Do the Seahawks have a real battle for backup quarterback?

After two preseason games, it seemed a foregone conclusion Trevone Boykin would make the roster as the Seahawks backup quarterback. Now, maybe not. Austin Davis could be chasing him down.

Clearly, Seattle wants Trevone Boykin to do well on Thursday. This is his second year in the Seahawks system. He also plays quarterback in a similar way to Russell Wilson. Boykin can run and has a strong arm. In training camp, Boykin did not look good, though. Then he was a revelation in Seattle first preseason game against the Chargers. Boykin was accurate and athletic. He made plays.  Against the Los Angeles Chargers in preseason week two, he was good too. But then against the Chiefs this past Friday, he was horrible.

Davis

Austin Davis on Friday versus the Chiefs was everything that Boykin was not. Davis was extremely accurate and looked confident running the offense. He also did not show fear in throwing a deep sideline pass to Tanner McEvoy that resulted in a touchdown.

We have history to judge here, don’t we? Think of it this way. If the gods curse us all and Russell Wilson is injured and cannot play a big part of the year, which quarterback would 12s want playing?(Don’t say Colin Kaepernick. Don’t. Just…don’t.) Davis? Or Boykin?

Davis is the guy who has bounced around his entire career from team to team. He couldn’t even make the Cleveland Browns as a starter, for crying out loud. This is Davis’s fourth stop in four years. And this is the guy 12s can see leading the Seahawks to the playoffs?

Well, maybe he is. This preseason he has been pretty good. Plus, he played on two bad teams before coming to Seattle, the (enter city here) Rams and the Browns. And he “played” on one good team, the Denver Broncos, in 2016. I say played but he did not throw a pass in 2016.

Go back to 2014 when Davis was with the Rams and he had by far the most snaps of his career. He started eight games and had a quarterback rating of 85.1. This while being sacked 29 times in 284 attempts. Not pressured, sacked. Ten percent of the time Davis dropped back he got tackled before he could throw the ball. As bad as the Seahawks offensive line was in 2016, Wilson still only got sacked 41 times in 546 attempts. Or 7.5 percent of the time.

Surely, with a better team, Davis would be better too.

Boykin

Keeping Boykin, though, offers the Seahawks a chance to bring in a backup with no need to change the offense. This is important. Seattle’s system is one that cannot be changed too much because of the blocking scheme. The Seahawks have a wide-zone offensive line blocking plan. This means that Seattle wants to trick other teams into doing something may they aren’t. Think of Wilson when he is running well and going with a read option.

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Boykin can do these same things. And when Boykin is playing well, he’s very good. The problem is, when he is not, he’s terrible.

Surely, there is no way Davis is the backup and Boykin gets cut, right? Boykin has more athleticism and fits the offense better. But another game on Thursday like against the Chiefs, anything is possible. Boykin and Davis: let the wild rumpus begin!