Position battles to watch for Seattle Seahawks against Chargers
By Lee Vowell
Preseason game ones will not tell a fan a lot about how good their favorite NFL team will be. Seahawks fans should start to get an idea of who makes Seattle’s final roster, though. Here are some position groups to watch on Sunday.
Backup Quarterback
Yes, I understand that the hope is these players never play. The Seahawks have been lucky, however. Their excellent starting quarterback, Russell Wilson, has stayed healthy for the most part of his career. The backups have not had to do anything. Even when not fully healthy, Wilson chose to play through injuries. But what if he cannot play through an injury?
The current backups are Trevone Boykin and Austin Davis. To me, Davis should not be playing for Seattle. He does not really fit the offense and he is not a good quarterback.
Boykin, though, showed last year in real action he could be good. But in training camp he has not been. Boykin is limited by what the Seahawks do in practice, however. He is not able to show, like Wilson, that he has crazy improvisational skills. He seems to be better in actual games than practice.
The backup quarterback position is Boykin’s to lose. But if he does not play well on Sunday, the Seahawks could be looking for a more veteran backup in the very near future. I will not say Colin Kaepernick. But I will. Kaepernick. Or Robert Griffin III. Or your mom. Anyone who can fill the role as backup better than Boykin or Davis.
Offensive line
The Seahawks really really really want to start George Fant at left tackle and Luke Joeckel at left guard. They almost seem cemented at their positions. One player who might be challenged is right guard Mark Glowinski. In camp, he has been challenged by Oday Aboushi. Glowinski is starting most likely on Sunday.
If he does not do well in the preseason, week one of the real season could see Aboushi in his place. Plus, Ethan Pocic has done really well this offseason. He will happily take any starter’s place on the line.
Right cornerback
Shaquill Griffin has played greatly in camp. Jeremy Lane has been out recently. If Griffin plays well in preseason, he could be the starter in week one versus Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. Let’s be honest, Griffin would have earned the role. Steve McGrain has a bit more on the defensive back battle in a recent post for 12th Man Rising.
Kicker
This is a bit of an outlier, but Blair Walsh cannot assume his role as kicker. Almost surprisingly, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers released Roberto Aguayo earlier on Saturday. Last year, the kicker missed four of his first eight kicks but finished making 18 of 23. He has a strong leg. Also, he was the Buccaneers second-round draft pick in 2016. Tampa Bay giving up on him so early seems…weird.
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No guarantee he ends up in Seattle, but it does seem like a Seahawks move to at least bring him in. Either way, Walsh needs to show he is the guy to make important kicks in 2017.