The Seahawks are back on the field Monday for the final full week of training camp before preseason opens Aug. 15 against the Dallas Cowboys. With more padded work coming and roster battles sharpening by the day, this stretch should tell us a lot about where the depth chart is headed.
A few of us will be on hand at VMAC and Lumen Field this week, and the focus points are pretty clear: how the offense functions with Sam Darnold, which young players are pushing for jobs, and which parts of the roster are starting to separate from the pack.
For Mookie Alexander, the passing game without play-action is one of the biggest things to monitor. Seattle leaned heavily on under-center play-action last year, and the question now is whether Brian Fleury can widen the offense in ways that matter.
That means looking for more running back targets, quicker throws, slants, and shallow crossers that can create yards after the catch. Mookie also wants a close look at the young defensive backs, especially Julian Neal, Andre Fuller, Michael Dansby, and Bud Clark.
Neal is injured, so that may not amount to much for him, but Dansby has been getting attention all camp and Clark has flashed enough to make himself interesting, including some work with the starters over the weekend. The other name on his list is Rylie Mills, who already has people buzzing after his sack in the Super Bowl and has been earning strong reviews in camp.
Mills could become a key piece of the interior pass rush, and the alignment he gets - 3-tech or 5-tech - will be worth watching.
Josh Hite is zeroed in on the competition at cornerback, where Devon Witherspoon and Josh Jobe look set, but three spots are still up for grabs. That opens the door for rookies, veterans, and anyone else trying to stick.
He’s also keeping an eye on the pass rush, especially with talk that the Seahawks may still be interested in another veteran. For Josh, that makes camp and the preseason a proving ground for the younger edge players who need to show they can take the next step.
His third focus is the interior offensive line. Grey Zabel, Jalen Sundell, and Anthony Bradford appear to have the starting jobs, but the backup spots are still unsettled.
Olu Oluwatimi and Christian Haynes are trying to hold onto their roles, while Mason Richman, Bryce Cabeldue, and Beau Stephens are trying to force their way in.
Bryce Coutts is looking at the team through a coaching lens, and his first priority is the offense as a whole with Sam Darnold at quarterback. He wants to see more than box-score stuff: footwork, timing, eye discipline, command, and how quickly Darnold reacts when the picture changes after the snap.
He’ll also be tracking how Brian Fleury is building the offense through formations, motion, play-action, RPO concepts, and the pre-snap answers that make life easier on the quarterback. That leads straight into Bryce’s second major focus, the offensive line and protection.
He wants to see how well the group communicates, handles movement and pressure, and creates a clean platform for Darnold while helping the run game generate displacement. His third area is Mike Macdonald’s defense and how much further Seattle can push the identity it already has.
That means watching disguise, safety rotations, communication, leverage, route exchanges in coverage, and whether the front can generate pressure without needing extra help. He’ll also be paying attention to consistency across the roster, because camp is about more than a single standout rep.
The real test is what happens after a mistake, whether the player corrects it, keeps his technique together when tired, and actually knows the assignment.
The Seahawks Syndicate will also be back with training camp podcasts, with live shows coming from Fast Fashion Brewing in SoDo. Corbin Smith will join the Aug. 5 show at 7:30 pm PT, the Aug. 7 Town Hall-style recording at 7:30 pm PT will include a ticket giveaway for the Seahawks-Cowboys preseason game, and the final show is set for 2:30 pm PT before Fan Fest on Saturday.
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For a team adjusting after Klint Kubiaks departure, Arroyos emergence offers a welcome boost of optimism. He looks capable of becoming more than just a complementary piece next to starter AJ Barner, and the way he has worked into the passing game suggests there may be a bigger role waiting if this camp momentum carries into the season. [Read more 🡒]