Position battles to watch for Seahawks versus Vikings
By Lee Vowell
The Seattle Seahawks play the Minnesota Vikings in week two of the preseason on Friday. There are still plenty of rosters spots to be earned. Here are three worth keeping watch on this week.
Backup Quarterback
Yes, Trevone Boykin had an incredible game, save for his first and last passes, on Sunday versus the Los Angeles Chargers. Boykin was accurate and moved well. He made plays like Russell Wilson normally does. Basically, Boykin was everything he had not been in practice up to last Sunday’s game. Then his magic came through.
Boykin, though, needs to come close to doing the same thing against the Vikings for 12s not to start worrying again about the backup quarterback position. Or for the Seahawks to start thinking about bringing in another veteran.
Austin Davis also played well last week, however. He does not have the upside of Boykin, but if Boykin falters Seattle could decide to go with Davis.
Long-term prediction: Boykin plays well enough for the Seahawks to decide he is the backup in 2017 and release Davis in two weeks.
4th Running Back
Chris Carson looked very good on Sunday, though he did not put up big stats. Partly this was due to two of his runs being called back on penalties. Still, the rookie played well enough to put himself in strong contention to make the team. Also, Carson has not fumbled in like 50 years.
Alex Collins is perhaps the back with the best chance to beat out Carson. The second-year player saw limited snaps in 2016 and was just OK. In week one of the preseason he did not do anything better than Carson. The Seahawks did play him out wide once and got a pass to him, so maybe Seattle sees Collins as the more versatile of the two backs.
Long-term prediction: Carson just looks like a Seahawks running back. In three weeks he will still be playing for Seattle and Collins will not.
Right tackle
Let’s be honest. All 12s are worried that Germain Ifedi is going to be a bust in Seattle. The thing is, Ifedi was not awful in the last half of 2016 at right guard. Moving back to his old college position of tackle should have made him even better. But it has not so far in camp. Ifedi not only runs the risk of not being a starter for the Seahawks. He also could not even be with the team in 2018.
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Ethan Pocic, on the other hand, has looked very good. Seattle worries about his inexperience, but Pocic has been vocal and strong in practice. Now that center Justin Britt has been extended, Pocic is no longer expected to play Britt’s position in the future. This opens up a lot of possibilities for the former LSU player.
Long-term prediction: Ifedi starts in week one versus the Green Bay Packers. And week two. If he is not doing well by week three, Pocic will start in his place.