Five players to watch in opener vs. Bengals start with Seahawks’ new bookend pass rushers
The players to watch for Sunday’s season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals include Seattle’s two, new bookend pass rushers, a running back coaches want to have double the receptions this season, and a Bengal you may remember from him zooming around Husky Stadium.
1. Jadeveon Clowney’s arrival this past week in the steal of a trade from Houston has solved many fears about the Seahawks’ pass rush. But Monday was the 26-year-old defensive end’s first practice in eight months; he was holding out through the Texans’ entire preseason. The Seahawks plan to use him against the run and pass in their 4-3 scheme this season. But how much will he be able to do six days after his first time on the field since January? Look for perhaps half the amount of plays Clowney will eventually have per game this season.
2. Ziggy Ansah is Clowney’s new bookend edge rusher. Both are 6-5 with Pro Bowl pedigrees. But Ansah has had just three practices since last year. He’s technically listed as questionable to play, because coach Pete Carroll wants to see how he responds this weekend from his work week. Ansah returned last week to the field following shoulder surgery that ended his time with Detroit then a groin injury in August. The last season in which Ansah has averaged as much as 31 snaps per game was 2015. Twenty snaps Sunday might be his ceiling.
3. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer has vowed to use eleven hundred-yard rusher Chris Carson more in the passing game. He’s stated a goal of 50 catches for Carson this season, more than twice what he had last season. With Doug Baldwin retired and rookie wide receiver DK Metcalf coming off knee surgery last month, there should be more targets early this season for Carson from Russell Wilson in the passing game.
4. The Bengals have a new, rookie head coach: 36-year-old Zac Taylor. The Rams quarterback coach for Jared Goff last year has brought to Cincinnati a Rams-style offense. That means based on a lead running back. And that’s Joe Mixon. The second-round pick in 2017 last season became the first Bengals to be a conference rushing champion. Mixon figures to be even more of a focal point this season in Cincinnati’s new offense than the 17 touches per game he had in 2018.
5. Will Taylor’s offense unleash John Ross? The former Washington Huskies zoomer has yet to fulfill the potential of being the Bengals’ ninth-overall pick in the 2017 draft. He missed almost all of August with a pulled hamstring. If Cincinnati’s offense really is Rams-like this season—and if the Bengals’ iffy offensive line can block Clowney and Ansah long enough for Andy Dalton to find him--Ross and his 4.2 speed should be getting more chances for home-run plays down the field against Seattle’s remade secondary.
This story was originally published September 7, 2019 at 10:16 AM with the headline "Five players to watch in opener vs. Bengals start with Seahawks’ new bookend pass rushers."
