Seahawks-Vikings recap: Drew Lock shines in first opportunity in almost a year

The standouts, the big plays, and how the depth chart was impacted: Seaside Joe 1622

A little over 17 months after acquiring him in the Russell Wilson trade, the Seattle Seahawks learned more about Drew Lock in Thursday night’s preseason opener against the Minnesota Vikings than they probably did until any other day before it. What did the Seahawks learn about Lock?

At worst, he looks like a very good backup. At best, Lock was able to play three quarters in a game, after almost 12 months off, and prove that one day he’ll get a chance to start again. Whether it’s in Seattle or somewhere else.

The Seahawks start the preseason 1-0 with a 24-13 win over the Vikings, with Seattle’s quarterbacks combining to complete 21-of-28 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. There were standouts, lots of them, so keep reading all the way until the end, which is also where the answer to today’s pop quiz is…

Pop Quiz Hotshot: What is the Seahawks preseason record under Pete Carroll? What was their record in 2022?

I am not going to waste much more time because I know you want the GOODS: What happened, who stood out in a positive way or in a negative way, how could the depth chart be impacted by Thursday’s game?

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As I see it…

Jonathan Sutherland > Jerrick Reed II

As I see it, undrafted free agent Jonathan Sutherland has been ahead of sixth round pick Jerrick Reed through every step in the process since the draft. He was the one getting praised in OTAs. He’s been the one getting fill-in reps with the starters in camp. He was the starting safety on Thursday night and by all accounts he didn’t play poorly.

I wrote an origin story on Jonathan “The Assassin” Sutherland here, the headlines of that article probably being that he was compared to Bob Sanders coming out of high school (well, by one guy, at least) and he was the first four-time team captain (special teams) in Penn State history. Sutherland was also the first THREE-time team captain in school history.

In the second quarter, Reed had a pass breakup and got to celebrate. But a couple of plays later, quarterback Nick Mullens completed a long pass up the middle and as I was looking on the Seahawks sideline to see reactions, I see Mike Jackson yelling at Reed.

There were 259 picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, so as I see it every undrafted player is basically the “260th pick”. Reed was the 198th pick. There isn’t a discernible difference between being the 198th pick or being the 260th pick.

As I see it, Sutherland has stepped up and is closer to the final 53-man roster than Reed.

Tre Brown stays behind Mike Jackson

As I see it, Tre Brown didn’t have the night he wanted to have in order to bump a good 17-game starter off of his starting position at outside corner. Brown started off with a nice pass breakup, but then the next to two times he was noticed was for a missed tackle on fourth down and allowing a touchdown catch to Nick Muse.

Jackson stood up a runner at the line of scrimmage on the first play.

As I see it, Mike Jackson is in the lead to start next to Riq Woolen and Devon Witherspoon. Brown did have a nice punt return, if the Seahawks need him for that.

Zach Charbonnet is 100%

As I see it, the Seahawks aren’t worried about Charbonnet’s shoulder. He was playing a lot, he was playing hard, he was delivering hits, and I like it like that. You’re a running back, you can’t be afraid of contact! Better yet, fans can’t be afraid of running backs being afraid of contact!

As I see it, the Seahawks are also going to throw a LOT more screen passes in 2023. Screen passes, if executed well, increase completion percentage (which Geno already led in 2022) and help offenses pick up extra first downs and get shorter opportunities on third downs. Seattle is famously horrible at screen passes, which is also Charbonnet’s specialty.

Mike Morris wasn’t bad

As I see it, one of Seattle’s two fifth round picks out of Michigan seemed to stand out in a positive way against the Vikings. I can’t say if Seahawks coaches Damione Lewis and BT Jordan will have bones to pick with certain plays by Morris, but I felt it worth giving him his due after Seaside Joe’s recent article on him. Morris immediately got a pressure that forced an incompletion, then did it again shortly later on third down (shared with Derick Hall) to force a Minnesota field goal.

Hall also had a sack but was called for roughing the passer. Still gotta be happy that he got to the quarterback. Boye Mafe and Tyreke Smith both had tackles for a loss in the first half.

The Seahawks have to judge every edge rusher on a curve because they weren’t facing Christian Darrisaw, Brian O’Neill, and Kirk Cousins. But it is better to beat the backups than to get beat by the backups.

Speaking of fifth round Michigan picks, I don’t know that I can say yet how center Olu Oluwatimi did. But he played a lot and he didn’t stand out in a negative way, so that’s a start.

Dee Eskridge isn’t meant for this league

As I see it, Eskridge got hurt on the opening kickoff. No doubt about it.

Drew Lock almost executed the best game plan he could

As I see it, Pete Carroll has to be elated with how his backup quarterback played in the first preseason game. Lock went 10-of-13 for 105 yards and a touchdown in the first half and he was often excuting the best options there were given to him. There were no forced throws and maybe only one off-target pass that had little chance of being completed down the field, and his first down throw while under intense pressure to Colby Parkinson was perfectly on-target. His touchdown to Easop Winston was a laser shot.

Lock wasn’t playing with the starting supporting cast (Jaxon Smith-Njigba was the only starting receiver and he had three catches for 25 yards) or the “real playbook” so everything considered this was about as good of an opening preseason half as anyone could have hoped for… The offense wasn’t as good in the second half.

Seattle’s opening drive wasn’t bad, but Lock did throw an interception on the second possession. (More on that later, but it wasn’t entirely on Lock.) You almost wish for him that he was pulled sooner, but these are the opportunities you kind of want for your backup QB in a preseason game.

On that note, Lock responded by throwing his second touchdown pass, this one to Jake Bobo, after Minnesota muffed a punt and gave the Seahawks a short field. Lock finished 17-of-24 for 191 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 3 rush/14 yards.

Think about how difficult it must be to go 12 months without playing a football game—your FAVORITE THING TO DO—and now most of the pressure is on you to do it well. We don’t usually talk about how much off-time these guys get each year, even the starters. I’m sure Geno Smith wanted to be out there too. This is their favorite thing to do. Imagine if your favorite thing to do was play video games but you were only allowed to do it 17 times per year for three hours at a time?

Well, Lock only gets to play video games 2-3 times per year for about an hour.

Good preseason performances do not guarantee good regular season results, but Drew Lock did the best job that could reasonably be asked of him.

More Surprise Standouts

As I see it, undrafted free agent Jacob Sykes was one of the most disruptive players on the defensive line. Or, uhh, as I see that Gregg Bell sees it.

Devin Bush, wearing “0”, had a nice line-of-scrimmage stop on a running back, a nice change of scenery compared to the missed tackles and poor angles and messy execution against the run that we saw from the defense for most of the first half. Seattle is maybe expecting to have Jordyn Brooks by Week 1, so being able to stash Bush in a reserve role could do wonders for the linebacker depth. Bush had five tackles. Jon Rhattigan had seven tackles. Coby Bryant had four tackles and the highlight hit of the night.

*SNL host voice*…”Ladies and gentleman, Jake Bobo…”

Bobo had three catches for 55 yards and a touchdown.

Receiver Easop Winston caught a touchdown (seen earlier) and though his second catch was short of the first down, it looked professional. Winston returned a punt and decided not to fair catch, which resulted in an immediate tackle but I appreciate that he’s trying to make the team. QB Holton Ahlers was fun to watch…I’ve seen a lot of “preseason quarterbacks” who are fun to watch. I’ll leave it at that, but Ahlers must be excited about his 4/4 debut with the chance to also showcase his dual threat abilities.

In the second half, running back Bryant Koback came out on fire, immediately gaining 41 receiving yards and 10 rushing yards on four touches.

Undrafted free agent defensive back Ty Okada had a huge stop as a gunner on a kickoff, then added a pressure on quarterback Jaren Hall with a blitz. Another defensive back buried on the depth chart, Benjie Franklin, came up with a huge fourth down stop to force a turnover on downs in the fourth quarter.

Special shoutout: Special teams coordinator Larry Izzo might need to become a head coach someday.

Who didn’t play so well?

As I see it, the Seahawks don’t want to get stuck with having to start Stone Forsythe at any point this season. As a whole, the offensive line wasn’t very good; Evan Brown started at center and Phil Haynes at left guard, but both seemed to be pulled fairly early. It’s hard to judge the line as a whole when it’s a patchwork group that doesn’t work together, but we can still say that they weren’t very good.

On Lock’s interception, Forsythe was manhandled and pushed right into Lock’s path, although that was no excused for the interception.

Jerrick Reed II maybe didn’t have the night that he wanted, since he didn’t start over Sutherland and might not next week. Of the receivers battling for position, Cody Thompson didn’t suit up, Cade Johnson was injured in the second quarter, Matt Landers didn’t catch his first two targets (one of which was a great defensive play in the end zone) but then he caught a desperation heave by Holton Ahlers for a 30-yard touchdown.

As I see it based solely on Thursday’s game and which receiver increased their roster chances the most, I would rank Jake Bobo first, Easop Winston second, and nobody else really stood out to me.

If you’re Griffin Hebert or Noah Gindorff, the two undrafted tight ends, you probably wish you had been able to get more opportunities in your first preseason game. So while they didn’t play “poorly”, they also didn’t do anything to increase their odds of doing something improbable. Hebert recovered a muffed punt.

With that line of thinking, there were a few unknown DBs who stood out to some degree, so does that carry a “negative” implication for the ones who didn’t? Players like Okada and Franklin could end up getting onto the practice squad, does that make it more difficult for the likes of Chris Steele, Lance Boykin, and Arquon Bush? I saw Steele on kick coverage, that’s the only time I noticed him.

Cade Johnson in “stable condition”

Johnson was injured in the second quarter and taken to Harborview hospital “out of precaution” with head and neck injuries. The latest report was that he is in stable condition.

Which players increased their roster odds the most?

As I see it, Jonathan Sutherland, Jake Bobo, Easop Winston, Bryant Koback, and Jacob Sykes. For Winston and Koback, they may need Seattle to be short-handed at those positions going into the season, but Winston’s punt return ability may help with Eskridge suspended. Ty Okada may have been the biggest surprise.

The Seahawks next play the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday, August 19th, starting at 7 PM PT and I’ll be here with more articles then and every day until then. There are also bonus article ALL. THE. TIME. We’ve had an average of two articles per day in training camp and the season starts in one month: Please consider upgrading from free to premium tonight and Seaside Joe won’t let you down!

Answer: The Seahawks are 24-20 all-time in the preseason under Pete Carroll, but they went 0-3 in the preseason last year.