitous.
DE Dre'Mont Jones collided with a teammate in middle of the field at end of a play in 11-on-11. Finished the series, stayed out the rest of the practice. Walked off the field with ice wrap on his leg. Didn't appear too serious. Could get tomorrow off since #Seahawks off Sunday
Baker just came off of the PUP list, whereas Fant has gotten veteran rest days throughout the various camps.
-George Fant has gotten occasional veteran rest days, and today appeared as though it may have been one (we didn't hear from Mike Macdonald afterwards, so no official injury updates). Seattle has moved McClendon Curtis from RG to RT to back up Fant, so he's the next man up there.
Keeping in mind we haven’t had padded practices yet, the Seahawks starting quarterback had an impressive day, of which there’s no footage we can show you due to the restrictions on filming practice.
Day 3 of Seahawks camp:
-Geno Smith continued to look sharp. In addition to his trademark accuracy, his decision-making and timing stand out -- particularly compared to Sam Howell. He hit DK Metcalf for several big plays, including an early TD on a deep throw over Tre Brown.
Here’s what Geno had to say in his press conference regarding the offense’s development in Ryan Grubb’s new system.
“It’s a work in progress, we’re only three days into camp,” Smith said. “Like I said we got a long way to go. There can be no complacency in this group, and I don’t see that. Everyone’s got to continue to push themselves and try to get better every single day. That’s the reason we’re out here, that’s the reason for training camp. You want to build up to the season, you shouldn’t be at your best right now. But, I do feel like we’re at a really good spot, and like I said we just got to push each other every day. We got to go in there and watch the film, clean up the things, the mistakes that we had on the field today, and take practice tomorrow with a vengeance, with a purpose, and try and get better.”
Sam Howell struggling with accuracy
According to Gregg Bell, it’s been a tough training camp thus far for new Seahawks backup QB Sam Howell. If you wanted/expected a competition between Howell and Smith, you’re not getting one. Bell has described Howell’s outings as “almost alarmingly inaccurate.”
Friday was Howell’s worst day yet. He threw a back-shoulder stop-route pass down the right sideline 5 yards wide right of Dareke Young. The ball skidded off the Boeing logo painted on the grass far off the sideline boundary. Howell overthrew leaping 6-4 receiver Jake Bobo by 5 feet on a 10-yard route across the middle. In the red-zone scrimmage that ended the practice, Howell threw well wide right again on the right sideline, that time with Easop Winston Jr. the intended receiver. Then Howell fired well over 6-3 Cody White through the back center of the end zone.
It’s still early. We’ll find out more about Howell in preseason, when he presumably takes a majority of the snaps.
Byron Murphy and Tyrice Knight start in 11-on-11 drills
A pair of Seahawks rookies assumed starting roles in practice. Murphy II will be a key part of Seattle’s interior defensive line, whereas Knight will be looking for inside linebacker snaps behind starters Jerome Baker and Tyrel Dodson. With no Baker on the field, Knight had the opportunity to get first-team reps in, something he hadn’t done earlier in the offseason.
Also new from new coach Mike Macdonald & staff: Each day early in camp practice #Seahawks defensive players rotate thru 3 stations of drills: “wrap and punch,” tackling angles and pursuit out of change of direction. @thenewstribune pic.twitter.com/RTaZT6Vpjo
As ever, the Seahawks offensive line will undergo significant changes.
Seattle Seahawks training camp is underway! This is the first one under new head coach Mike Macdonald, and there are a lot of questions we hope to have answered regarding Macdonald, his staff, and the overall roster. Over the next several days we will have key questions across every position, with the exception of the all-encompassing special teams.
This article will focus on the offensive line. If there was ever a unit that could’ve yielded more than three questions, it’s this one. At some point in our lifetimes we’ll be reasonably confident that the Seahawks will have a stable, above-average offensive line.
Offensive Line roster (as of Jul. 26):
Seahawks.com
Are we going to see Abe Lucas practice at all?
This has to be the top question if only because of Lucas’ value to the Seahawks offensive line. After a more than solid rookie season, Lucas missed most of last year with a knee issue that has prompted an in-season procedure and an offseason surgery.
Lucas entered training camp on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, and unlike many of his teammates, he hasn’t yet passed a physical to get himself activated off PUP.
“We’re trying to get there was fast as we can,” Coach Mike Macdonald said on Wednesday. “I think it’d be fair to say that we were hoping to go a little faster up to this point. We’re in the process of bringing him back and we have a plan for him, but can’t tell you right now when exactly he’ll be back. As those things start to become clearer, we’ll let you know for sure. We’re not trying to pull a fast one on you.”
There’s no real indication that we’ll be seeing Lucas back any time soon, but it’s the first week of camp and perhaps he’ll return in the middle of preseason. If not, then we’ll immediately start wondering if he’ll be a PUP candidate to miss the first four regular season games.
The big difference between no Lucas last year and no Lucas this year is the depth at right tackle. George Fant has been a serviceable starter since his unexpected call-up as a Seahawks rookie back in 2016. Stone Forsythe, Jake Curhan, and Jason Peters tried, but the offense was fundamentally different when they were in the lineup. It’ll be interesting to see if McClendon Curtis turns into a guard/tackle option given his reps in camp, and then you have rookies Michael Jerrell and Sautoa Laumea as potential options, even if Laumea could end up primarily as a guard.
But with all due respect to those backup options, having a healthy Lucas back is a game-changer for Seattle’s OL, and hopefully Lucas’ return is sooner rather than later/never.
Who’s going to be the Center of attention?
Seattle has had zero continuity at the center position since Justin Britt’s ACL tear in 2019. Ethan Pocic won the job in 2020, then had to compete with Kyle Fuller in 2021, Austin Blythe took over the reins in 2022 and then retired, and Evan Brown wasn’t retained this past season. In steps Olu Oluwatimi as the presumptive favorite to be the 2024 starter... or will it be former Cleveland Browns reserve Nick Harris? What if it’s neither?
As of Friday, the Seahawks have not signed former Miami Dolphins starting center Connor Williams, but he could join the fold. Williams passed a physical after meeting with Seattle on Tuesday, good news after tearing his ACL last December. When healthy, Williams was one of the better centers in the NFL, making a successful transition from left guard (where he played when he was a Dallas Cowboy). The fact that he’s torn both ACLs is worrying, but it’s encouraging that he’s recovered sooner than expected from this last tear.
Williams is still just 27 years old, so if the Seahawks add him and he wins the starting job, it’s not a “faded veteran getting in the way of the development of a young player” signing. It’s a “he’s damn good and theoretically in his prime years” signing to boost the Seahawks OL immediately.
Who will be the new starting guards?
Damien Lewis is with the Carolina Panthers, while Phil Haynes is still unsigned. Seattle will enter Week 1 with an entirely different interior offensive line than last year.
The Seahawks may have found one Haynes to replace another. Christian Haynes was an outstanding right guard on a bad UConn Huskies team, and the Seahawks were able to land him in the third round. He’ll be in competition with second-year player Anthony Bradford, who did make 10 starts last season in place of Phil Haynes. It feels more than notable that Haynes has not had any first-team reps throughout camp, even after Bradford missed time with injury.
Left guard is fascinating. Laken Tomlinson did not fare well during his time with the New York Jets, but made the Pro Bowl in his final season with the San Francisco 49ers. His biggest asset is his durability, having not missed a game since 2017. Whether he’s the best option at left guard is a different story, but history proves he shows up for work.
One other possibility we could see is moving Christian Haynes to left guard (where he took some reps in minicamp) and leave Bradford at right guard. In this scenario, Tomlinson would presumably fail to make the roster. McClendon Curtis is another name to keep an eye on given his right guard/right tackle work this offseason, along with the aforementioned Sautoa Laumea as another RG option.
If I were to guess the starting OL for Week 1, it would look like this:
Charles Cross-Laken Tomlinson-Connor Williams-Anthony Bradford-George Fant
We’ll speed this up so that the entire defense is accounted for by the mock game on Aug. 3. The next preview will focus on the defensive line, including interior players and edge rushers.
Seattle swapped safeties ahead of Friday’s training camp practice.
Welcome back, Marquise Blair.
The 2019 second-round pick has returned to the Seattle Seahawks following Thursday’s workout. Blair was not on an NFL regular season roster last year after most recently spending time on the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad. The former Utah safety had two season-ending knee injuries in three seasons with the Seahawks and has had limited playing time since he was let go by Seattle in 2022.
ESPN’s Brady Henderson notes that Blair, who was released by the Eagles last April with a non-football injury (NFI) designation, suffered an Achilles tear. That means that Blair has had a torn ACL, Achilles tear, and a patellar tendon injury since 2020.
To make room for Blair, who will wear No. 13 during camp, Seattle released fellow safety Jonathan Sutherland, one of the brighter preseason players last season. The undrafted free agent was waived with an injury settlement as a rookie and returned to the Seahawks with expectation that he’d compete for a roster spot, but now he’s once again off the team.
The Olympics are here, and fans are in the stands again!
Bonjour! C’est décontracté vendredi, the open thread where we venture outside Seattle Seahawks discussion and go off-topic.
Technically, the Paris Olympics began on Wednesday with group stage action from men’s soccer. The opening ceremony is today (10:30 am on NBC/Peacock, for anyone interested) and we’ll have our first Summer Olympics with fans in the stands since Rio 2016.
So with that in mind, how much of the Olympics are you planning to watch? What sports do you watch when it’s Olympics time? And are there any sports you only watch when it’s the Olympics? Should breakdancing be an Olympic sport, and can you breakdance? (This may impact your answer)
I’ll pretty much always tune in for swimming, basketball, table tennis, and some of the gymnastics. I’m biased and am most looking forward to track and field, of which I’ll be covering some of it for SBNation.com. In fact, I have already done a preview of the men’s 100 meters. I truly believe this could be one of the greatest meets we’ve ever seen, with historic performances across multiple disciplines. This is my first time covering any Olympics for a major outlet, and I can’t wait for the track and field portion to begin on Aug. 2.
Anyway, what’s on your docket? Let us know in the comments section!
Let the games begin!
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Consider them prerequisites to entering the next era?
Not 12 facts? Not “12 things to know to properly enjoy the ‘24 Seattle Seahawks”? Not “12 memories to cherish as a new era begins, 12 years after 2012”?
Cool it, Twelves. It was a long, glorious, ceremonious, iffy, then abruptly unceremonious 14 years with Pete Carroll. It’s ok for the list to be 14 items long instead of 12. It’s ok, I promise.
Typing out the number fourteen really does put into focus how long ago Carroll’s rookie season is, and how some of that 2010 lore might already feel like ancient history to some readers. While I yell at them get off my lawn, you can start without me.
In the old regime, rookie seasons didn’t mean everything.Richard Sherman didn’t start until Week 8 in a game the Seahawks lost 34-12, Tyler Lockett was a mere kick returner at first, and Golden Tate had a whopping 227 yards receiving his first year. Didn’t even score once, unless you count the maple bar.
Remains true as we turn the page. Players get better with experience. Not everybody hits the ground running like Justin Jefferson or Aaron Donald. Geno Smith is the best local example of a player putting together a surprising second act. Nothing is decided for any young Seahawk. Mike Macdonald and John Schneider have said as much without saying those exact words out loud; you just gotta listen to their actions.
Spoiler: might seem like a long list already-occurred events is just a chance to revisit the highlights of a recent past. But it’s kinda not. Everything here is secretly a glimpse into a future that promises to be different and unknown, yet also somehow comforting and familiar — to anyone who lets themselves be informed by the last 14 years.
At first, Carroll and Schneider tweaked the roster like they were getting paid by the transaction. It’s well documented that the Seahawks FO executed 284 roster moves in their first year on the job. In a 2024 context, remember PCJS spent a season deciding against aging playmakers Lofa Tatupu, David Hawthorne and Marcus Trufant, while keeping stars if they were still in their prime (Brandon Mebane and Chris Clemons), and re-assigning miscast players (Red Bryant!).
Those were the first steps in fashioning an innovative defense with hunger, athleticism, brashness, glue and youth. See what I mean about history being what happens next, not long ago?
Tyler Lockett was once WR1.No, not on the Seahawks. For the entire league. It sits beyond statistical dispute that in 2018, he was the very best/efficient receiver in all of professional football.
His 13.8 yards/target was 2.8 yards beyond Mike Evans at 11.0;
Had a 158.3 passer rating when targeted, first time that had happened since 2002 to any WR with more than 15 catches;
Posted the highest DVOA for a receiver, ever. In fact, it was higher than the second-place AND third-place WR put together.
And his 81.4 catch rate was second in the league. (Michael Thomas, whose targets were six yards shorter on average, finished first.)
Plus, zero drops. Yeah, zero. Lockett staying home for every Pro Bowl of his remarkable career is one of the all-time snubs in NFL history.
Darrell Bevell did nothing wrong. Not even that one time. Bevell spent 2012 talking Pete Carroll into implementing the read-option before it was cool, and more crucially, before defenses solved it. He quickly recognized that Russell Wilson was especially deceptive in handoffs and play action. Then, later, Bevell called a pass play on THAT PLAY, because history told him it wouldn’t end in a pick.
Bev didn’t push for a handoff from the 1, and do you know why? Partly because for in 36 total tries from one yard out, Lynch had only scored 15 times. In the 2014 season itself, he was stopped four out of five times in such circumstances.
Forget the clock situation. Nothing was less automatic than putting the ball in Lynch’s hands.
“Should’ve handed it to Marshawn” became true once the play was over, sure, but was not true — not remotely true — before the play began. And guess when Bevell had to make the decision?
Meanwhile, sandwiched around THAT PLAY, the 2012-2015 Seattle offenses finished top ten in yards per play, every year. The year Bevell was fired (after 2017), the Seahawks had just finished leading the league in second-half scoring. No, you read that right. They led the league in points scored after halftime.
They won actual shootouts. On a Pete Carroll team? Yes, on a Pete Carroll team. Steelers in 2015. Texans in 2017. Chiefs in 2018.
Seattle 39, Pittsburgh 30
Seattle 41, Houston 38 (last play! where was this every other season?)
Seattle 38, Kansas City 31 (you know I can’t pass up this flawless moonball)
The 2013 team was not dominant. Okay okay okay, on Feb. 2, 2014, the Seahawks dominated the Denver Broncos until PETA sued them for animal cruelty.
But the eventual champion Seahawks weren’t much better than the 2013 San Francisco 49ers, with whom they split two games and saw the third one come down to an end-zone throw. (Which got picked off, in case you’re joining us now after a 14-year coma.)
The franchise’s lone Super Bowl title came after Seattle earlier:
Needed four goal-line stops in four plays to preserve a 14-9 win in St. Louis after the offense managed 135 yards and seven first downs total;
Needed last-minute heroics to win in Carolina and Houston;
Blew a chance to secure the top seed in Week 16 at home;
Fumbled an onside kick in the divisional round, giving the Saints one last chance to tie.
That 2013 team will forever be remembered for XLVIII’s four-hour coronation, as they fucking should, but a lot of things had to go right just for them to be there in the first place.
Jimmy Graham is the most productive tight end in Seahawks history. Not for just a season, but for ANY three-year stretch in franchise lore. Despite tearing his patellar 11 games in.
Graham’s Seahawks career: 170-2048-18, 108 first downs, 7.7 yds/target and 64.2 catch rate.
Next closest, John Carlson: 137-1519-13, 75 first downs, 6.9 yds/tgt and 62.0 catch rate.
Zach Miller? Posted 96-1016-8 in his best three years and lower numbers in the other categories too. Maybe Miller’s a better overall player than the other two, but when it comes to pure production, Graham has had no peer.
Feels like a good place to mention he owns the franchise records for catches, yards and TDs too. And Pro Bowl appearances (2).
Fair or not, Tom Cable is the most despised Seattle sports figure ever. Scientifically accurate, as tested by the BeastPode March Maddening bracket in 2019. (Disclaimer: Mariners owner John Stanton was not in the bracket, and definitely would compete in any redo.) Here’s the final four:
Cable easily dispatched Erik Bedard, then Chone Figgins to “win.”
Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril were criminally underrated, by everyone. Pundits, fans, reporters, me, and probably you too. Not by Tom Brady, or Colin Kaepernick, however.
The following play is memorized by all Field Gulls readers, so how about glancing at it again from a different angle?
Maybe you knew this already, but check out how Avril bullrushes the Niners’ right tackle all the way into Kaep’s lap. Result: a slightly rushed throw. We’ll never know if the ball gets over Sherman’s fingertips without Avril’s pressure. Probably. Maybe. Thankfully, that parallel universe is lost to us forever.
Without Cliff Avril the Seahawks don’t reach XLVIII, and with him they win XLIX. Granted, you could say that about several different Seahawks and their contributions at various times of the season and title games, but the point is you can say it about him too, and almost nobody ever does.
The Brady link? Just a little quote from 2016: “If he [Michael Bennett] isn’t the best defensive player in the league, I don’t know who is.”
Never, ever, never ever hold out the football exposed in an effort to cross the plane, against the Seahawks.And even holding it close might not help either.
If there’s anything to remember about the past 14 years, it’s that before those kinds of plays disappeared entirely, they happened routinely. They’re not just feel-good, they’re emblematic of a quitless defense whose superheroes never quit until their bodies did.
Seattle’s homefield advantage used to be legendary before it went poof.About the same time the jaw-dropping plays stopped happening, too. So maybe the Clink-Lumen downturn is driven by talent, but the numbers tell a story regardless.
If you remove the Covid year with empty stands, the Seahawks are 27-22 since 2017. They’re not even averaging five home victories a year. Getting that fortressy feel back to Sodo would go a long ways toward opening a new window of contention in the new era about to kick off.
Kam Chancellor is one of a kind, ever. Shutdown corners like Richard Sherman will rise and fall; impossibly rangy safeties like Earl Thomas will re-appear; another Bobby Wagner type enters the league every few years. But the Chancellor Concoction of speed, smarts, versatility, leadership and raw primal violence will never be cooked again, not with that exact same recipe. It just won’t.
Some players do things like send Vernon Davis home crying, pick-six Cam Newton to ice a playoff game, relieve Megatron of the ball at the goal line, and cover Rob Gronkowski one-on-one on in the end zone with no time on the clock. It’s just not ever the same player.
Despite being a running back, Marshawn Lynch mattered.Don’t believe this requires further explanation from anyone except Beast Mode himself.
Looking for the next Kam, the next Marshawn, the next Pete — at best, those are quixotic quests. Not everythingold gets to be new again, and that’s ok too.
The Pro Bowl safety will stay in Seattle for a while, and he spoke to the media about his new deal.
The Seattle Seahawks have officially given safety Julian Love a three-year extension this week.
Occasionally these types of negotiations get done in the days leading up to training camp, and it has now happened for the locker-room favorite Pro Bowl safety.
After showing minimal interest in keeping many of the defensive players from last season, head coach Mike Macdonald has now retained - Leonard Williams technically being a free agent signing - two starters from the ‘23 defense for three more years apiece.
Macdonald spoke about the contract at Thursday afternoon’s press conference.
”I like a lot about his game. Just really excited for him. I think it’s a shout out to him and the type of person that he is. The type of football player, definitely the type of guy that we want here. Just excited for him, he’s worked his tail off and hopefully he’s found a home here in Seattle for a long time.”
That “type of guy” might refer both to Love’s personality but also his positional flexibility, which was utilized a little bit last season but will likely be even more prominent in 2024. Love now has significant experience at both free and starting safety, and fits perfectly with the ability to move around the backfield that Macdonald values.
From his own perspective, Love shared about the ability to stay in Seattle, after signing the biggest contract of his career (via Seahawks.com):
“It’s huge, it means everything,” Love said after signing his contract with his wife, Julia, and son, Noah at his side. “I think my career has been defined by having a lot of patience, just taking ahold of every opportunity that I’ve had, and just trying to stay as productive and consistent as I can. This is a culmination of all of that, so I’m extremely proud.
“I just try to be productive as I can in every opportunity I’ve been given, and that’s the story of my career I feel like. I was taking a chance on myself, but when in doubt I always bet on myself.”
Love has played only on his rookie contract, and a two-year deal with the Seahawks, capping out around $8 million. This new $12 million/year mark is a big raise and some big stability for him.
This now adds to the very small nucleus of high-profile defensive players that are set to be part of Macdonald’s core beyond 2025. That list includes Love, Williams, Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen (if ‘24 resembles ‘22 and not ‘23) and presumably Byron Murphy.
By the way, after officially signing the deal, Julian Love had a good day at practice.
#Seahawks 2nd training-camp practice ends with Pro Bowl S Julian Love’s diving interception of Geno Smith while cutting off an out route by Jaxon Smith-Njigba—then Love making some fans happy.
In Today’s Links: Stacy Jo Rost answers some of our most pressing questions, Seattle Seahawks coaches working on headsets to get used to gameday situations; takeaways, takeaways, takeaways, and more! Yall happy we re-signed Julian Love? What kind of influence do you think Julian Love will have on our new squad? What kind of role do you think he will play on the defense? Exciting times. One day closer to preseason action. Thanks for being here. Less Goo!
Predicting the top 10 offenses of 2024 | Football 301 - Yahoo Sports On this inaugural episode of Football 301, Yahoo Sports NFL analysts Nate Tice, Matt Harmon & Charles McDonald look ahead to the 2024 season and try to predict which teams will finish in the top ten of DVOA rankings by the end of the year.
The Seahawks brought in a familiar face for a visit.
Could a recent draft pick find himself back in a Seattle Seahawks uniform?
As part of Thursday’s training camp practice, the Seahawks brought in (among others) safety Marquise Blair for a workout (first reported by Corbin Smith). Blair has not been on an NFL active roster since a handful of games with the Carolina Panthers in 2022.
Blair was drafted in the second round by the Seahawks back in 2019, but between on-field performance and serious injuries (including an ACL tear in 2020 and a patellar tendon rupture in 2021) it never really worked out for the former Utah star. Seattle waived released Blair during the 2022 preseason. He eventually signed with the Panthers practice squad, appearing in three games before he was released midseason.
After his Panthers stint, Blair signed with the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad, but never played a regular season down. The Eagles released Blair last offseason with a Non-Football Injury designation.
It’s worth emphasizing that this is just a workout and not a sign that a signing is imminent. Even if he does sign, he’s a longshot to make the roster just off of his history.
Generally, ticket purchases, selling tickets, and to manage and/or sell season tickets, can be done through the NFL Ticket Exchange that is facilitated by Ticketmaster. Additionally, other viable outlets for ticket sales are available. Additionally, NFL schedule, specific team schedule, and playoff tickets are provided by third party ticket outlets.
The NFL is different from other major sports leagues in that most of its games are televised not on cable channels but on free over-the-air networks like Fox, CBS, and NBC, although some of these arrangements could be updated from time to time. That said, it could still take some effort to search for good deals offering an NFL live stream suited to a particular budget and might entail using a mobile app over a streaming broadcast for a wide screen television set. While it could prove challenging to find an NFL live stream portal for completely free viewing during an entire season, including playoffs, here are some options that might suit certain needs.
