The preparation period is over, and Seattle Seahawks Did not win the game. What was won on the night was the start of the career of quarterback Gino Smith, but I think most people suspected that was a formality reading between the lines. We’ve seen a ton of players working hard to stay in the NFL, and they’ve made for a crazy game even by pre-season standards.
Let’s dive into the winners and losers for the last time this month.
Winners
Jeno Smith
You may not like it but at least for now it’s the beginning. Smith is the “boring” option and he’s not very good, but why be upset when neither he nor Drew Luke is likely to be the starting QB in 2023? In any case, I thought this was a really simple play To Tyler Lockett was a fan.
DJ Dallas
He’s been a bit of a pre-season star in each of his three seasons, but he looked the best in that specific run of the show. Dallas rushed for 75 yards on 13 stands and touchdowns, and the bulk of his lead success was 10 touchdowns out of 11 passes. Both he and Travis Homer have done so well that it should be reiterated that the Seahawks are really good in the rear aft.
Jason Myers
Hey, I can’t hit 4/4 on field goals and 2/2 on PATs. Myers was on his game and didn’t shave very well on any of those kicks either.
Miles Adams
Adams suffered a loss, half a sack, and many QB stresses. I loved him last season, and the big guy on the inside has done really well for being on the 53-man list.
Michael Jackson
Jackson played the whole game, which means there are a lot of excellent Michael Jackson puns by Michael Robinson and Michael Bennett. The outside cornerback was solid on his assignments all night and played the ball decisively late in the fourth quarter to give the Seahawks another chance to win (which they immediately squandered). I think Jackson will make the list…but will he start the first week? You never know. Jackson and Josh Jones were standout players before the start of the season.
Charles Cross and Abby Lucas
They may be your main steps in the first week. I don’t install a Gino Smith bag on it, as Smith encountered it in a poor man’s version of Russell Wilson’s worst bag. It looks like it’s part of a left meddling in the NFL and I can’t wait to see it against the first team competition. Same for Lucas, who is trying to be the king of pancakes. I’m myself more of a waffle man.
losers
Drew Lock
There was a lot of defending Luke’s performance tonight which baffles me. I’ll give him full marks for the touchdown pass because he’s at his best and that’s what Pete Carroll definitely wants out of this passing attack, but beyond that? Yes, it was not a good performance experience. I think the first objection, even if there was some blame on Dee Eskridge, was horribly telegraphed and the fact that the defensive linebacker jumped all the way to perfection must signify that it was a risky throw even if Eskridge did his job. His second pick was terrible in high school and his third, admittedly, Aaron Fuller should catch up, but he threw several other select passes almost against a group of players who likely wouldn’t be on Dallas’ list on Tuesday.
You can play the plot as you like or bemoan him about not getting a chance with the first team, but – I say this as someone who wanted Luke to win the job – he has now been unable to win competitions on two different teams against Gino Smith, Joe Flacco and Teddy Bridgewater. This isn’t a killer row from a quarterback. At some point, you have to wonder if it was just not giving him a chance to the bad coaches or (more likely story) Luke wasn’t that good. Or rather, his awful moments are so awful that the coaches can’t stand them.
His ceiling may be higher than Smith’s, but his floor? It looks a lot like this second interception and a huge amount of other dangerous passes he threw. We might see Lock starting later in the season, and we might also see him not on this list on Tuesday depending on how much Carroll hates his performance.
Wide receiver depth in Seattle
Going down from Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf to everyone else on the depth chart is intimidating and explains why some of us have been freaked out about the Seahawks’ approach to the wide reception site in recent years. Dareke Young and Bo Melton will likely be on the coaching staff but have dropped too many passes to justify a place on the roster. Freddie Swain had a largely uninspiring preseason and no roster lock. Only Benny Hart and possibly Kid Johnson (no hidden kick) have staked reasonable claims for a place on the list. I think D’Escridge, Hart and Marquis Goodwin will be the ones to spend 3-5 times the WRs.
Dakoda Shipley
Honestly, it should be a winner for me because I’m not sure I’ve laughed so hard at the Seahawks’ spin before. He must have thought he was shooting the ball at Taco Fall, because it was definitely too high for Jacob Eason to catch it. I enjoyed the foolishness, but the coaches are less so.
Forsyth stone
If they didn’t move him into the guard he wouldn’t have a place in the NFL. It’s very slow to handle and that won’t magically fix it.
Final notes
- Poor Jacob Eason. He has a chance to win the match three times and the end results were horrible in many ways, none of which were on him.
- Marquis Blair did look better than last week, including a close interception. With Ryan Neal injured I think he stuck to the roster but just barely.
- Hopefully, Alton Robinson is doing well after injuring his knee. I thought he played really well and could make a special place as a rushing passer-by.
- Joel Dublanko was a lot better than his horror show last week, and I think that gives him a chance to make up the coaching staff.
- I suspect Kenneth Walker’s injury might be a good reason for Darwin Thompson to make his first 53. He’s been brilliant and cunning in the pre-season touches and is hardly an unknown commodity given his time in Kansas City.
- Programming Note! The Field Gulls podcast has been silent for a few weeks while we’ve been looking for new hosts, but starting next week we’ll be back on the air! Dan Vince And the Dina O’Gorman Our hosts will be with rotating guests on each episode, starting with our former host Brandan Schulz. Look for new episodes starting this week.