Three things to watch for when Seahawks play the Vikings in preseason game 1
By Lee Vowell
The Seattle Seahawks will host the Minnesota Vikings in Seattle's first preseason game of 2023 on Thursday. The game will be held at Lumen Field at 7 pm PT. KING 5 will carry the game in the Seattle area and the NFL Network will show the game nationally.
We don't know how many starters will play for Seattle or how long they will play. Geno Smith and other top-end players might just come in for one or two series, or possibly they won't play at all. Why risk them to injury?
Preseason games can be fun for many reasons, though. First, there's no pressure. Who wins or loses doesn't matter. But most importantly, we might learn a lot about the depth that Seattle will have this year. Here are three things to look forward to on Thursday.
What Seahawks defensive lineman will look good other than the presumed starters?
We can assume who starts on Seattle defensive line to begin the season. That would be Mario Edwards, Jr. one one side, Dre'Mont Jones on the other side, and Jarran Reed as nose guard in the middle. While Reed still might be a question mark at nose since he's never played that spot full-time, we can at least assume from his experience in the NFL that he has an idea of how to play the spot. But who might stand out besides those three guys?
There are some promising players. Rookies Mike Morris and Cam Young should get a ton of reps in the preseason. Young could potentially blossom into the starting nose guard and maybe Reed slides back over to end at some point in 2023. Sure, no opponents are going to scheme against any other team in the preseason, but this means a fan might see more man-to-man battles and that could allow Young to stand out (or fail).
Head coach Pete Carroll has said veteran Myles Adams has shown "terrific consistent" in training camp. Adams doesn't really have the girth to play the nose, and he is likely more of a direct backup to Dre'Mont Jones. Adams has some athleticism and with a good showing through the preseason should cement his roster spot.