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.
Seahawks surprise No. 2 - Colby Parkinson is fourth in tight end depth
This could have simply been a typo or a misleading chart that Seahawks PR put out, but according to the depth chart Parkinson isn't just third on the TE list, but fourth. We can assume that Seattle is probably going to keep three tight ends on the active roster to begin the season and they will be Will Dissly, Noah Fant, and Parkinson. But per the depth chart, tight end Tyler Mabry is listed higher than Parkinson.
Mabry is almost purely a blocker. He did catch a touchdown pass in 2022, and it was an awesome moment as the whole team seemed to celebrate not just that Seattle had scored but that specifically it was Mabry who had. But the pass Mabry caught is so far his only reception in his two -year career. (By the way, that last bit isn't meant as a slight toward Mabry; He still has one more reception that I would ever have in the NFL.)
But Parkinson isn't a bad blocker either, actually. Plus, Parkinson has the ability to catch and run with the ball once he has it in his hands. He has improved every season in his three years with his receptions jumping from 5 in 2021 to 25 in 2022. He averaged 12.9 yards a catch as well which isn't too shabby for a tight end.
Again, the way the depth chart looks for tight ends was probably just a bit of a mislabeling. When Week 1 begins, Parkinson is going to be the third tight end of the Seahawks team and he could have a pretty successful season this year. All of the tight ends could since Seattle added Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the 2023 NFL draft which means opposing defenses will have to focus even more on Seattle's wideouts and less on the tight ends.
Seahawks surprise No. 3 - Zach Charbonnet is fourth on the running back list
In a slightly weird listing, Charbonnet, who missed some practices in training camp with a bum shoulder but has since come back and looked fantastic, is fourth on the depth chart behind Kenneth Walker III (makes sense), veteran DeeJay Dallas (um...OK...maybe for now), and fellow rookie Kenny McIntosh. McIntosh did look really good in the reps he was picking up when Walker and Charbonnet were missing time with slight injuries, but now McIntosh himself is hurt.
And McIntosh was hurt after the depth chart was produced, too, so it wasn't like he was still participating in practice. The University of Georgia product is expected to miss a couple of weeks with a sprained knee. The hope is that he will be completely ready to go by the time the real games begin because McIntosh is capable of being a three-down back if needed.
Walker is going to be the starter in 2023, of course. He likely won't play in the preseason game versus the Vikings because there is no need for him to play. He knows the offense, especially his blocking assignments, and he proved in 2022 that he can carry the ball 20-plus times a game and be really productive doing so.
The expectation is that once Week 1 rolls around (just a month to go!). Charbonnet will be RB2 behind Walker. If Dallas and McIntosh are both healthy then they should get reps as well. The Seahawks have a young running back room, but the four players expected to make the roster - Walker, Charbonnet, Dallas, and McIntosh - are also pretty talented. They should help Seattle's offense be one of the best units in the league.