This is a guest post by Curtis Allen
A new era of Seahawk football took shape yesterday in their first-ever training camp under Mike Macdonald. It was immediately evident right from the start that Macdonald spent the spring and summer putting his personal stamp on things.
Gone is the chill good-times vibe that ran through Pete Carroll’s practices. Players seemed focused and educated on what their new Head Coach was asking of them. Drills and scrimmages were run crisply. Players hustled in and out of assignments, barely needing any encouragement from their leaders to get moving.
Sure, the signature music was there but at about 70% of the volume it used to be. It supplemented the work instead of dominating it. Coaches and players could communicate comfortably and receive instruction.
With this more regimented practice session, I would guess the team as a whole got about 15-20% more reps and drills in the same amount of time as previous team practices under Carroll. Quite good for a triumvirate of a first-time Head Coach and his two Coordinators, don’t you think? It would appear that a blueprint has been well laid by Macdonald and supplemented and enhanced by Leslie Frazier.
This also recommends a certain comfort and confidence in the leadership group. In past years, Carroll would be struggling to explain poor execution by his players weeks into the season. Clint Hurtt’s declarations down the stretch last year that the defense needed to ‘refocus on the fundamentals of tackling’ now stand out in stark contrast to what we are witnessing in practice with this new regime.
I know it is just one practice, but it sure felt like a page has been turned with this franchise.
The Quarterbacks
Watching the game’s most important position is always a highlight of training camp. Quarterbacks get a lot of opportunity to show their skills, what with very little actual pass rush and physical play from the defensive backs allowed early on.
Right from the start, there was an obvious difference between Geno Smith and Sam Howell. Two years ago, I wrote that “Geno warms up and practices with purpose and gives off a vibe that he is here to win the job.”
That is still true. Even in no-offensive-line drills, Smith is throwing crisp, on-target passes. Howell seems a step behind — not repping like he is facing a defense and just getting the ball to the receiver in a non-game type situation. Accuracy I wouldn’t say is an issue for Howell, but he was not nearly as good as Smith.
In the scrimmages, Smith proved superior to Howell, mainly due to taking more shots downfield and completing more than missing. Both checked down – quite a lot if we are being honest – but Howell more so than Smith. Check downs are fine as a side dish but an offense needs the protein of pushing the ball downfield and Smith had a decided advantage today.
Howell has not done nearly enough at this point to show he is going to put up a legitimate challenge for the starting job.
Something that Smith seems to have practiced in and developed more is looking off defenders. More than once, he had his vision locked to one side of the field, then switched focus to the other side and made a nice throw. Those types of actions are very hard to defend. If he can translate this skill to live games, watch out. At one point, Smith had Kenneth Walker flanking him in shotgun and had Lockett, DK Metcalf, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Noah Fant running routes. A quarterback who can avoid locking in on targets will be graciously rewarded due to all the weapons he has.
That said, Smith still has a long way to go in order to master this offense. He mixed some brilliant throws (an absolute dime to Tyler Lockett with about six inches of space to work with was the best throw of the day by far) with some of his frustrating tendencies – being indecisive, holding onto the ball too long, then rushing the throw and making an incompletion.
One particular bugaboo that Smith and the offense have long struggled with reared its ugly head again today. During a scrimmage, there was a pause and one of the coaches was talking to Smith. They then lined up and immediately got flagged for a false start. On the next play, now behind the sticks, Smith threw a poor pass that fluttered and fell at Metcalf’s feet. That would have killed a drive in real life.
Let me remind you – it is the first day of camp. Things like this happen all the time. But it bears watching, as the offense has consistently struggled to get out of their own way at times when the games count.
Other Offensive Notes
Jaxon Smith-Njigba is looking like he is going to pick up right where he left off. The Seahawks had him primarily in the slot in scrimmages, frequently bunched with Metcalf. He had two excellent catches that attacked the middle of the field.
Metcalf and Tre Brown had a real battle today that was great to watch. Each won an impressive round – Metcalf with a great contested catch in the end zone with Brown draped all over him. Later, Brown stripping the ball out of Metcalf’s hands to either force an incompletion or a fumble.
The Right Tackle spot was a rotation between George Fant and McLendon Curtis. Coach Macdonald’s comments after practice indicated they like Curtis at Right Tackle ‘from a roster standpoint.’ That does not bode well for Abe Lucas’ recovery timetable.
Olu Oluwatimi got most of the reps as the Center with the top line. He seemed to handle it well, most snaps were shotgun which he delivered fine.
Charles Cross still looks thin to me. From my vantage point, when the linemen first came out, I thought a Tight End had gotten lost from his group and had wandered over to the linemen until I saw his number. Entering a critical year, he will need every bit of that quick-feet athleticism to take the next step. It does not look like he is going to ever make his mark as a physical presence.
Ryan Grubb and the offense are not going to show us much of their play concepts on day one of training camp. A lot of the scrimmage plays were fairly bland. One play I found very interesting though: On about the five-yard line, the Seahawks bunched three receivers to the right. The defense was trying to get all lined up, as they were caught off guard. It opened up the middle of the field for a slant and Cody White ran it well but could not secure an easy score off a Howell throw.
Defensive Notes
Jarran Reed and Johnathan Hankins are going to be trouble on the interior. Reed got his paw up and batted a pass and nearly intercepted it. Hankins was moving bodies inside. When you consider the Seahawks have other players like Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy who can also disrupt from the interior, that is really saying something.
Dre Jones spent the whole practice session lined up as a Defensive End in three-point stance. I could have missed it but not once did I see him line up where the OLB’s do. That may come later. But it bears monitoring.
On the first scrimmage series with the starting defense, Tariq Woolen and Tre Brown lined up on opposite sides of the field. On the second series, they flipped. Versatility is a key word we have been hearing from Macdonald this offseason. It appears they are trying to get all the cornerbacks some time on each side in order to expose them to the idea.
Derick Hall flattened Garret Greenfield at one point. Hall seemed far more energetic and engaged than he did as a rookie in camp. A great sign.
The three primary inside linebackers, Tyrell Dodson, Jarome Baker and Tyrice Knight all looked very competent and healthy. Dodson and Baker were just activated off the PUP list but took just about every rep they could and showed no physical challenges doing so. Knight looked fast.
Boye Mafe and Devon Witherspoon did not have a big play today but both just have the ‘it factor’ when they practice. Nothing will rattle them. They have a good grasp of what their assignments are and they know what they can do. Witherspoon was working as a nickel in a zone and his receiver was about to be handed off to the next zone defender so he gave him a little shove that knocked him off his route just enough and made Geno hesitate enough to disrupt the play. Little things like that.
