Three key position battles to watch for Seahawks in preseason opener

Seahawks quarterback: Drew Lock versus Geno Smith

Clearly, all 12s eyes are going to be watching how well Drew Lock and Geno Smith do. Smith has gotten a lot more QB1 snaps in training camp so far (and will start the preseason game) but Lock looked much better in the team’s only mock game. But now enter an outside team with a very good defense – and a well-coached one – and we will see who has the mastery of the Seahawks down better.

Because Lock appears to have better physical skills than Smith but Smith has more time in the NFL and also has been in Seattle’s system longer. This is the reason he has gotten more time with the first-team offense in camp than Lock. To start the year, at least, Pete Carroll wants to know he has someone under center he can trust and he knows what Smith can do.

That last part is important, however. While Smith started three games for Seattle in 2021, the team didn’t appear to actually trust him very much in those games. Seattle played close to the vest and tried to win low-scoring games. The team went 1-2 with Smith but except for late mistakes by him, they could have gone 3-0 possibly.

Lock is much more of a gunslinger and struggles with confidence at times, it seems, but when he is running hot, he is a much better (and younger) option than Smith. This may simply come down to a “What’s better for the future?” question. Smith isn’t the long-term option as the starter at QB and Lock may be.

If Lock can play as well as Smith against the Steelers, based on that and the mock game Lock should be the Week 1 starter. Or Lock could be completely awful against Pittsburgh and this simply becomes Geno’s team for at least the beginning of the season.