What is the NFL preseason?

Answering questions from Seaside Joe's Super Joes subscribers: Seaside Joe 1999

Every other week, I send out a post to our Super Joes subscribers asking for questions and comments that I can share with the rest of the Seaside Joe community. Being a Super Joe holds no other perks over being a Regular Joe, both get the 150+ bonus Seahawks articles a year, the comments, and the live chat, but I appreciate that some subscribers have inquired on what they can do if they want to support for more than $5 per month and this is my way to show a little bit of gratitude for that.

Because Seaside Joe is a gigantic part of my life and anything extra gets us that much closer to being entirely self-sufficient and fan-supported.

Largentium: Can we trade a DL for a ILB? Can they slip Holani through to the PS?

As to the trade idea, very complicated one to try and pull off but it is not impossible. It would probably be easier to trade a DL (it won’t be easy to trade a DL like Myles Adams or even Mike Morris) and then make a separate transaction for a linebacker. It’s an annual event to wonder if the team could trade a player that the fans don’t care about enough to keep for something that the fans would find valuable, but it pretty much never happens.

I don’t think any teams are champing at the bit for Myles Adams and if they are, well Seattle’s just forecasted to them that Adams is going to be cut by picking up the phone and asking, “Do you want Myles Adams?”’ A name that comes to mind is Darryl Johnson, the edge rusher who was waived by the Panthers at final cuts in 2022 and claimed by the Seahawks. Johnson played in four games with Seattle and hasn’t been in an NFL game since then, and Johnson’s career was going better than Adams’ career is going so far.

I think we should all view Adams as a “Darryl Johnson type” meaning that he’s not so good that he couldn’t be out of the NFL in a year or two and teams will not value that at a “trade for him and cut one of our players” level. It’s about the same for Mike Morris, who was passed over 150 times in the draft last year and then played 26 snaps as a rookie. What did he do to increase his value?

Adams and Morris are more valuable to the Seahawks than they are to any other team.

As to Holani, yes, he would almost certainly end up clearing waivers. He was undrafted in a class that was considered weak on day three, nobody outside of Seattle would even know who we were talking about if we brought up George Holani. Ultimately, I don’t think it matters that much, Holani should have a decent shot of making the roster.

Joshular: Who’s going play RT if Abe is out? I’ve heard next to nothing about Fant in the preseason, is he good to go or will it be someone else?

By all accounts, George Fant will be the right tackle. I don’t think we’ve heard about him because the team has to do everything in its power to make sure that he doesn’t get injured too.

zezinhom400: Bo Nix is lighting up the preseason more than any of the rookie QB’s and Denver is 2-0 easily. Is our cakewalk Game 1 perhaps not as easy as it first seemed?

If this preseason has proven anything (which is also proves every other year) it’s that fans really, really, really want football back. Without being disrespectful, I just try and stay out of preseason reactions as much as possible.

As to the quality of the Denver Broncos, I wrote about Bo Nix and starting a rookie QB a couple of weeks ago, including this:

“The last time the Seahawks and Broncos played each other in Week 1, a quarterback who had sat on the bench for seven years was the victor over a quarterback who might be in the Hall of Fame one day. There is nothing to expect in Week 1 other than the unexpected. And how good the Broncos are this season may have a lot less to do with how good their quarterback is than what they need to get from their offensive line, receivers, and defense.”

There are fans who think every game is a cake walk, there are fans who think no team is a cake walk, and I won’t say that there aren’t Seahawks fans who think that the Broncos are a cake walk. However, that’s not a message that’s been sent from here and that’s not a message that I see in the Seaside Joe comments.

Before I share what I think of Nix’s preseason (opinions that really do not matter that much, I’m not covering the Broncos, so I don’t follow him that close) I just want to emphasize that I would say this about almost any player and it doesn’t mean that Bo Nix couldn’t be the steal of the draft or a bust.

I really don’t care how many completions Nix has in the preseason. He could be perfect in the preseason and still have an awful year, he could look awful in the preseason and still win Rookie of the Year. My opinions of the player won’t change dramatically based on what happens in the preseason, but I still watched videos like this one because I find it interesting to get a glimpse of a rookie under the spotlights:

Should a 24-year-old quarterback (older than Sam Howell) who had 5 career college seasons, 5 full college seasons, be as prepared for a preseason game as any rookie in the NFL, maybe ever? Maybe. But it still doesn’t matter to me whether he was sort a “Danny Almonte” out there, because I won’t make a final judgment on how good Nix is going to be against the Seahawks until that Week 1 game is over.

Sean Payton naming Nix the starter is way more relevant to me than 30 pass attempts. I don’t even feel the need to qualify that with “preseason pass attempts” because 30 attempts is 30 attempts. In a preseason game for the Cowboys last year, Will Grier went 29-of-35 for 305 yards and rushed for 53 yards with four total touchdowns and was rewarded by being cut and ending up on three different practice squads last year, none of whom were the Cowboys.

I haven’t changed my opinion of any rookie quarterback. We live in an era where it’s been normalized to change your opinions by the second based on “new” information, but if there’s a core philosophy to Seaside Joe it’s something along the lines of “don’t overreact, keep everything in perspective”.

As I say with every quarterback, it’s better for me, a huge football fan, if Bo Nix turns out to be a great player. I have written that the odds are against him, but not that the Seahawks are catching a break to get Bo instead of Jarrett Stidham. I think every team would rather face Jarrett Stidham.

zezinhom400: Would SSJ make any alterations to his earlier choices for the 53-man squad after the joint practices and game with the Titans?

I haven’t made a 53-man roster prediction this year. Doesn’t seem like a good idea for every Seahawks writer to write the same article.

Maxx: And that's something that just makes me question everything, for these preseason games starters are sitting not playing. Second third and fourth stringers are playing and getting all the experience and knowing how to run both the offense and defense while the starters sit. Then the starters start the regular season with essentially no live game practice and everybody who had been practicing is now on the sidelines. Just doesn't make sense to me

Preseason football has become less relevant than training camp practices. I have no idea what I’m watching because in a way preseason is actually less…I don’t know, “interesting” or “relevant”…than say the USFL or the XFL. At least those teams are playing their starters and their starters are practicing together all the time. These players are sometimes playing with teammates FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER in these preseason games. That’s insane!

To me, it’s become closer to “Globetrotters vs. Generals” than it is a dress rehearsal for the teams. These are TV shows, not football. Which, if that sounds cranky, it’s not. The NFL can do whatever it wants and the preseason is warmups for the refs, the coaches, the TV crews, the media, etc. It’s fine to exist, and it’s not even just that the football is bad football, it’s that it doesn’t even matter except in the vacuum of that one game itself. Preseason results only matter within the context of that single moment and not a second more, which in a way is kind of poetic, but not at all helpful when it comes to talking about the Seahawks.

And if anyone wants to boo me for that, be my guest:

Cold Steel and Sunshine: Did McIntosh seem to help himself along with Shenault? Seems like they did well. Haynes is apparently better at left and right guard than Bradford is at right guard. It seems Haynes is second in the left side and Laumea is third on the left. I wonder what the chances of Haynes swinging left and they end up taking Laken out and put Bradford on the right. I honestly think Bradford is not a starting level guard right now. He needs to shore up his horrible pass blocking. These are a couple of quick takes I noticed.

And your takes are as good as mine! Probably better. I just want to share these thoughts by Cold Steel and Sunshine because it’s good to bounce the ball off the wall with other fans and the Super Joes Q and A posts are just as much about sharing your thoughts as they are asking for mine.

< Anonymously, please, it’s comedy in 2024, so perilous! >: KenJoe, YOU know first when viral phenomena start, like the buzz that you’ll fail to workout (SSJ 1859?). Is the internet clamoring for Macd’s firing? Leaving 1:50 for Mason Rudolph (or Malik Willis, who we picked #9, right?) get into FG range, Hawks have to go for Titanic results every time!

#CultureBeginsNow

I am hesitant to say that I have a crystal clear memory of 2010, but I seem to remember a lot of fans on Field Gulls (and writer John Morgan) being vehemently against the Pete Carroll hiring and rooting for the wheels to fall off, almost getting their wish after two 7-9 seasons and a slow start in 2012.

Thankfully it seems Mike Macdonald is starting from the opposite perspective and will get a ton of runway to start his career, I think.

Grant: What is the minimum and maximum number of inside linebackers to make the 53-man roster? Three to five, perhaps? Even while struggling, it'd be a surprise if they cut Knight. Is Rhattigan a sure thing?

I don’t think you draft Tyrice Knight without expecting a rough rookie season, so I don’t think he’s in danger. I have no clue where Macdonald’s head is at with the linebackers, except that it’s probably the most likely position to target after final cuts. I’ll put it back to the community for thoughts on the linebacker depth and who is the best suited LB3:

Rusty: Looking at pending cuts, which potentially cut players stand the best chance to catch on with another club?

Very few cut players from any team get claimed on waivers after final cuts, and an even smaller probability that any of the claimed players will have significant careers. Seattle’s two claims last year were Kyu Blu Kelly (off team) and Drake Thomas (unlikely to make team) and the Seahawks haven’t been that popular on the waiver wire since Pete’s early days.

Most of the pickups are so random that I can’t even tell you why a team would pick up a certain player. Like if the Seahawks cut Mike Morris, could he get claimed? Sure. He could also pass through waivers and be on the practice squad. But for the most part, if the Seahawks don’t think you’re good enough to protect, that’s not a good sign because the Seahawks need good players as bad as any team in the league.