The Seattle Seahawks are now less than a month before the 2023 regular season begins. The team has two more preseason games and several practices before they have to make final decisions on who is going to make the 53-man active roster for this year. Some players may have given themselves a lead over the camp competition with their play in preseason Week 1 against the Minnesota Vikings.
There are probably about 40 guys we know will make the team. Players such as DK Metcalf and Quandre Diggs are not going anywhere, for instance. But players like Vi Jones need to keep battling.
What follows is my best current guess at who would makes the Seahawks roster if the season were beginning on Sunday. A few spots could change, of course, if the players that follow don't play as well in preseason Week 2, or if some other player just has a crazy great game. But one undrafted receiver from 2023 might have cemented his spot of the roster with what he did against the Vikings.
Quarterbacks (2)
Geno Smith, Drew Lock
This seems pretty obvious, right? We know Geno Smith is going to be the starter. Heck, he might not even play during the preseason. The best chance for that is likely in preseason game 2 against the Green Bay Packers. Even then he might only play for a short time in the first half. Let's just hope he doesn't get hurt.
Lock looked mostly as he did in the preseason last year. That is not a bad thing, but he always pulls off a play or two where he might cost his team dearly if he was playing a regular season game. Still, the guy can spin a football like few others. His touchdown pass to Easop Winston in the first half against the Vikings was a thing of beauty. The ball must have been going 60 MPH. But then Lock had the bad interception in the second half and those kinds of passes might make 12s nervous if Lock has to become the starter for a bit of time.
Finally, Holton Ahlers is not going to make the active 53-man roster but he sure is fun to watch. His ability to run could help in limited reps if he was called upon. Hopefully, he will at least make it on the practice squad.
Seahawks running backs (5)
Kenneth Walker III, Zach Charbonnet, DeeJay Dallas, Kenny McIntosh, Nick Bellore
Again, I have Bellore listed here, but he could be listed with the running back unit or the linebacker group. Either way, he is making the roster and could once again be the special teams captain. He is too valuable a voice in the locker room to let leave.
I saw one site from the FanSided family that had DeeJay Dallas as a cut candidate and potentially Bryant Koback could make the team instead. Dallas isn't going anywhere, however. He is too versatile. As far as the other running backs on the list, the only worry about not making the active roster at the beginning of the season is McIntosh who is missing a couple of weeks with a knee injury.
Seahawks wide receivers (6)
DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Jake Bobo, Dareke Young, Cody Thompson
We know Dee Eskridge isn't going to be on the active roster to begin the season because he was suspended for the first six games of the year due to an off-field incident. Plus, Eskridge, always a threat to be hurt, was injured on the first play of the Vikings game. In his place, I have Jake Bobo making the team.
Bobo seems to be a Cooper Kupp-light type receiver. He doesn't wow a person athletically, but he's just a football player. I am not saying Bobo will be as good as Kupp, but if he has half of Kupp's production when Kupp is healthy that would be fantastic. Also, I still have Young making the team though his missing practices due to a hip issue is a concern.
Seahawks tight ends (3)
Noah Fant, Will Dissly, Colby Parkinson
There is not much debate here. I realize the unofficial depth chart before the Vikings game that was put together by the Seahawks PR department was a bit odd in places, but there is no way that Parkinson loses his roster spot to Tyler Mabry. Parkinson could end up having a very productive season as well as he will be extra-motivated by being in the final year of his current deal. Plus, Parkinson has improved every season in the NFL.
Fant and Dissly will be the two main tight ends with Dissly, if healthy, likely getting more starts. He is simply a fantastic blocker, though I wish he was used as a receiver more. The same goes for Fant really. He should see a lot of open field with opposing defenses having to focus on Metcalf, Lockett, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Seahawks offensive line (9)
Charles Cross, Damien Lewis, Olu Oluwatimi, Phil Haynes, Abraham Lucas, Evan Brown, Jake Curhan, Phil Haynes, Stone Forsythe, Anthony Bradford
This group is getting to be a bit more difficult to pin down. Evan Brown is almost guaranteed to be the starter at center when we thought Olu Oluwatimi had a decent chance of being that. But Oluwatimi has recently been losing first team reps in practice to Joey Hunt and even Liam Ryan. Oluwatimi is going to make the team, of course, but one might wonder what is happening in camp that the coaching staff might not be liking.
Stone Forsythe was awful against the Vikings, but if he doesn't make the roster then Seattle doesn't have much depth at tackle behind Charles Cross and Abe Lucas. I am going to still assume Forsythe makes the team, but that he gets a lot of play in preseason Week 2 just to make sure he is worthy of a roster spot still.
Seahawks defensive line (6)
Dre'Mont Jones, Jarran Reed, Cam Young, Mario Edwards, Jr., Mike Morris, Myles Adams
The starting trio of the defensive line is likely set with Jones and Edwards, Jr. as the bookends and Reed in the middle. Adams can be counted on as decent depth, but he wouldn't be a good fit as a long-term starter if one of the first three mentioned go down with an injury. Therefore, the Seahawks could still make a move to add a free agent or make a trade and add to this group.
Morris and Young are both rookies, of course, so there is no way of knowing exactly what Seattle can get from those guys. They might be good in 2024, but expecting them to be productive early this season might be a stretch. Jones and Reed should be good, and hopefully Edwards will be fine. But even Edwards has bounced around the league some so this overall is an iffy group.
Seahawks edge rushers (5)
Uchenna Nwosu, Darrell Taylor, Derick Hall, Boye Mafe, Tyreke Smith
This group is potentially very explosive. Nwosu tied for the team-lead in sacks last year and led the team quite easily with quarterback hits and total pressures. He is also good against the run as opposed to Taylor who has so far been horrific stopping the run. Taylor is banged-up right now but the hope is he is ready by Week 1.
Even so, Taylor has likely lost some reps to Mafe and Hall. Mafe has been a beast in training camp and was good against the Vikings. Hall has the size and speed to be a great disruptor but, again, with a rookie a team cannot be positive about what they are going to get consistently. Smith didn't play last year with an injury, so he is basically a rookie too.
Seahawks inside linebackers (4)
Bobby Wagner, Devin Bush, Jon Rhattigan, Ben Burr-Kirven
Seattle could keep five players here, including Vi Jones. But Jones lost reps to Burr-Kirven and Rhattigan against the Vikings. Maybe the Seahawks just wanted to see how well Burr-Kirven would hold up in his first action in several seasons. The starters are definitely Bush and Wagner with injured 2022 starter Jordyn Brooks starting on the PUP list, most likely.
Seahawks cornerbacks (5)
Riq Woolen, Devon Witherspoon, Mike Jackson, Artie Burns, Tre Brown
I have a change here since I did this kind of list before training camp started. Coby Bryant has been getting safety reps and he was pretty good against the Vikings, especially for someone who hadn't played safety before. I am going to assume he sticks at safety for now and once Witherspoon is back from his (what appears to be) minor injury, Witherspoon will start in the slot. Jackson and Woolen will be the outside guys.
Seahawks safeties (5)
Julian Love, Quandre Diggs, Coby Bryant, Joey Blount, Jerrick Reed II
I am going to assume Jamal Adams begins on the PUP list, but when he returns he could end up playing more linebacker than defensive back. Love and Diggs should be very good on the backend of the defense and Bryant might be able to back up either one. Reed needs a bit more time to season before he gets a lot of reps, but he likes to hit and has at least played a bunch of safety. I am not the biggest fan of Blount, but then I don't make the decisions (for the betterment of 12s everywhere) and the Seahawks coaches seem to think he is OK.
Seahawks special teams (3)
Jason Myers, Michael Dickson, Chris Stoll
No surprises here. Myers is the kicker, Dickson is the punter, and undrafted free agent Stoll will be the long snapper. I could probably copy and paste this same thing for the next three years, at least. That is a good thing.