It is debatable whether the NFL did Cleveland Browns fans a favor by scheduling a 10PM ET start for their final preseason game in Seattle. The late game helped many miss their team being manhandled by the Seahawks in every phase of the game, but they also missed as entertaining of a final preseason game as you are going to see. Both teams flashed big play ability all the way until the last minute in a game that featured two teams with playoff aspirations. Fireworks late into the night prior to the dawn of Mike Macdonald’s tenure felt fitting.
The normal thing to focus on after the final preseason game is who will make the final roster. What has happened this training camp and preseason feels abnormal.
Macdonald comes to Seattle with a sparkling track record on defense, and no prior experience as a head coach or on the offensive side of the ball. He is the youngest head coach in the NFL. He has no history with this organization or the people who lead it. His coaching staff is full of people who have not worked together or with Macdonald.
The roster has been talented, but unfocused and unrefined. It felt like a group of good, but not great, players who were missing the hunger and edge required to be compete with the best.
It would be normal for Macdonald to need a couple of years to install his scheme and turn over the roster to reflect the culture he wants to build. It would be normal to see signs of inexperience from a first time head coach with communication problems on the sideline or sloppiness on the field.
This does not feel normal.
Macdonald and the Seahawks just wrapped up the most encouraging and stirring preseason the Seahawks have seen in at least a decade. Seattle felt like the more talented and well coached team in each game they played despite barely playing any starters.
The starting offense, led by Geno Smith, played only a single series in three weeks. No NFL offense this preseason looked more threatening than the Seahawks starting offense for one series. Smith was off-target to D.K. Metcalf on his first pass and then calmly threw one of the prettiest passes you will see this entire NFL season to Jaxon Smith-Njigba on the next play for a 25 yard gain. He showed off his creativity in the pocket on the next play when he somehow found Kenny McIntosh for a 9-yard gain while under duress. A quick and easy slant to JSN for another 7 yards put the team on the 21-yard-line.
Smith dropped back and saw Metcalf in single coverage. As he has done countless times during training camp, he unleashed a parabolic pass to his Greek god of a wide receiver with full trust he would make a play on the ball. Metcalf calmly, almost at half-speed, waited for the pass and leapt high above a helpless defender to make the catch for the touchdown.
He made the cornerback look like a grade schooler. That has always been the promise of Metcalf, but rarely has been his NFL reality. Every sign points to this being the year he ascends into the elite tier of wideouts.
Five plays. Sixty-two yards. Seven points. Less than two minutes. That was all Macdonald and Ryan Grubb needed to see of their starting offense.
The starting defense played two series against the Chargers in the first preseason game, and suited up for this one as well.
Julian Love sliced in from his safety spot on the first play to level running back Jerome Ford on the first play for a 1-yard gain. Devon Witherspoon broke up Jameis Winston’s pass on second down with blanket coverage. Boye Mafe tipped a pass on 3rd down that should have ended the drive, but a dubious roughing the passer flag was thrown against Uchenna Nwosu. That flag would prove costly.
Gifted 15 yards and a fresh set of downs at their 44-yard line, Winston again was rushed into an incompletion on first down, but a cheap shot chop block on the Brown guard where the player dove at Nwosu’s knee with his helmet, knocked Nwosu out of the game.
Nwosu was able to leave the field under his own power and stayed on the sideline with ice on his knee before eventually walking back to the locker room with some Seahawks staffers. Macdonald did not have an update on the injury after the game. My completely untrained read that you should ignore is that Nwosu likely suffered a bruise and will be sore, but should be fine with some rest.
Fast forward a few plays and Cleveland had a 3rd and 11. Winston had no chance after the ball was snapped as the Seahawks pass rush enveloped him, with Jarran Reed getting credit for the 10-yard sack.
Winston has started 80 games in his career. He looked confused, rushed, and a bit panicked on that drive. That was enough to convince Macdonald to pull his defensive starters.
The rest of the game was eventful, but it was those series played by the starters that spoke loudest. That looked like a team that will keep opposing offensive and defensive coordinators up at night. Seattle has been a team that lacked intimidation, sophistication, and execution for years. Nobody worried when the Seahawks were on their schedule.
The biggest hits happen when you don’t see them coming. Macdonald, Grubb, and crew have this team stalking the unsuspecting NFL like vintage Kam Chancellor preparing to crush Vernon Davis.
There is a misnomer about high achievers in the working world. People see the promotion to Director, VP, or CEO and assume the person is ambitious. That can definitely be the case, but for a lot of high achievers it is more about trying to find their level, their ceiling. Many of the most talented people I have worked with are constantly searching for roles that make them feel out of their depth and uncomfortable. That causes them to race to meet the moment and grow to fill the responsibilities. That process of testing yourself and finding you are capable of more is addictive and validating.
We see that process happening in the NFL all the time, and it happens in the brutally bright lights of the public eye. Brandon Staley seemed like the next great head coach after excelling with the Los Angeles Rams as a defensive coordinator. He crashed and burned as coach of the Chargers. The job was too big for him.
Macdonald has not coached a single regular season game and I am already convinced he is someone who will flourish in this new role. He will undoubtedly learn lessons along the way that will make him a better head coach in a few years than he is right now, but he has the right people around him and the right roster to get off to a fast start.
Other news that mattered
Most of the roster was set prior to this game being played. At stake were a handful of spots on the 53-man roster, a starting right guard position, and practice squad invites. Let’s cover each of those.
Right guard
Anthony Bradford entered the game as the presumed starter, and there did not appear to be anything that would change the depth chart in this one. Christian Haynes had some nice blocks, especially on the McIntosh touchdown run, but also had a holding call (that was questionable). It just makes sense for the team to roll with the second-year player over the rookie if the competition is close. Pete Carroll used to have a rule that if a rookie was even with a veteran in camp, go with the rookie because that player will develop and overtake the veteran. It is possible the Seahawks will make a similar decision, but look for them to instead be satisfied knowing they can rotate Haynes in on any series or for any game.
Roster spots
Dee Williams entered the game as the presumed answer at kick and punt returner. Dee Eskridge entered with what seemed like long odds to make the roster. Williams had a nice 16-yard punt return. Eskridge had an electrifying 79-yard punt return for a touchdown. Newcomer Michael Barrett had a key final block to clear the way on that return.
Williams also gave up a late touchdown in coverage. It would not be surprising at all if John Schneider and Macdonald decided to keep Eskridge, knowing Williams is far less likely to be signed onto the 53-man roster of another team.
The trade of Darrell Taylor left the team with a perfectly good group of four edge players, especially with Macdonald indicating after the game that they expect Dre’Mont Jones back. If the Nwosu injury is more serious than expected, it could open the door for keeping another edge player. The guy who has absolutely earned it is Jamie Sheriff.
Sheriff was delivering beer before he got the call from the Seahawks. He has been delivering hits on every opposing quarterback since. Sheriff has shown up in practice in 1v1 pass rush drills. He has shown up in every preseason game. It almost feels like he has created pressure on every single snap.
He finished this game with two sacks and three QB hits. That should be four QB hits, but he was flagged for roughing the passer. The team has seen more of Nelson Ceasar, but Sheriff has outplayed him and Sunny Anderson.
Macdonald seemed to indicate after the game that they were hoping Sheriff would come back to the team on the practice squad. NFL teams hold their breath on cutdown day for certain players. Sheriff might be one of them.
As much as his performance has been electric, keep in mind the flashy preseasons of Nick Reed and Kasen Williams. The team will have a better idea if he is someone they have to protect on the 53-man roster.
Artie Burns left the game with a non-contact injury. He was then carted off the sideline into the locker room with his shoe off. That collection of information does not bode well. In the worst case scenario where Burns is lost for the season, the team could look to keep rookie DJ James for depth at nickel. They also like Lance Boykin, but he is stricly and outside corner.
James is not ready to play meaningful snaps in the NFL. It is not out of the question that the team would look to snag another nickel corner off another team’s practice squad. An outside possibility would be for them to ask Tre Brown to start taking some slot snaps in case anything were to happen to Witherspoon. Beyond that, Coby Bryant could be asked to reprise his nickel corner role.
The third running back spot was a lively battle throughout camp and preseason. McIntosh had a terrific game against the Titans and followed it up with a highlight reel 56-yard touchdown on his only carry, that included a vicious stiff-arm of a defender. Marshawn Lynch smiled somewhere.
George Holani was terrific as well, scoring a touchdown and breaking numerous tackles and ankles on an 18-yard scamper.
It is possible the team decides to keep four running backs and only nine offensive linemen. That would mean someone like Raiqwon O’Neal would not make the squad. Holani and McIntosh have certainly earned a spot.
The team has another tough choice at linebacker where Jon Rhattigan and Patrick O’Connell might be vying for one spot. Rhattigan has a $3M non-guaranteed salary that works against him. Nothing in this game made it seem like the team has to keep Rhattigan at all costs. Even if he signs elsewhere, Drake Thomas is a guy they have to like as a developmental player on the practice squad.
Practice squad
Speaking of practice squad, it is possible that PJ Walker has faded enough that the team will not keep him on the practice squad. That would open a spot for another position player. Best bets include:
- TE Tyler Mabry
- WR Easop Winston Jr
- S Ty Okada
- S Marquise Blair
- OT Mike Jerrell
- OG Sataoa Laumea
- DE Myles Adams
- OLB Jamie Sheriff
- OLB Nelson Ceasar
- CB Lance Boykin
- CB Carlton Johnson or DJ James
- LB Drake Thomas
- LB Jon Rhattigan
- OT Garrett Greenfield
- WR Cody White
- PR/KR Dee Williams (if Eskridge makes it)
A new season, a fresh start
The best way to approach this 2024 season is to temper expectations. Things are rarely as rosy as they seem this time of year. Macdonald and crew will be tested by game plans that exploit their weaknesses and take away their strengths.
What makes it hard to keep a lid on those expectations is this Seahawks team feels like it has some talent on the field and on the sidelines that is matchup proof. Fans had a chance to see the greatness of Metcalf and JSN and Smith. They have not seen the new version of Kenneth Walker or Noah Fant or the full breadth of this Grubb offense.
Laviska Shenault Jr. gives the team a reliable and repeatable threat as a ball carrier and a receiver. Jake Bobo quietly continues to be an incredibly value receiver, while Tyler Lockett has almost become the forgotten man.
Woolen and Witherspoon are going to give teams fits all season long. Byron Murphy is not even a starter on this deep defensive line. Mafe and his 9.0 sacks from last season might not even start.
We wait to hear about injuries to Rashawn Jenkins (from practice last week), Nwosu, and Burns. We wait to find out if Abe Lucas just needs the four more week of rehab on PUP or the team will not be able to count on him at all. We wait to see if Connor Williams can be the dynamic presence in the middle of the line that he was in past years with Miami.
We wait. But we wait with anticipation, and we do not have to wait much longer.