4 Seattle Seahawks with the most to prove throughout the preseason

The Seattle Seahawks start their stretch of three preseason games on Saturday when the team plays the Los Angeles Chargers. A great performance against LA by a player trying to make the active 53-man roster is terrific, but he has to back that up with excellent play in the following two preseason games.

12s won't see much of the starters against the Chargers, or for much of the preseason. This allows the players who are trying to fight for a starting spot, or the place on the depth chart, to be stars. Or, they could utterly fail horribly and that could affect their immediate future.

Two of the players below could still make a run at being starters this year. One needs to show 12s that he can actually be good in a Seahawks uniform. The other needs to prove he can be as good against other teams as he has been in training camp this year. All are worth watching throughout the preseason.

Four Seahawks who must prove their importance to the team during the preseason

Center Olu Oluwatimi

If training camp wasn't already naturally stressful enough for the second-year player who didn't get many reps as a rookie but was presumed to be the starter this year anyway, things have certainly taken a turn in the last week. Oluwatimi is going to make the team because he is good enough to keep - and maybe to start- but the Seahawks' new coaches clearly do not have the kind of trust in him that the last coaching staff might have.

This is shown by Seattle being set to sign free agent Connor Williams who once officially inked, should be the assumed starter. Williams was fantastic for the Miami Dolphins for the last couple of years, and that included being graded as the second-best center in the NFL in 2023, according to Pro Football Focus (paywall alert).

Oluwatimi will have his chance to shine in Preseason Week 1, but that likely isn't enough for him to keep his starting job. That is unless he does incredibly well against the Los Angeles Chargers and for the rest of the preseason. It's up to him to prove he deserves the starting center job in 2024.

Edge rusher Derick Hall

Hall was horrible last season in his rookie year. Seattle probably hoped that he could play a significant amount of backup reps in 2023 and help stop the run. He was a second-round draft choice after all. Instead, Hall appeared to be extremely overwhelmed. He played on 27 percent of defensive snaps, had just five total pressures, and according to PFF, was the worst-graded edge rusher against the run.

Thankfully, Hall appears to be a different player in training camp this year. He has been stout against the run and supplied occasional pressure. His main challenge should be perfecting his run defense because this is going to earn him more reps than fellow edge rusher Darrell Taylor and allow the coaches to feel safer when he subs in for starters Uchenna Nwosu and Boye Mafe.

Hall being better in training camp is great. He needs to show what he can do against teams not wearing a Seattle jersey during preseason games, however. And he needs to stay healthy.

Quarterback Sam Howell

Howell has been a disappointment for the most part during training camp. The offseason acquisition has been inaccurate and/or late with many passes. He has shown he can scramble around some, but he needs to prove that in Ryan Grubb's offense, he is able to throw his way out of trouble. Perhaps playing against other teams in more regular season-type settings will help him showcase his skills.

He is going to stick at QB2, but what happens if QB3 PJ Walker greatly outplays him this preseason? Walker also has some starting experience in the league. For the sake of 12s everywhere, fans need to know that Howell can direct the offense with confidence should something happen to Geno Smith. One way of supplying that confidence is by doing well in the preseason.

Right guard Christian Haynes

Haynes probably has not yet been the player Seattle hoped he would be when the team took him in the third round of the 2024 NFL draft. The right guard was expected to bring a menacing style of player and be fundamentally relatively sound after playing in 50 games in college. In minicamp, he underwhelmed and the hope was that once the pads came on, the real Haynes would be seen.

Except for a couple of good practices, Haynes has appeared to be more of a backup, and potentially not even second-string. McClendon Curtis got a lot of time with the first-teamers in camp and Anthony Bradford, who started some as a rookie in 2023, could become the Week 1 starter or Curtis's backup.

Haynes has a chance, however, with three great performances in the preseason games to stake his claim as the starter. With bad games, he might not play much at all when the regular season begins.

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