Seahawks-Packers practice takeaways
Seahawks offense and defense both strong against Green Bay; Seattle to rest starters on Saturday
From reports coming out of their joint practice against the Packers on Thursday, it sounds like the Seahawks were so dominant that the NFL should maybe start them with 0.5 wins to start the season. And that’s mostly what I’m getting from tweets by Green Bay reporters.
Here are 4 of the biggest storylines (about football) that happened on Thursday:
“Darnold to JSN” looks like its already in year 2
Defense locks down Jordan Love in red zone drill
Walker, Oluwatimi, Cross all practiced in full
TEs shine for both teams
And if you think I’m forgetting something that was “the biggest story of the day”, it probably wasn’t about football.
Packers beat calls Seahawks offense “strong”
Most of what I’ve gathered is that the Seahawks were “strong” and “crisp” on offense on Thursday and that could be somewhat related to the return of several key players, including Charles Cross and Kenneth Walker. New offensive coordinator hires tend to need time to get the starters accustomed to their operation, especially with a guy like Klint Kubiak who could up the game for pre-snap motion and the number of different possible route combinations.
Darnold pick
One well-covered misstep was this interception by Sam Darnold. He does appear to forget about the safety screaming in from the middle of the field for a ball that had a little too much hangtime.
Sequence:
That reference to a Cooper Kupp slip will not be the first time. The Seahawks might not have brought the right shoes to Green Bay.
JSN exceptional
Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught 100 passes for 1,130 yards on 137 targets last season and that was sharing the ball with DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. If JSN maintains a 73% catch rate and gets 40 more targets than last season, that would amount to 129 catches this year. Based on camp and expectations for the Kubiak offense, why not?
Shaq Griffin day
I didn’t see 100% positivity about Griffin’s day, but all in all a strong showing from a player considered to be one of Seattle’s weaknesses on defense.
Kenneth Walker availability
Charbonnet running
Walker was somewhat challenged by Mike Macdonald this week to show up or risk losing carries to Zach Charbonnet, if not the starting gig. It is probably unlikely that Walker plays a full 17-game season, so Charbonnet could have a big year either way. I know Walker’s name will come up as a trade candidate to some folks, but I think the Seahawks are happy to have both as insurance for the other.
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A.J. Barner power
Elijah Arroyo one hand
More reasons to expect that aside from JSN, the next-best receiving weapons on the team could be at tight end. Though the Seahawks have been criticized for not having a “Justin Jefferson” type of number one weapon, I would challenge those people to name offenses that have better depth once you get to their number 3, 4, 5, 6 options in the passing game. From Kupp to Arroyo and Tory Horton, it’s deep.
Defense: job done
(He meant to say Musgrave, not Barner obviously.)
The fact that Love (who has a cast on his left, non-throwing hand) went 3-of-12 and Seattle broke up four of those nine incompletions is arguably an even bigger story than anything the Seahawks did on offense. Here’s a sequence:
“Seahawks defense looked like a top-10 unit”. Macdonald is hoping/expecting top-3.
Fumble: Recovered
Competition not over
The Seahawks are not calling it over for competitions at center and right guard. Macdonald said after practice that those decisions will be finalized next week although it seems probable that Anthony Bradford is the right guard. Jalen Sundell has been getting so much work in with the starters with Olu out that we can’t be sure yet if that’s solidifying his place (he was praised for good play last Friday) or if he’s out of necessity. So even though I know many of us think Sundell is the starter, it’s too early to call it.
Cross Back
Macdonald said after practice that Tyrice Knight is also cleared to start working out again, but Mike Morris left practice and is getting something checked out.
Field slippery
Here’s Julian Love slipping on a Luke Musgrave catch.
TE defense problems?
The Seahawks may have given up more than they got when it comes to tight ends in the passing game. Kraft was one of the top tight ends in the league last year, so that’s not a surprise, but Musgrave only had 45 yards in seven games. Musgrave was a second round pick though, so Green Bay is probably expecting big seasons by both of them.
Malik Willis sighting
I just can’t let certain people live down the fact that they said the Seahawks should/would/could draft Willis with the ninth overall pick in 2022. Sounds like Willis had a nice practice and that’s good news for him going into his fourth season.
Not a blowout / Not all good on defense
The 2s give up a 3
Jalen Milroe will play entire preseason finale
Don’t take this as a sign that Milroe “could now go out there and win the backup job” because this news is literally the opposite of that. Macdonald is preserving Drew Lock to be ready for Week 1 as the backup quarterback and giving Milroe an opportunity to get all the reps in before he goes into semi-hibernation for the rest of the year.
I’ve said this a lot, but it seems like it has to be said again:
Sam Darnold, starter
Drew Lock, the backup (yes he’s active on game days)
Jalen Milroe, will be a third string player who is occasionally used in games as a gadget/weapon/runner/wildcat
Lock will not be the “emergency third QB”. Milroe will not be the backup in the near future unless something goes wrong with Lock or Darnold. That’s also fine and has been the plan since the draft. There’s no reason to need more than that from him this year or think it’s critical to assume he’s not ready to be the backup or the starter. It’s very good and exciting that Seattle’s QB3 could actually become a starter one day. Just not right now (unless it’s Saturday’s preseason game).
Seaside Joe 2362
I really like where our team is at right now. We just seem to have each other's backs. There's also this desire to impose our will on others that's been missing for some time but appears to be back. I'm really digging the direction we're heading. Now...GO, FIGHT, WIN! Or just go win, I think we've got the fighting part down.
I do wonder if the team would be better served by having Walker as the #2. Charbonnet seldom gets injured and skill wise they are different. But both very good. Wear the defense down and use walker’s speed when they are tired. I fear he will be banged up again unless the team manages him.