3 winners and 2 losers from the Seattle Seahawks 2024 preseason

Loser - Seahawks edge rusher group

Things looked pretty swell for a while. Boye Mafe was active in the preseason games and Derick Hall appeared ready to make a second-year leap in production. That last part cannot be a question anymore and has to be a must. Hall, after all, was a second-round draft pick so he should be expected to be good. The edge rusher had a couple of sacks and was a huge presence in run support.

The above is the good part. The bad is that Seattle appears to have lost Uchenna Nwosu for several weeks with a knee injury suffered in preseason Week 3. Nwosu is the Seahawks' most well-rounded and efficient edge rusher. After missing the rest of the season after being hurt in Week 7 of the 2023 season with a torn pec, Nwosu is likely to go almost a full year missing real games.

This means Hall, along with recently acquired Trevis Gipson, will have to be very good to begin the season. Not having Nwosu is a massive setback for Mike Macdonald's defense, but Hall and Gipson can help overcome the loss.

Winner - Wide receiver Laviska Shenault, Jr.

Shenault was an under-the-radar free agent signing this offseason. In the last couple of seasons, he had not produced much in the passing game for the Carolina Panthers. Over the course of his four-year career, Shenault had not been consistently explosive when catching passes. He did flash god ability when returning kicks, however.

The great part is that Shenault has been quite good when catching the ball in preseason and while he is likely only to be WR5, he could supply a number of splash plays that change the outcomes of games. He also should be a real threat when returning kicks. Dee Williams has also been good when returning kicks but he is unlikely to make the team. That means the return job should belong to Shenault.