Byron Murphy is a player I have wanted on the Seahawks for a very long time. I lost my mind when they selected him. Every report from OTA and minicamp, as well as my interview with him, only increased my anticipation and excitement about what he could bring to the team. Training camp started and if I’m being honest, Murphy disappointed. He was not awful or even bad. His traits simply were not flashing. He looked like a quality player instead of a special player. The Seahawks desperately need guys to go beyond good, and become beasts that rank at the best or near the best at their positions.
Murphy started to gain some momentum over the next few practices. Still, these were just more good moments. Today, he flashed great. Leonard Williams took a veteran day off which allowed Murphy to get a lot more snaps. His overall day was good, but where he flashed was in 1v1 pass rush drills.
If you remember from yesterday’s report, he had a tough time with Anthony Bradford. The two rematched today and Murphy beat Bradford with an inside move on the first rep. He then beat him again on the second rep badly enough that Bradford had to hold. That was the appetizer. Murphy matched up with backup center Nick Harris a few reps later. I wish you all could have seen Murphy knock Harris back so hard and so fast that he landed squarely on his tail. Onlookers gasped.
It was about as dominant of a display of power as you will see in these types of drills. Murphy was not done. The two reset for the next rep. Harris is a vet, and was ready for Murphy’s power this time. He anchored himself at the snap and braced for the rush. He tried to lunge forward a bit to initiate contact with Murphy. The problem was Murphy was one step ahead of him. He took one step forward to fake the bull rush, and then stepped laterally in a flash, leaving Harris blocking air, and Murphy racing by him for a would-be sack.
In two plays, Murphy showed his elite power and elite quickness. Those were the traits I have been waiting for. Those are the traits that can make him a nightmare for opponents. He is nowhere near showcasing them each play, but I have learned over the years that a player’s ceiling is set by what they show you on the field during camp. Murphy validated his ceiling is sky high today.
Haynes joins the party
Christian Haynes has also had a somewhat disappointing start to camp. He has been the backup right guard behind Bradford. There have not been egregious errors. There simply have not been many flash moments to set that higher ceiling. He has looked like a rookie who is likely to backup for a while.
Laken Tomlinson took a vet day off today. The expectation would be that Raiqwon O’Neal would move from backup to starter and Sataoa Laumea would move up a spot to backup left guard. That did not happen. Instead, Haynes played his first snaps at left guard, and he played them with the starters. O’Neal moved to backup right guard for the day.
This was noteworthy for a few reasons. Haynes played thousands of snaps in college, and had never played a single one as a left guard. Draft analysts talked about him as exclusively a right guard. Chalk up another “L” for draft analysts.
Haynes got a ton of reps and seemed to do pretty well. There were a few matchups with Murphy. The first one saw Murphy drive him backwards a few yards. The very next play, Haynes turned Murphy inside and cleared the way for a nice run.
Haynes had his best day in 1v1s as well. He manhandled Myles Adams twice in a row. Adams is catlike in his quickness and is a tough matchup in that drill.
Haynes did get bullied by Uchenna Nwosu later in the drill. It was not the flashy day that Murphy had, but it was a solid step forward, and arguably his best day so far.
It is also noteworthy that the coaches had seen enough from him to this point that they wanted him out there with the first string. Generally, coaches are trying to figure out who the best five guys are. This felt like them saying they think Haynes is in that conversation, even if not right away.
Right tackle depth appears significantly improved
Last season was a nightmare at right tackle for Seattle. Abe Lucas missing time shined a light on how bad the depth was behind him. Early signs are that is not the case this season. George Fant has been playing with the starters and doing a fine job.
McClendon Curtis has been impressive behind him, and rookie Mike Jerrell was been a standout through two days of padded practice. You are talking about being four deep when Lucas returns. The group looks promising enough that they really do not need to rush Lucas back.
Jason Myers doing his thing
The team worked on field goals today. Myers, who has been on target for most of camp, hit a 55 yard field goal on one series. He then missed three straight. Two were roughly 40-45 yards and one was around 30-35 yards. The $5.5 million dollar man remains inconsistent.
New twists to practice
Macdonald introduced a bunch of new concepts to practice today. They has the “mystery scenario” where Leslie Frazier gives a situation to the PA guy who reads it out over the sound system. Macdonald, Aden Durde, and Ryan Grubb do not know what’s coming. They then get the scenario and need to come up with play calls for the situation.
The situation today was:
- 12 seconds left in the game
- Offense needs a touchdown to win
- Ball at the 15-yard line
The first play saw Artie Burns break up a pass for Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The next play saw Riq Woolen blanket D.K. Metcalf and Geno Smith had to throw the ball away. On 3rd down, Smith lofted a pass to the corner of the endzone that Tyler Lockett appeared well positioned to catch, but it was batted away by Woolen.
Another new twist was a variation of 1v1s. Macdonald had the entire team watching as different versions of 1v1s unfolded in front of them. The first one had receiver Cody White getting the better of Lance Boykin deep. The second was Haynes facing off against Murphy trying to get to Smith. Haynes won the matchup. Next up was Jerrell, who did so well his offensive teammates erupted. Laumea won his matchup with Devere Levelston. George Holani held up in blitz protection against Tyrice Knight. Finally, Dee Williams got by Mike Jackson as a punt gunner.
It was a smart way to utilize the added pressure of everyone watching to increase focus and competition and better replicate game like intensity.
Sam Howell has settled down
Sam Howell had a very very very rough start to camp. He appears to have found his footing. There were no awful plays today, and there were a fair share of good ones. One play early in practice during team drills had him perfectly execute a play-action off a bootleg where he hit a wide open Dareke Young in stride.
Grubb was so excited the play worked exactly as he envisioned that he took a step forward and pumped his fist. This guy is competing.
Howell did better with hot reads and getting rid of the ball more quickly. He utilized Laviska Shenault and Cody White and Young a few different times.
Geno and DK back to their old tricks
The defense clearly won yesterday. They were good again today, but the offense traded blows with them in a way they just did not yesterday. Smith and Metcalf were at the center of it.
Metcalf caught another gorgeous back shoulder throw from Smith with Devon Witherspoon all over him.
Tyrel Dodson got immediate pressure on a blitz, and Smith deftly delivered the ball to Metcalf in the blink of an eye for a nice gain.
But the play of the day was a throw Smith lofted to the back corner of the endzone with Witherspoon in tight coverage that saw Metcalf extend his right hand behind him and haul in the pass with one hand for a touchdown.
Players, fans, and media were all buzzing. This was the type of catch we have wanted to see from Metcalf. This is the type of catch he is making so far this camp. He looks like a guy capable of breaking every Seahawks single season receiving record this year.
Keep in mind, the Seahawks coverage guys are having an excellent camp. A lot of these catches have come with tight coverage. What Metcalf does against lesser competition could have folks asking for a mercy rule.
Woolen and Spoon are playing great
It might be hard to understand how Metcalf can be having such a great camp and Woolen and Witherspoon are doing the same. Woolen won the matchup with Metcalf most of the day in the first padded practice. Today, he probably won 50% of them. If you look at his reps against all receivers today, he was winning far more.
Macdonald took a long pause when asked about Woolen after practice today because he was hesitant to hype him up too much. It is clear they are excited by what they are seeing, and the back-and-forth between Woolen and Metcalf is making both players better.
Spoon is having fewer pass breakups, but his coverage is impeccable. He got more time playing outside corner today and was excellent. They are going to use him everywhere, including both right and left corner. Macdonald confirmed that today, which indicates Woolen will travel with the opponents best receiver on some weeks.