Jalen Milroe had a surprising start on Friday because he was finally standing in the pocket and ripping it like you’d expect of a quarterback who wants to be a regular starter. The Seahawks didn’t always get the results they wanted from those passes, but Milroe’s filmography is much more plentiful after his second preseason and now I’d be surprised if he’s not on the 53-man roster as of Sunday.
At the start of camp, our combined 53-man rosters had Milroe on them, so it wouldn’t be a huge shock to see his name on the list after the weekend.
What has been surprising since camp started?
I’ll post a few of mine. What are yours?
Jason Myers in a funk
He’s 2-of-5 on field goals and 2-of-4 on extra points.
There’s no practical reason for it. At first I asked myself, “Could he be working on something and just not care that much if he misses?”
But that explanation doesn’t hold water on Myers’ 50-yard miss on an attempt to win the game on Friday.
Then I ask, “Is Myers historically worse in the preseason?” and he’s not. Prior to this season, Myers was 32-of-36 in his previous seven preseasons. Myers did miss two extra points in the 2024 preseason, but he was 7-of-7 on field goals, including 3-of-3 beyond 50 yards.
After the game, Myers said he didn’t have an explanation for it other than it just being the life of a kicker:
Asked if there was anything to explain all the misses this month, Myers said: “I’m just working on it. I’m continuing to. I always do that, make or miss.
“I’ll keep getting the work in, watching film. Just keep getting after it.”
Is it a particular technique he’s missing? Is it a plant foot? His striking the ball? His follow-through? Myers said late Friday on his way out of Kansas City it’s just the nature of being a kicker.
“Yeah,” he said, “just happens sometimes. Just have to keep workin’.
“That’s what I’ll do.”
Some people will say “He’ll figure it out and be fine,” but I’m not about that life. It’s too confident. Instead, I’d say that Myers will probably be fine.
But Jason Myers was the least of my concerns a month ago. (Second-least maybe and Michael Dickson is definitely still great.)
The rookie class doesn’t look like they’ll help much
Aside from Jadarian Price, Seattle’s 2026 rookies are almost a complete wash compared to where the Seahawks started camp.
When we ranked all Seahawks in July, these were where some notable rookies ranked:
RB Price, 23rd
S Bud Clark, 29th (IR)
CB Julian Neal, 34th (missed most of camp)
G Beau Stephens, 41st (not starting)
WR Emmanuel Henderson, 56th (bubble)
CB Andre Fuller, 70th (practice squad bubble)
CB Michael Dansby, 78th (practice squad bubble)
DT Deven Eastern, 79th (practice squad bubble)
If you look at our projected 53-man roster this week, how many rookies make the team? Just three! Price, Neal, and Stephens.
Of course, Clark is on the roster but out for the season. Even so, he’s not helping and he was arguably going to have the best role of the entire class with how Mike Macdonald was planning to deploy him. Stephens won’t be seen this season unless something goes wrong, and Neal only just returned to practice a couple of days ago.
As of Saturday, the entire burden of getting value from the rookies this year may rest on one man and even he has missed a large chunk of camp.
And I’m not saying I told you so—nor do I have the time to find the past mentions of this in the newsletter back in March and April—but I did relay cautionary warning signs that I heard about the weakness of the 2026 draft. Especially the lack of NFL-caliber players on day three.
Surely many of you remember this and it was something I first heard on a podcast from Andrew Brandt. That the NIL had caused most of the best day three prospects to return to college, which was further emphasized recently when several players left the NFL this week to go back to college.
Now look where we are. If Andre Fuller and Michael Dansby could go back to college in 2026 and accept NIL payments…I bet they would! They’d make more money from NIL than being on Seattle’s practice squad.
I’m not even saying they’ve been horrible, but the uphill battle to make the Seahawks out of camp has only gotten steeper since the team proved to us through their actions (Terrion Arnold, Trevon Diggs) that they’re worried about the cornerback position heading into Week 1. It is not only possible that the Seahawks are on the verge of cutting half of their eight-man draft class…
It would be surprising if they didn’t.
Moreover, not a single notable undrafted rookie this year. That almost never happens. There were not a ton of signings by Seattle to begin with but none have stood out, save one return by Rashad Rochelle and some Hard Knocks highlights for Uso Seumalo. The most notable signing, Aidan Hubbard, isn’t going to make the team.
If there is any sign of life from day three, it’s Henderson, who had his best all-around performance against the Chiefs and may have just lucked into a situation where Seattle is low on receivers and returners because of injuries.
So while we entered camp thinking that the Seahawks would get a minimum of three immediate contributors from the draft class, now it feels like fans are pinning a lot of hope on Henderson just to give Seattle two.
Why did Elijah Arroyo play so many snaps?
Mike Macdonald basically sat all of Seattle’s important players during the entire preseason, and yet Arroyo never seemed to come off of the field. I’m sure it was good for him to get some of that experience after missing time in 2025, plus Brian Fleury is a new offensive coordinator who might have brought some schemes with him that Arroyo needs to prove he learned.
It’s not that I’m worried about Arroyo. He finished preseason with four catches for 86 yards and a touchdown. And like anyone else, I could make up five or six reasons explaining why Arroyo played that many snaps without it being a red flag.
But for a guy who has the potential to be the Seahawks second or third most popular target on offense one day, it was more snaps than I would have expected him to be out there for in the preseason. It was actually a lot more.
Montorie Foster fan club
It’s expected that almost every team is going to have a wide receiver fan favorite during the preseason, and he’s probably an undrafted free agent who nobody predicted would make the roster at the start of camp. Seattle’s adding to the Hall of Kasen Williams this year by anointing the next in line to be Montorie Foster, Jr..
Foster checked in 85th on our player rankings at the start of camp and made 0% of your 53-man rosters. Only five other Seahawks did that. But on the latest 53-man roster, Foster made it and got over 51% of the vote.
I’ll be fine with it if Foster makes the roster—hell, I’ll be for it—but it’s not what I’m leaning towards as far as what I think will happen.
We haven’t heard anything official yet on Tory Horton and if he’ll be placed on short-term IR on Saturday. If he’s not, it’s both one fewer available roster spot and could mean that Mike Macdonald needs to keep a receiver who returns punts, assuming Horton still misses the start of the season. That returner would not be Foster.
More likely, it would be Cody White.
What role does Foster have on the team in Week 1 if he’s kept on the 53? None. He’d be an inactive player against the Patriots. Receivers White, Henderson, and Ricky White? Far more likely to be active. Which team would claim Foster, a 2025 undrafted free agent who was out of the league for a period of time, and release one of their own players to keep him? I am not expecting that team to exist.
But a month ago, I would have not predicted we’d even be having the debate. That’s certainly an argument that Foster earned the right to have.
My comment to yesterday’s game post, was essentially what is Myers working on in preseason. But I’ll add a new thought, maybe he doesn’t trust the line. I didn’t analyze every kick but I noticed defenders crashing pretty hard off the end. That can cause a guy to rush.
If you told me the reigning champs, kept almost their entire team together, and went into the following season without giving much opportunity to start to any of their Day 3 picks, may response would be "well that sounds reasonable and a good thing". So, um, only seeing Price in line for a relative amount of snaps (because Clark and Neal are banged up) and none of the Day 3's, sounds reasonable and a good thing.
My main surprise is the lack of confidence in the secondary that JS and MM have. Or rather, if they were lacking in confidence, why it took so long to bring in guys like Diggs or Arnold to try and fix it up. I'm feeling pretty good about the rest of the team but it's definitely a worry for me.
Also i guess it shouldn't be a surprise, but Hard Knocks really is not the show it was pre-Covid. I enjoyed seeing more of the Seahawks but it's severely lacking in heart or emotion or connections. Far too polished, far too corporate, far too promotional (i am aware this is the whole point of the show these days).
Then finally, just the relative lack of drama or noise. Everyone looks pretty solid and assured that's come back. No big hypes, no big sells. Does feel like a team that's either got great confidence, or a little apprehension about trying to run it back. We'll see which it is very soon, lets go Hawks!