Seahawks turn attention to OTAs

What to watch, follow, and expect from Seattle's first offseason workout: Seaside Joe 1539

Bob Condotta and John Boyle posted “What to watch” articles about Seahawks OTAs within minutes of each other on Thursday and I can at least summarize some of the overlap:

• Jordyn Brooks and Jamal Adams won’t be there, neither has a clear timeline for when they’ll return. Both have regularly checked in for meetings via Zoom and Pete Carroll thinks “they’re in really good setups where they are” (Texas) and “there’s no rush”.

• Seattle gets their first look at all the new pieces on the defensive line including Dre’Mont Jones, Jarran Reed, Mario Edwards and rookies Mike Morris, Cameron Young, and undrafted free agent defensive tackles Robert Cooper, Jonah Tavai. The Seahawks also signed Forrest Merrill and Austin Faoliu (a tryout player), while returning Myles Adams and Bryan Mone. Carroll is “really pumped” for Edwards and says he will be “a big factor” for Seattle.

• Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Devon Witherspoon were nursing hamstring injuries during rookie minicamp and it’s unclear how much heavier their workloads will be when OTAs start on Monday.

• The Seahawks have 23 undrafted free agents and 10 rookie draft picks, so more than one-third of the roster will have no NFL experience.

I’ll go over a few other storylines that I think are worth monitoring in “What else to watch for” down at the bottom of the article.

The Seattle Seahawks offseason workout dates are May 22, May 24, May 25, May 30, June 1-2, June 6-8 (mandatory minicamp) and June 12-14. Training camp will start in late July with dates TBD.

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Training camp seems like a far ways off, but to me that signals that I only have about two months to give in-depth analysis and preparation on dozens of new members of the 2023 Seattle Seahawks—you know, that team we love???

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We’re certainly outpacing them in the amount of content you get at Seaside Joe: The Athletic, backed with $6 billion, has posted seven Seahawks articles since the end of the draft. Seaside Joe, backed with Seaside Jay and Clark, has posted 30 Seahawks articles since the end of the draft. It hasn’t even been three weeks yet.

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What else to watch for at OTAs and this offseason

Will Seahawks shake up anything at tight end?

Is Noah Fant going to be the future starting tight end or is Seattle going to hold onto Will Dissly (at a really high cap hit for a tight end who doesn’t produce much in the receiving game) in 2024? Will Colby Parkinson have a breakout campaign or is he solidified as the third option? And will undrafted free agent Noah Gindorff emerge as a favored option over Tyler Mabry, if not make it to the 53?

Dee Eskridge’s last stand

I have always been relatively patient with players, especially when the issues are related to injuries, but there’s also a very long and consistent history that “If you don’t show anything in your first two years, you probably never will”. It’s not guaranteed, the odds just keep getting lower for Eskridge as he enters year three.

Clearly, the team is ready to enter Week 1 with three receivers ahead of him on the depth chart and teams just so rarely need to lean on their fourth and fifth options at that position. Eskridge already had the fourth-most snaps of any receiver in 2022 and we barely even heard from him. Laquon Treadwell wasn’t far behind. Both both were far behind Marquise Goodwin, who had 420 snaps to Eskridge’s 168.

Geno Smith said he’s been getting in offseason workouts with Eskridge and he’ll probably have more opportunities next week because Smith-Njigba isn’t fully recovered from his hamstring woes. If Eskridge doesn’t provide enough value as a receiver this season, where will his value even come from? He’s got to compete with Dareke Young, a key special teamer, as well as Cade Johnson, who had 44 snaps in the wild card game against the 49ers.

Inside Linebacker Depth

It’s a big deal to find out who will be the main backup to Bobby Wagner and Devin Bush, as both are in stages of their careers where nothing is guaranteed long-term. Wagner is one of the oldest linebackers in the league, Bush was benched by Mike Tomlin late in the 2022 season. Of course, Brooks won’t be on the field for quite some time.

The competition comes down to Jon Rhattigan, Vi Jones, and undrafted rookies Cam Bright and Patrick O’Connell. Bright had a relatively big signing bonus among Seattle’s UDFA class. Jones was one of the top UDFA rookies on the Seahawks last year and has a lot of athleticism. Rhattigan brings experience.

We’ll see what we’re able to find out in a week after the Seahawks have run a few of their first practices of 2023, so remember: Subscribe, Support, and Share so that we can beat big media. Preview the Jaxon Smith-Njigba article above if you are a Regular Joes member or join us if you aren’t!