Seahawks Scrimmage Recap

Offense
Offensive Line
Walter Jones was held out because of a sore shoulder, but I also figure they didn’t want to risk any real injury, especially on the turf.

The first team line, left-to-right consisted of:
Sean Locklear, Rob Sims, Chris Spencer, Chris Gray/Ray Willis, Tom Ashworth
Ray Willis played with the first team line considerably more than Gray did.

The second string line was:
Jonathan Alston, Mansfield Wrotto, Pat Ross, Steve Vallos, Kyle Williams
Ray Willis and Chris Gray both worked with that line at RG some as well.

At the very end of the scrimmage, the line was:
Jonathan Alston, Jason Murphy, Austin King, Ray Willis, Kyle Williams

Wide Receivers
The entire receiving corps played very well. D.J. Hackett looked the best. Lots of nice catches, consistently got open, etc. Courtney Taylor and Ben Obomanu both made several nice catches and looked like real NFL caliber receivers. They made it look like the Seahawks should seriously consider keeping 6 receivers. Even after they were both sidelined with injuries (details below), Jordan Kent didn’t play very much at all. Logan Payne and Joe Fernandez were out there as often as Kent was. And none of them looked anywhere near as good as Obomanu or Taylor.

Deion Branch looked fine. Nate Burleson looked good as well. He made a really nice grab in the endzone on a hard-to-catch pass and burned Josh Wilson on a fly route in the 7-on-7 drill. The ball was overthrown, but he clearly had Wilson beat. Engram wasn’t out there much and dropped a ball.

Injury details: Obomanu made a nice grab and spun away from the corner, but then got sandwiched in the middle of the field. He got up and ran off the field, but looked shaken up. He went and sat on the bench and the trainers looked at him for awhile and were feeling around on his back under his jersey. He sat on the bench in the same spot for quite awhile, and eventually put a towel over his head. After about 20-30 minutes, he walked over to the training table and took off his cleats and put on sneakers. He eventually walked to an ambulance and left the stadium. Before he got injured he was looking really good. So was Courtney Taylor who also got injured. It looked like he just had his knee hit pretty hard. He came to the sideline with half-a-limp and then had a pack of ice wrapped around his knee the rest of the scrimmage, but he was walking around.

Quarterbacks
David Greene started with the second team offense and looked pretty good overall. He made one terrible incomplete pass that almost looked like a fumble. It was hard to tell, but it looked like maybe one of the offensive linemen was getting pushed back into him as he stepped up. That was his only incompletion. Greene was 100 times better than Devine. He only came in at the very end and didn’t complete a pass. Three of his four incompletion were nowhere near the receivers, either off by 10 yards or way over their heads and out-of-bounds.

Seneca Wallace looked strong. He did have a pass picked off by Kelly Jennings at the one-yard line and Jennings took in back the other way for a score. But Wallace looks like the fastest player on the team. He turned around and caught Jennings (running at full speed) from behind. Jennings also had two blockers, but Wallace managed to hit him at the one and knock him down as he went into the endzone.

Hasselbeck played the first two series with the first team offense, and also played in the redzone and 7-on-7 drills. He looked pretty solid, and was obviously the best QB out there. He hooked up with Hackett quite a bit and looked like he was moving around just fine.

Tight Ends
Marcus Pollard didn’t play very much and Heller was held out with a sore ankle. Even so, Joe Newton barely got on the field. Leonard Stephens and Bennie Joppru were splitting time, and both played a lot on special teams. They both actually looked pretty good and made some catches. Joppru took a little bit of a cheap shot (especially for a scrimmage) as he was stepping out of bounds after a catch. He was injured, but got back on the field for a few plays, only to wind up laying on the training table after that. At the end of the practice he walked onto the field when they circled up with the help of crutches.

Newton was in there at TE for maybe 2-3 plays with Devine at QB. He also lined up in the field goal unit after Joppru was injured. Most of the time, he was standing on the sideline with his helmet in his hand. Stephens is looking more like a lock for the #3 TE spot.

Running Backs
It is hard to tell anything about the backs in these scrimmages. Alexander barely played. Morris was running pretty well, but missed a catch. Weeks didn’t look that good and fumbled it. Weaver was in there in a one-back set in the redzone and caught a screen pass and pounded it into the endzone from just inside the ten.

Defense
It is pretty hard to follow the defense very well. They substitute players quite a bit, so different guys are in there every few plays.

Safeties
Brian Russell was clearly the free safety with Deon Grant playing closer to the line of scrimmage. It is hard to say how good they looked, but I don’t remember them getting beat or being out of position.

C.J. Wallace was out there going for some big hits. He delivered a few, but I saw him totally miss one as well. It made for some excitement, but he also injured Obomanu and I am not sure the big hit was necessary. Obomanu had made a catch and spun away from the corner near the sideline and was surrounded by four or five defenders in the middle of the field and Wallace just clobbered him using his helmet as Obomanu was bracing himself and getting tackled.

I was encouraged to see Mike Green out there moving well. He was playing free safety with the second team defense and would start close to the box and then drift back before the snap. Boulware didn’t play all that much. Neither did Grant or Russell.

Corners
Kelly Jennings and Josh Wilson both looked pretty good. Wilson played opposite Trufant for a few plays with the starters. The Jennings interception was exciting. Wallace threw a bad pass and Jennings broke on it and caught it inside the five as he fell. He got up and almost everyone had stopped, but then he took off in a full sprint (looking very fast) and then so did Wallace. And Wallace basically caught him, even with blocking support.

Defensive Line
Craig Terrill was sidelined and Russell Davis played well clogging up the middle. That isn’t good news for Terrill, especially with Obomanu and Taylor playing so well (I figure it might end up being a tough call between keeping 6 DTs or 6 WRs).

Kerney looked good in the individual pass-rush drills and in the scrimmage (he had at least one "sack"). He is going to get a lot of sacks this year and his health is not an issue. Darryl Tapp was working opposite Kerney with the first team defense, at least part of the time, and he got a “sack” as well (they blew it dead because they can’t hit the QB). Nobody else really stood out and it is kind of hard to see what is going on with the defensive tackles.

Linebackers
It is really hard to follow the linebackers too. Lance Laury, Will Herring, and Niko Koutouvides all played well. Laury made a nice tackle, Herring had a sack, and Kouts made a lot of tackles. I don’t remember seeing Bentley too much, but that group looks completely set. Tatupu made some nice plays, but Peterson and Hill didn’t stand out.

I think the offense is pretty much set:
Offense (23)
QB (3) - Matt Hasselbeck, Seneca Wallace, David Greene
RB/FB (5) - Shaun Alexander, Maurice Morris, Mack Strong, Leonard Weaver, Josh Parry
WR (4) - Deion Branch, Nate Burleson, Bobby Engram, DJ Hackett
TE (3) - Marcus Pollard, Will Heller, Leonard Stephens
OL (8) - Walter Jones, Sean Locklear, Chris Spencer, Chris Gray, Tom Ashworth, Ray Willis, Rob Sims, Mansfield Wrotto

The last receiver spot is going to be Obomanu or Taylor, or they might keep both of those guys. The only way anyone else makes makes the team is if they both stay injured.

Pat Ross and Steve Vallos looked alright. Ross being able to play center is a big plus. But if they do ditch Womack, it might be in favor of Jonathan Alston. He is a guard, but he was out there playing left tackle quite a bit and doing a pretty decent job of it. If he can play tackle and guard, then I don't see any reason he couldn't replace Womack.

The defense looks pretty set as well:
Defense (24)
DE (4) - Patrick Kerney, Bryce Fisher, Darryl Tapp, Baraka Atkins
DT (5) - Rocky Bernard, Chuck Darby, Marcus Tubbs, Brandon Mebane, Russell Davis
OLB (5) - Julian Peterson, Leroy Hill, Kevin Bentley, Lance Laury, Will Herring
ILB (2) - Lofa Tatupu, Niko Koutouvides
S (4) - Deon Grant, Brian Russell, Michael Boulware, Mike Green
CB (4) - Marcus Trufant, Kelly Jennings, Jordan Babineaux, Josh Wilson

It appears that as many as 50 spots (including K Josh Brown, P Ryan Plackemeier, and LS Derek Rackley) are either locked up or pretty close to it, assuming no major injuries.

I would also think the final offensive line spot still belongs to Womack, but I would say his main competition is going to come from Jonathan Alston and Pat Ross.

And the final two spots might come down to a battle between Craig Terrill, Ben Obomanu, and Courtney Taylor.