The Seattle Seahawks will take on the Oakland Raiders in what will be a “prove-it” game for the second, third and even fourth string units for each squad.
With cut day less than 48 hours away, many players will be playing tonight with their NFL career on the line as the two teams look to pare their roster from 90 to 53.
“This is a game of opportunity for a lot of young guys,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “They have really their final shot with us to play their ball, show where they fit and belong here and in other spots around the league. We have a really nice roster of guys and it’s really competitive. There’s a lot of battles waged here again this week and this Thursday night that are going to be important for the future for the Seahawks and for these players. We are going to respect it and honor the heck out of it and give these guys a great chance to be ready to play and then play and get their ops and show where they belong. It’s a big deal.”
That creates a nearly uncountable number of storylines to choose from for tonight’s game, but I narrowed it down to three things in particular I will be watching closely – as it could provide clarity on some of Seattle’s very difficult upcoming roster decisions.
Which young WR will stand out?
Tyler Lockett, Jaron Brown, David Moore and DK Metcalf are all but locked into roster spots heading into the 2019 season.
Moore and Metcalf are both injured right now – with Moore set to miss at least the first week of the season, and Metcalf’s status still unclear.
That creates an interesting situation for the Seahawks, who typically only carry five receivers on their active roster. They are almost certainly not going into Week 1 with only three healthy receivers though, so they’ll probably carry at least six to start the year – and could conceivably carry seven.
The last few roster spots will be a heated competition between 2019 draft picks Gary Jennings and John Ursua, along with returners Malik Turner and Keenan Reynolds and undrafted free agents Jazz Ferguson and Terry Wright.
Jennings and Ursua likely have the leg up on those last few spots at the moment, although coach Pete Carroll did say they are still learning the playbook, giving Turner and Reynolds a small advantage in the competition.
Thursday’s game should offer an opportunity for all of these guys to put some tape out there and show off what they can do, hopefully enough to help Carroll and his staff make their final decisions before Saturday’s deadline.
Can someone put some pressure on the QB?
The Seahawks, unsurprisingly, have struggled to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks this preseason. Of course, they have been without veteran Ezekiel Ansah and rookie L.J. Collier, who are both expected to be huge contributors in the pass rush game this year.
Still, the Seahawks need to find depth at that spot, and players like Barkevious Mingo, Shaquem Griffin, Branden Jackson, Jacob Martin, Cassius Marsh and Rasheem Green need to demonstrate that they can penetrate and disrupt the quarterback if they want to have a big role on this defense in 2019.
Martin and Green are both unlikely to get cut, but the rest of the guys mentioned are squarely on the roster bubble, and tonight’s game could go a long way toward helping them secure a spot if they are able to demonstrate an ability to get to the quarterback.
A last look at the return game
The Seahawks are trying to move away from veteran receiver Tyler Lockett being a big part of the return game this season.
Lockett is a former All-Pro returner however, so whoever replaces him will have some big shoes to fill.
So far the candidates appear to be J.D. McKissic, John Ursua, Ugo Amadi and Terry Wright. David Moore was returning punts this preseason as well, so he could factor in back there when he is healthy.
McKissic was Carroll’s preferred candidate earlier in the offseason, but injuries limited him during the preseason. He’ll get a chance to return kicks on Thursday, but as of right now it does appear the return game is still up for grabs.
“We see some good flashes,” Carroll commented on Tuesday. “I thought Ugo [Amadi] did a really nice job showing a good burst, he’s going to get some work this week. Terry [Wright] did a nice job too, he mishandled the ball but showed good acceleration. David Moore did well. So, we’ve got guys that can return kicks and we were holding Tyler out of all that, and [J.D.] McKissic is back now too. J.D. was a backup to Tyler in times past so we’re in pretty good shape depth wise. I’m kind of anxious to see [Ugo] Amadi back there, see what he can do, he’ll get some turns this week.”
Thursday’s game will hopefully have plenty of opportunities for Seattle’s returners to show off one last time before the Seahawks have to make a decision – assuming they don’t go back to Lockett.
