Training camp surprises
Kenny McIntosh injured at Saturday practice
DeMarcus Lawrence could be the best edge defender?
I’ll get into this situation more next week when I preview the edge group, but the first few days of Seahawks training camp has turned into a showcase of Seattle’s oldest player over the team’s recent second round investments.
I heard Derick Hall mentioned too, but only as it relates to Lawrence.
Aden Durde warned us in the offseason that Lawrence would bring a “dawg mentality” unlike anything that the Seahawks had on defense and that does appear to be the case early in camp. And in a sport that tends to overrate edge rusher sack totals, Lawrence managed to make back-to-back Pro Bowls with the Cowboys in 2022 and 2023 (for a top-5 defense both seasons) despite a combined 10 sacks over 34 games.
(The Cowboys fell to 31st in points allowed last season with Lawrence on IR.)
Fans would love for Lawrence to be no better than Seattle’s third-best edge defender, if only because of what it could mean for Hall and Boye Mafe, but maybe the Seahawks signed him (for a modest $13 million guaranteed) because he brings a total package of defense unlike those two so far.
Christian Haynes dark horse center competition
Even though Mike Macdonald told the media this week that Haynes is only getting a few reps at center and behind both Olu Oluwatimi and Jalen Sundell, I have a feeling that Seattle’s 2024 third rounder will end camp with the starting job. It hasn’t even been 12 months since the last time the Seahawks didn’t choose one of their first two options in a center competition.
As I wrote on Friday, I believe Haynes is going to start at either guard or center, and how the two centers look in practice probably matters more than how much better Haynes is than Anthony Bradford. Would Olu or Sundell be starting at center for most teams right now? Probably not.
If Bradford’s offseason weight loss gets him into better shape for a Klint Kubiak wide zone blocking scheme, then maybe the best possible starting five is: Cross-Zabel-Haynes-Bradford-Lucas.
This isn’t an overnight decision to move Haynes to center. NFL coaches have been preparing him for this change since last year’s Senior Bowl. He certainly has the most experience in a wide zone scheme of anyone that he’s in a competition against. A move to center could help mitigate some of his issues at guard.
Kenny McIntosh injury?
This one doesn’t necessarily fall into the same type of “surprise” category, but I was writing the newsletter Brady Henderson tweeted that McIntosh had to be carried off the field after appearing to injure his left leg.
Special teams is where McIntosh is most likely to contribute, so this could open the door in the kickoff returner competition. McIntosh suffered an injury in camp two years ago and missed most of the season.
A.J. Barner, Elijah Arroyo upgraded to 1-2
It’s been almost a week since the Noah Fant news and the Seahawks first training camp without him in four years seems to be working for Seattle’s tight end room. Just a year ago, the Seahawks parted with Colby Parkinson and Will Dissly (those two and Fant combined to catch almost everything their way in 2023), signaling a major change in the works at tight end.
Now instead of Fant-Parkinson-Dissly, Seattle’s tight end room is Barner-Arroyo and probably some combination of Eric Saubert and Brady Russell, who seems to have moved back to that position after a stint at fullback. Essentially the top three tight ends have all been added in the last 16 months and Arroyo has stood out immediately:
Seahawks tight end Elijah Arroyo is impressing early in training camp. According to team beat writer John Boyle, Arroyo "looks like a playmaker" and made several excellent catches on Wednesday and Thursday in practice. The fast progression for Arroyo could have played into the team's decision to release veteran tight end Noah Fant last week, which helped to clear the way for the rookie out of Miami to see the field early and often in 2025.--Matt Terelle
Barner’s transition to the “veteran leader” at tight end has been seamless. The Seahawks have parted with all three of their 2023 tight ends and yet the room seems improved already without them. Sam Darnold to Arroyo could be an immediate Week 1 connection:
There’s nothing to say about Sam Darnold yet
I can’t pretend to know a lot about Darnold’s first four days of training camp practice, but that’s what I expected. Whether his start was particularly bad or good, I still wouldn’t put any stock into a few days of practice. I know there’s been some talk of interceptions, but it is still practice.
We also shouldn’t expect to see a lot of Darnold in the preseason, if anything, so all we will have to go off of between now and Week 1 will be practices, a rehearsal game, and joint practices.
If anything, I think the attention probably deserves to go to Kubiak and Seattle’s supporting cast (OL, WR, TE, RB) because they might have more to say about Darnold’s debut Seahawks season than how Darnold “looks” in practice. But if you feel like something you’ve heard or seen in practice would change my mind, put it in the comments!
Seaside Joe 2336
I hope AJ Barner and the rookie can stay healthy all year. With all the 12 personnel Kubiak is supposed to run, I was kind of shoked we cut Fant. I know the $ was too much, but to just say we'll run with a 2nd year player and a rookie is curious.
It’s too bad about Kenny McIntosh, he had flashes in the run game last season when he got on the field, and had excellent hands and route running ability for a RB. Damien Martinez might have a higher upside as a rusher, but he has not shown as much in the receiving game from RB.