The Seattle Seahawks begin training camp on July 26th. Players report on July 25th, but there won't be much activity other than them checking in. The real fun begins the next day and in the week ahead.
Seattle plays its first preseason game on Thursday, August 10th at 7 pm PT. This means there is a quick turnaround between when training camp begins and the preseason games start. Whatever impression the players made in minicamp in June is likely going to roll over into training camp as well.
Seattle still has several starting spots likely open for players to fight for. At times, whoever doesn't earn the starting gig might not even make the active roster. But besides just who earns starting spots, there are other battles to watch for in training camp, too. Here's what to watch.
Seahawks WR4 battle
We can assume, if all are healthy, that Seattle's top three receivers will be Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Among the top four targets for Geno Smith in 2023 will probably also be tight end Noah Fant. Fant is entering the final season of his current deal so he is going to want to have a highly productive season to earn big dollars for his next contract.
But whoever wins the WR4 spot for Seattle is clearly going to be important. Expecting the top three receivers to stay healthy every game of the season is probably asking too much. Even if that happens, every team uses a rotation of receivers. And WR4 is going to see almost exclusively one-on-one coverage so if they can beat their guy, they can have explosive plays.
Dee Eskridge and Dareke Young will probably be the two guys most likely to earn this spot. But can Eskridge stay healthy enough and run his routes efficiently enough to earn the trust of offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and receivers coach Sanjay Lal? Can Young use the experience he gained in the NFL in 2022 after making a jump from a small college and turn that into earning lots more offensive snaps in 2023? Whichever player is the most consistent throughout training camp and the preseason will be WR4 and the other may not make the roster.
Seahawks center - Evan Brown vs. Olu Oluwatimi
Seattle needs to find a long-term good center. The last guy they had who 12s could count on every season was Max Unger and Unger left in the trade for Jimmy Graham in 2015. In 2022, Austin Blythe was the 33rd-highest-graded center in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required). That doesn't sound too bad until one realizes there are only 32 NFL teams and each team only has one center on the field. Blythe's overall grade was 54.7. He allowed 3 sacks and 22 total pressures.
Evan Brown was a good center for the Detroit Lions in 2021. He allowed just 8 pressures and 1 sack. But Brown was flipped to right guard in 2022 when the Lions had a greater need at that spot after losing a player to injury. But while Brown was OK as a right guard, he isn't going to start at guard for the Seahawks in 2022 because Seattle already has two guys battling for that spot - Anthony Bradford and Phil Haynes - and Brown still wasn't good blocking in the run game.
Seattle likely got a draft day steal when they were able to take Oluwatimi in the fifth-round of the 2023 NFL draft. Oluwatimi won just about any award a center could receive in his final year of college and he is strong enough to play in the NFL right now. But having a veteran at center might be helpful early in the season because Brown would know what to expect from certain interior pass rushers.
The Brown versus Oluwatimi battle might go deep into the preseason and a starter might not be named until closer to Week 1. It will be interesting to see who gets the starts in the preseason games and who gets the majority of the snaps. Whoever plays best in Seattle's final preseason game might just be the starter once the regular season begins.
Seahawks cornerback - Devon Witherspoon vs. Mike Jackson
Eventually, Seattle's cornerback duo will be Tariq Woolen and Witherspoon. The slot corner could be Coby Bryant but he needs to show improvement in 2023. But to start this season, Witherspoon could be in a battle for Mike Jackson. Jackson was surprisingly very good last year in his first season with anyone giving him any kind of chance to prove he could be a solid NFL player.
Jackson allowed just 5.7 yards per target in 2022 and missed just 6 tackles while being in on a combined 75. While the Seahawks had a massive issue bringing opposing players to the ground last year, Jackson wasn't a part of that. He normally cleanly wrapped up and as the season wore on he was even more comfortable in deep coverage.
But Seattle didn't take Witherspoon fifth overall in the 2023 NFL draft to have him sit on the bench once real games begun. The Witherspoon versus Jackson battle is really one for who begins the season in 2023 and not who is starting in 2024. Honestly, it's a good problem for the Seahawks to have. Whoever doesn't start is going to be a quality backup to either Woolen or the other spot.
It should be noted as well that Jackson has reportedly had a fantastic offseason. He isn't going to go into training camp thinking he isn't going to be the starter. He showed last season that he is worthy of getting a bunch of reps. Maybe Seattle chooses Witherspoon over Jackson simply because the team needs to know if Witherspoon is ready to be a high-level player. But if Jackson outplays Witherspoon in training camp. Seattle won't be afraid to start Jackson in Week 1.
Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith vs. Seattle's secondary
Breaking news: Geno Smith is going to be the starting quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks in 2023. OK, that is clearly a joke. But even though we know Smith is going to start in 2023, at least, that doesn't mean we can't learn something about Smith in training camp. More importantly, Smith throwing passes against a revamped and, in some spots, young secondary is going to give us a great idea of how good the secondary can actually be in 2023.
If Smith struggles going up against Tariq Woolen, Witherspoon, Quandre Diggs, and the others, that's not necessarily a bad thing. I mean, OK. If Smith is not good at all that could say more about Smith than it does about the secondary, but I don't expect that to happen. I think Smith will be solid once the real games begin.
Side note, it will also be interesting to see more of Jaxon Smith-Njigba going up against Devon Witherspoon. Plus, we must see if Tariq Woolen, who injured his knee in minicamp, is really ready to play quality snaps. Let's assume he is and the world is OK. If he isn't, that will show up when Smith is throwing passes to DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett one-on-one against Woolen.
Lastly, it's good to go into Seahawks training camp with a lot fewer worries than in 2022. Many still thought Drew Lock should be the starting QB early in the 2022 season, but Smith eased those concerns. Now let's just hope I didn't jinx anything and all of the above players have good training camps with even better play in the regular season and beyond.