Cornerback derby, top rookie, a Tacoma native key storylines to Seahawks’ preseason finale
Russell Wilson and most of the starting offense look like they finally are going to play.
That alone should make the Seahawks look better than they have so far through two preseason games.
Wilson and fellow veterans getting into a rhythm with first-time play caller Shane Waldron’s new offense is only one of multiple tasks the Seahawks have Saturday night in their final preseason game, against the Los Angeles Chargers at Lumen Field.
Seattle and every other NFL team must cut its roster from 80 to 53 players by Tuesday. Saturday night is a final look at the candidates for the final half-dozen or so roster spots. Those include: wide receiver Cody Thompson, cornerback Gavin Heslop, new cornerback John Reid and offensive tackle Jake Curhan. All have had strong training camps and preseason games — and a strong week, in Reid’s case since his arrival in a trade from Houston on Tuesday.
“Really, the decisions that we’re making are for competition and to give guys the opportunity to show everything they can show to make this club,” coach Pete Carroll said. “We’re coming down to the end of it here, end of camp, so it’s a really big opportunity for us.”
Seattle had a second consecutive dismal performance in a preseason game last weekend, a 30-3 loss at home to Denver. Seattle’s starters got smacked by the Broncos’ starters and reserves. Carroll said after that game his veterans who have yet to play this preseason will against the Chargers. That’s Wilson among about two dozen key players.
Still, don’t expect lead running back Chris Carson to play. Wide receiver Tyler Lockett, guard Gabe Jackson and All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner may not, either. They don’t have to.
But the fact that more starters on offense and defense readied this week to play Saturday night suggests Seattle is going to be better against the Chargers than it’s been while getting outscored 50-10 by the Raiders and Broncos in the first two exhibitions.
“This is a chance to finish the preseason on a good note. We’re certainly going for that,” Carroll said. “We didn’t like the first couple, so we’re looking to make a better statement about where we are.”
The opener at Indianapolis is two weeks away, on Sept. 12.
Here are the Seahawks with the most at stake and/or to gain Saturday night:
1. Damarious Randall: Carroll has been eager to see the former Green Bay starter play at left cornerback with Seattle’s first team. The Seahawks had him at safety after signing him during last season. Randall shuttled on and off the practice squad to be active for a couple games before ultimately being on the roster for 10 games in 2020.
This will be Randall’s first long look of the preseason. He was injured for much of this month.
“I’m really anxious to see Damarious Randall,” Carroll said. “He missed some time, and so this is an important last couple weeks to see where he fits into the competition, because in my mind he’s been here to compete for the starting spot. I wanted to see what would happen, and he really hasn’t been able to grasp that opportunity yet. ...
“He’s going to get a shot this week. See how he does, and take it from there.”
Randall, 28, is making this late push to take Ahkello Witherspoon’s job. Witherspoon has been starting at left cornerback throughout training camp.
Tre Brown had a chance at left corner last week. Then the rookie fourth-round draft choice hurt his knee. He’s out indefinitely, from practices and from this competition to start.
Randall is going to have to be outstanding against the Chargers, who are resting most of their starters, and in Seattle’s practices next week. The Seahawks have guaranteed Witherspoon $4 million on his one-year deal the former San Francisco starter signed this spring. That’s a sizable chunk of cash and salary-cap space to put on Seattle’s bench.
“Witherspoon is a guy that’s been making plays. He had a really good day (Tuesday),” defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. said. “He’s having a really good camp.
But Norton added of Witherspoon’s coverage in games this month: “Preseason has been fair.”
2. D.J. Reed: Reed’s already proven to Carroll, Norton and teammates he can start at right cornerback. He did it the final weeks of the 2020 season and in the playoff loss to the Rams in January. His refreshing, aggressive play capped his revelation of a half season, after Seattle claimed him off injury waivers from San Francisco late last summer.
Reed’s issue is staying healthy. He missed most of this month with a groin injury.
“We love his play. We love the way he plays,” Carroll said. “He started camp in great fashion. It’s terrific to have him back now and with (two) weeks to go we know he’ll be ready for the opener.”
If he stays healthy through next week, expect him to start over Tre Flowers at right cornerback in the opener in two weeks.
That would cloud the future of Flowers, the starter as Carroll’s hand-picked rookie in 2018 and again in ‘19 who is entering the final year of his contract.
“The competition is still out there,” Norton said. “I don’t think any decision has been made. We have some really good players to choose from.”
3. Dee Eskridge: It’s not as though the top rookie draft choice is fighting for a roster spot. He’s on the team.
But the 5-foot-9 speedster has ground to make up establishing an in-game rapport with Wilson and flow with Waldron’s new offense. Eskridge, scheduled to be in the slot as a third receiver with Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf, missed from June until last week with an injured big toe.
He’s been getting up at 5:15 a.m. for dawn workouts on the field with Wilson, even when he was injured. But he lacks game reps. Expect him to get more time than many starters on offense Saturday night.
“It’s great to have him back out there. You can see the pep in his step once he’s out there back on the grass, running,” Waldron said. “He looks fast. He’s got his aggressive hands. He’s really getting a chance to get his feet underneath him and do more and more every day. ...
“We are just accumulating as many reps as we can for him and getting him comfortable in the offense, where he’s aligning, and what his assignments are. He’s done a great job so far.
“But there’s no substitute for those live reps.”
4. Cody Thompson: Will the Seahawks keep five or six receivers on their initial 53-man roster?
That could determine whether Thompson, whose been on Seattle’s practice squad the last two seasons, makes the team next week.
The former Ohio high school quarterback and kick returner and University of Toledo wide receiver has fully seized the opportunity Eskridge’s injury provided. Thompson has been with Wilson and the starting offense for most of training camp. He has been dependable catching passes across the middle in traffic. He’s good at leaping his 6-2 frame to catch high passes. And Waldron has arrayed him across formations and in different types of pre-snap motion.
Thompson’s gotten the work of a guy the Seahawks aren’t about to cut.
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“He just continues to improve all of the time,” Waldron said. “He’s a great route runner. He’s done a really good job of picking up the system right away. He’s been out there all of the time, and is able to play multiple spots. He’s done a great job in his one-on-ones and does a great job in the run game.
“He’s someone that shows up and you know he’s going to put in a great day’s work every day and continue to grow.”
The Seahawks often keep six wide receivers. They did last year. Special teams is often a big factor. Thompson hasn’t distinguished himself on those.
Lockett, Metcalf, Eskridge, trusted 2020 draft pick Freddie Swain (a kick returner) and healthy-again Penny Hart (whom Carroll and Wilson really like) appear to be the locks at this position. For pure receiving skills, Thompson has been better than former Sumner High School star Connor Wedington, ex-Washington Husky Aaron Fuller, plus Darece Roberson, Cade Johnson and (barely) University of North Dakota free agent Travis Toivonen.
Saturday is their final chance for the last roster spots.
5. Jake Curhan: In January he was miscast by NFL scouts. They moved him guard at the Senior Bowl because they thought his arms weren’t league-length for tackle.
The 6-6, 316-pound former University of California mainstay has been a training-camp surprise at right tackle.
It also doesn’t hurt him that he graduated from Carroll’s alma mater, Redwood High School in Larkspur, California. That’s in Marin County, just north of San Francisco.
He laughed that off this week, saying it’s not like that gives him an in, or anything. And, no, they haven’t sung the fight song together.
Not yet.
Another strong preseason game Saturday night from Curhan and he could be singing, a lot. Seattle needs healthy, effective tackles — and offensive linemen, in general.
“He’s done a really good job. Yes, he has,” Carroll said. “He’s played very steady. We played him early at guard because we had a need there, and as soon as we put him back to right tackle, he did a really nice job.”
6. Lakiem Williams: The outside linebacker is a Tacoma native who was a running back at Spanaway Lake High School. He moved to linebacker while beginning his college football career at Butte College in Oroville, California. From there, he signed with Syracuse. During his senior season for the Orange he started all 12 games at middle linebacker and was third-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference. Williams was not selected in the 2020 NFL draft. He was briefly with the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League this summer.
The Seahawks signed Williams this month to fill the roster spot created when they released failed defensive end Aldon Smith. Since then, Williams has been flying all over practice and game fields. He’s consistently one of the first defenders to the ball and faster than many foes who have failed to block him off the edge.
Williams told syracuse.com in 2019 he ran the 40-yard dash in a time below 4.4 seconds while a running back at Spanaway Lake.
Seattle needs linebacker depth. K.J. Wright is still unsigned. Ben Burr-Kirven is out for the year; he went on injured reserve this week needing reconstructive knee surgery. Williams’ arrival also followed injuries to backup linebackers Cody Barton and Jon Rhattigan, the undrafted rookie from Army West Point. Veteran Nick Bellore, Seattle’s fullback and Pro Bowl special-teams player last season, has been practicing and playing middle linebacker behind Wagner the last two weeks.
If Williams keeps making the plays he made in the second half last weekend against Denver, the Seahawks may find a place for him, if not on the roster then on the practice squad after league waivers next week.
“Being able to just get picked up by this team is just an honor,” Williams said this week. “I remember two or three years ago, being in that stadium (Lumen Field), in the bleachers. I was up in the stands.”
Now here he is, number 48 in his hometown team’s blue jersey, with a chance Saturday night to win a Seahawks job.
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 5:51 PM.
