How Steve Smith ended up being a ref at the Seahawks mock game

In the Seahawks mock game, former NFL receiver Steve Smith was part of the referee crew: Seaside Joe 1649

One of my favorite videos of the offseason is this special posted by the NFL (which means that I’m not allowed to embed it for some stupid reason) in which former Panthers receiver Steve Smith learns what it’s like to be a referee by following a crew at Seattle Seahawks training camp. Smith goes through practice reps, then actively participated with the referee crew during the Seahawks mock game last month.

The video not only shows a different side of Seattle’s mock game, but insight into the challenges of being a referee and never getting to be “the good guy”. I just wish that NFL let people embed YouTube videos because it looks better on the page that way and I think people click “PLAY” buttons more often than they click links like the one above.

The player who catches the most criticism from Smith is cornerback Chris Steele, which is probably a tougher pill to swallow because Steele didn’t even make the Seahawks practice squad. If playing football doesn’t workout, maybe Steele can learn how to be referee.

More Seahawks links below…

Last Chance: Survivor League, Fantasy Football League

One final reminder before the official Week 1 picks email goes out to Regular Joes: Sign-up for Seaside Joe’s Survivor League! Winner gets at least a lifetime membership into the Regular Joes club.

Seasider Dewhub was kind enough to create a Fantasy Football League for anyone who is interested in doing a last minute league with other Seahawks fans in this community. The league needs at least 9 sign-ups this morning to assure that it’s active enough for everyone to have a fun season. We know this is late notice, but let’s see if this community can string one together at the last minute because it would be fun to follow during the season. If not, no problem and I’ll plan ahead next season.

Seaside Joe community fantasy football league

12-team ESPN PPR Fantasy League has been created. The link to join is HERE. I tentatively set the draft for 8pm PST on 9/6/23 but it will not proceed if we do not have enough sign-ups one-hour before.

John Schneider talks offseason, secondary

See what I mean about embedding videos? Ain’t that better?

Something interesting in this video is that Schneider was asked which unit had improved the most and he said the defensive backfield. Schneider mentioned mentioned seven names. The only players he didn’t acknowledge by name were Jerrick Reed, Kyu Blu Kelly, and…Jamal Adams.

Steve Wyche and Mark Sanchez high on Geno Smith

Michael Penix Jr breakdown by The QB School

Both quarterbacks in Washington State—UW’s Michael Penix Jr and WSU’s Cameron Ward—could be special.

It’s going to be a fascinating year in college football for the 2024 and 2025 class of quarterbacks. The list will shrink considerably between now and April, but right now the number of intriguing quarterbacks for next year’s draft is at least a dozen, if not twice that many. If there are even five left for the first round in 2024, it’ll be a historic number. That doesn’t seem improbable right now.

Dan Viens talks depth chart

Something I didn’t cover on Seaside Joe, so might as well let Dan do some of the work around here for free.

Seaside? Say Side!

Don’t forget that if you see Seaside Joe mentioned on another Seahawks website, forum, or social media, please let me know. Even if it’s you doing the mentioning!

One final reminder before the official Week 1 picks email goes out to Regular Joes: Sign-up for Seaside Joe’s Survivor League! Winner gets at least a lifetime membership into the Regular Joes club.

Seahawks record predictions (not many believers)

CBS Sports (John Breech): 8-9

NFC West bold prediction: Seahawks tumble back to earth. After watching the Seahawks make the playoffs last season, I'm predicting that things fall apart this year. I'm not saying things are going to completely fall apart like they did for the Cardinals, who went from making the playoffs in 2021 to being one of the worst teams in the NFL last season, but I am saying that I don't expect the Seahawks to get back to the playoffs. My biggest concern is Geno Smith and the fact that he started to fade down the stretch last season. Although Geno was spectacular early in the year, I think the Geno that we saw during the second half of the 2022 season is the one we're going to see in 2023.  

ProFootballTalk

4 of 5 writers have the Seahawks making the playoffs as wild card, none have Seattle winning a playoff game.

SI.com

Betting the under on 9.5 wins.

NFL.com

Second-most popular pick for a wild card position.

ESPN FPI

27% chance to win NFC West, 54% to make playoffs, 8.7 projected wins

What do the Seahawks do the best?

Cover. This is a projection based more on how strong the Seahawks' secondary looks now than how that group played last season. It was solid in 2022. Seattle's defense finished with the third-lowest opponent Total QBR (49) but also allowed 53 pass plays of at least 20 yards, tied for eighth most. It should be better in 2023, especially at cornerback. Seattle drafted Devon Witherspoon at No. 5 and could see a jump from Riq Woolen, who made the Pro Bowl as a rookie last year in his third full season at the position. -- Brady Henderson

ESPN ran a simulation with the Seahawks finishing 10-7 and losing a tiebreaker in the NFC West to the 49ers, then beating the Panthers in the wild card round. Seattle then went on the road to face the top-seeded Vikings, but lost 23-16.

In Fake World.

Peter King

The 6 seed.

The Ringer Bold Predictions

The Seahawks win the NFC West. (Sheil Kapadia)

OK, the real elephant in the room: Are they really better than the 49ers? Maybe. San Francisco is favored to win the division and understandably so. The Niners are loaded with talent. But their quarterback two-deep is Brock Purdy and Sam Darnold—one guy with eight career starts coming off an elbow injury and another guy who’s been one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL over the past five seasons.

If Purdy stays healthy, and his performance last season wasn’t a mirage, the 49ers have a legitimate Super Bowl ceiling. But I think they’re a high-variance team, and I think the Seahawks have enough to challenge them for—and take—the NFC West crown.

Share Seaside Joe with other Seahawks fans to kick off the season. Can we reach 2,600 total subscribers by Sunday? We’re almost there!