The Seahawks have some big shoes to fill on offense, and a lot of mediums, too. Here’s what I see for the skill position depth charts in 2019.
Previously I groused about a major site’s depth chart that earned some head-scratching. Time for me to make my own bad predictions, so you can remind me of my own futility. The interesting competition in the Seahawks backfield is for the backup spots, not the starters. Even though I saw the acquisition of Paxton Lynch as low-risk, high-reward (okay maybe medium reward), Geno Smith simply fits the Seahawks system much better.
I am fully aware the same scenario played out in 2017 between Trevone Boykin and Austin Davis, and the system guy lost out. Smith will have to stink up the joint as badly as Boykin did in a couple of those 2017 preseason games, and I don’t see that happening. Smith is in, Lynch is out.
Seattle Seahawks
The other constant starter in the backfield will be at running back. As Lee Vowell wrote, that starter will certainly be Chris Carson. This is the year Rashaad Penny has to prove he wasn’t a first-round reach. I believe he’ll do just that, but he still won’t unseat Carson. I also believe Seattle’s sixth-round pick Travis Homer will take over the third-down specialist role Mike Davis played so well last year. Homer has shown great pass-blocking skills already, so he’s ready to step in when needed.
I expect both J.D. McKissic and C.J. Prosise will keep their roles as emergency fill-ins, but I give the edge to McKissic as the next man up. If a player Seattle likes is released this summer, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Prosise cut loose. As much as the Hawks like him, his injury history doesn’t earn a lot of confidence. Nick Bellore is the only fullback in camp right now, so for the moment, he’s the man.
Seahawks need new wide receivers to break out
As for wide receivers, Lee Vowell covered them in great depth as well. I concur with his top three choices. Tyler Lockett is a starting receiver on any team. DK Metcalf showed an awful lot in minicamp. As long as no one expects the second coming of Megatron in his first season, he’ll be more than fine. Gary Jennings will certainly be in the top three receivers. Compare his college stats to those of Angry Doug himself. I’m not saying he’s the next Doug Baldwin – no one will be – but he certainly has the tools and past production of an NFL starter. I expect that Jennings will be seen in three-receiver sets most often, with Lockett often moving to the slot.
Among the backups, I agree that Jaron Brown was underused last season. It seems he deserved far more than 19 chances at the ball. Then again, in six seasons he’s been targeted more than 32 times just once. In his last season in Arizona, he caught less than 45% of his targets. I can see he may need to earn some trust. David Moore looked like the next great feel-good story, then hit a roadblock in production. In the final four games last year, he caught just four of sixteen targets. Even more than Brown, he needs to prove that he’s reliable.
Draft surprise John Ursua out of Hawaii will push both of them for a roster spot. The Seahawks moved so late to get him, many people had already wrapped their coverage of Seattle’s draft. Including me. So clearly, Pete Carroll wanted to be sure he got him rather than risk losing him in the vast pool of the undrafted.
Seahawks expect more of the same at TE – maybe
At tight end, it’s all about health. If Will Dissly fully recovers from his patellar injury, he’s the starter. Nick Vannett got nine of the dozen starts after Dissly went down, so clearly the Seahawks like him. The bulk of those starts came after Ed Dickson was activated after missing the first six games of the season. Dickson played well for Seattle in a limited role, but according to the always valuable spotrac.com, he’s carrying a bigger cap hit ($4.4 million) than all the other tight ends on the roster combined ($3.3 million).
That could be the reason the Hawks gave the Patriots a seventh-round pick in 2020 for tight end Jacob Hollister. Hollister hasn’t exactly lit the league on fire, but if Dickson was just going to be a third-stringer, Hollister can take his place. If Seattle needs a few extra million to keep Bobby Wagner and Jarran Reed aboard, well… I like Dickson a lot, but it could be bye-bye Dickson.
So that’s that. I’m sure we’ll see some shocker, just as fourth-round pick Dissly came from nowhere to crush it at tight end last year. My best guess for this season: Jennings will be the biggest surprise. Opponents will do their best to not get burned by the blazing speed of Metcalf, or the perfection of Lockett. Jennings is tough and will be out to prove he belongs on the field. Sort of like…no, I’m not gonna do that to the young man. But I do expect big things from him.