3 surprises from the Seattle Seahawks first unofficial depth chart

The Seattle Seahawks play on Thursday their first preseason game of the 2023 season against the Minnesota Vikings. Neither team is likely to play their presumed starters for much of the game. Whoever wins or loses doesn't matter. What the glorified practice is really about is giving the coaching staffs more situations to decide on which players to keep on the active 53-man rosters.

For instance, we know players such as Geno Smith and Bobby Wagner are going to be on the team. But likes like Artie Burns? We aren't too sure.

Not that Burns is a bad player. He isn't and by most accounts, he has had a really good training camp. But he's buried behind some very good talent on the depth chart. Speaking of the depth chart, at least an unofficial one put together by the Seattle Seahawks PR team, here are a few surprises heading into preseason Week 1.

Seahawks surprise No. 1 - Ben Burr-Kirven higher than Vi Jones

No offense to Burr-Kirven who has battled back from a serious leg injury two years ago to be re-signed by this offseason, but his being listed higher on the depth chart than Jones doesn't speak well on Seattle's already thin depth at inside linebacker. While Burr-Kirven did get on the field with Seattle in two seasons (2019 and 2020), he didn't play much defense. He was only in on 14 defensive snaps combined in those two years and now the Seahawks have a different defensive coordinator.

Meanwhile, Vi Jones had looked pretty good in training camp before the Burr-Kirven signing. Jones isn't a big guy at just 225 pounds, but he is extremely athletic. Maybe Seattle doesn't think Jones can hold up over an entire season, especially against the run. But Jones, nor Burr-Kirven, would be expected to be starters unless someone got hurt. And that's even before considering that Jordyn Brooks looks like he might return sooner than later from a late 2022 season knee injury.

The problem for Seattle with Burr-Kirven or Jones is that neither has proven they can compete at a decent level in the NFL should they be thrust into a starting role. Like Seattle's defensive line, inside linebacker is very thin. The top-end talent, like Bobby Wagner and Dre'Mont Jones, is there, but if the starters get injured, the Seahawks could be in trouble.