Seahawks Tuesday training camp notes: Drew Lock is QB1 and Seattle might not look back
Seahawks Tuesday training camp notes: Drew Lock is QB1 and Seattle might not look back
8/16/2022: Injury updates on Jordyn Brooks, Rashaad Penny, Freddie Swain, and Sidney Jones IV
The Seattle Seahawks held another training camp practice on Tuesday and here is what we learned from it, two days before the next preseason game against the Chicago Bears.
The top story out of camp was the change at quarterback, but the big news after camp was Pete Carroll’s explanation for why Ken Walker III was absent from practice: Walker has a “hernia thing” and the team is being cautious with it until further notice.
It is possible now that Walker won’t be ready for Week 1 and that he could be held out longer than that. There’s no good reason to become overly concerned about this within moments of us learning that it happened and to wait until a better diagnosis is understood. However, should Walker miss action this is what makes the Seahawks running back room so valuable at this time and DeeJay Dallas is one of the best third options a team can have.
Rashaad Penny’s return to practice on Tuesday couldn’t have been better timed.
Drew Lock is ON SCHEDULE as QB1
I’ve been writing for over a month now that Drew Lock would become the QB1 and I’ve made it clear for two weeks that the plan is likely: Give Geno Smith most/all of the 1 reps through the mock game and first preseason game, then give Lock the 1 reps through the second preseason game after he’s had months to prepare to run the offense.
Now that another thing that Seaside Joe wrote is coming true, it’s like some people are saying, “Well duh, we all knew this would happen.”
What? No, I was told by many people this entire time that I was wrong and that Geno Smith was “in the lead” and on schedule to be the starter. I’m not here naming Lock the starter today, but literally it’s the exact schedule for Lock’s progression as I predicted a month ago and it would sure seem like every sign continues to point towards him starting against the Denver Broncos.
Another thing I’ve seen going around is that Tuesday was finally the day that the quarterback competition started. No, this is also wrong.
One day not long ago, Pete Carroll, Shane Waldron, Geno Smith, and Drew Lock probably all sat down and talked out a plan. Pete and Shane explained that since Geno had three years of experience, he would handle managing the first team offense in OTAs and for the first three weeks of training camp. This would help the first team offense be able to concentrate on doing their jobs without the distraction of a QB rotation and it would give Geno an opportunity to start if he looked a lot sharper than Lock through the mock game and the first preseason contest.
Then after the first preseason game, barring injury or a clear difference in quality, Lock would get his first reps as the starter ahead of the Chicago Bears game this Thursday. Therefore, NOTHING has changed since the first day of camp and Tuesday’s reps for Lock with the 1s; it’s merely the Seahawks following a schedule. The schedule that I said that they would have.
How do I know this is probably what happened?
Because neither Geno Smith nor Drew Lock have really done anything in the last week to cause this change. At least, not based on what the public is able to see. But we do know that Pete Carroll has made it clear for a long time that Seattle has a specific plan with the QB competition and I don’t understand why anyone would be surprised by Tuesday’s news that Lock is running with the 1s and that it probably indicates he will start on Thursday.
What else would the Seahawks have done? Especially at this point? As I wrote after Saturday night’s game, starting Geno Smith against the Bears would be LUNACY!
As to whether Lock is “good” or “bad” or even just “better than Geno” is completely besides the point. I was NEVER here to argue who was the better quarterback. NEVER. I have only ever done my best to deliver what I felt would be an accurate prediction/projection for how the competition would play out for Pete and I’m not too shy to say that I was correct.
Was Lock on fire during his first reps with the 1s? It doesn’t sound like it, but it’s unfair to judge any player based on a few reports of one single red zone drill. Lock was picked off at least once (by Tariq Woolen, continuing to push for playing time early in his career) and Geno Smith was apparently sharp with the second string and against the second string.
It seems like Lock had good moments and bad moments on Tuesday, but overall what matters is that he had moments with the starters and he will again on Thursday against Chicago. I’m sure of it. Then, I don’t see much reason for the Seahawks to turn back to Smith. Barring a horrible outing, Seattle has known for a long time that Lock is better suited to start and that Geno is one of the best backups in the league.
The Bears preseason squad shouldn’t challenge Lock enough for Smith to have looked dramatically better through two preseason games, so I don’t expect Seattle to switch back any time soon.
I will cover everything else that happened in Seahawks training camp on Tuesday after the paywall, including the return of several key starters from injury, updates on Abe Lucas at right tackle, and what Seattle will do with Aaron Donkor.