Seahawks camp observations: Jake Heaps on a standout Will Dissly catch, Benson Mayowa’s speed
Aug 18, 2020, 11:58 PM | Updated: Aug 19, 2020, 12:13 am

Will Dissly is healthy after suffering season-ending injuries in both 2018 and 2019. (AP)
(AP)
The Seahawks have Wednesday off from training camp practice, but there’s plenty to get to from Tuesday’s session. Jake Heaps, one of 710 ESPN Seattle’s resident former Seahawks quarterbacks, was there in person to take in practice and shared his observations Tuesday afternoon on Tom, Jake and Stacy.
Parsing Pete: What Carroll really means about Taylor, Wright and Collier
You can listen to the full segment at this link or in the audio player below.
Here’s a closer look at a couple of Heaps’ biggest takeaways.
Will Dissly’s eye-opening catch
Dissly, a third-year tight end from across Lake Washington as a former UW Husky, has been a huge part of Seattle’s passing game – when healthy. Unfortunately each of his first two seasons were cut short by particularly tough tendon tears – a patellar in 2018 and an Achilles last year – but he beat the odds and was cleared for full participation for the start of training camp.
He looks good on the field, too, according to Heaps, and one play especially jumped out.
“Dissly isn’t the most explosive tight end,” Heaps noted. “He’s not somebody that wows you with how quick he’s coming off the ball, his speed, but he has a great understanding of leverage, how to attack safeties and corners to allow him to make that one subtle cut that gets him that separation just enough to be able to catch the football.
“One of my favorite plays, it was simply a one-on-one drill with Dissly, and he does a great job against (safety) Lano Hill stacking him. And Lano, to his credit, does a great job staying tight and close to Will Dissly, and Dissly makes a great, difficult catch with Lano Hill draped all over him.”
This is the play Heaps is talking about.
🔥 @Will_Diss 🔥 pic.twitter.com/R7Yren4OhL
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) August 19, 2020
Heaps is excited about the possibility of Seattle having a healthy Dissly, three-time Pro Bowler Greg Olsen and another talented pass catcher, Jacob Hollister, all at tight end this season.
“That’s the type of stuff you saw last year from Will Dissly and I love to continue to see that in training camp, because if you can have Greg Olsen and Will Dissly along with Jacob Hollister, those three guys as your main weapons at the tight end position, man, this is a really dynamic group that will be really tough to stop.”
What Benson Mayowa’s speed means for Seahawks
Mayowa is one of two pass rushers with experience in the Seahawks’ defense who returned on free-agent deals this offseason, and the 29 year old has been a player to watch in camp.
“Benson Mayowa looked great (Tuesday). He has stood out as a pass rusher, that is what his specialty has been throughout his career as a rotational pass rusher, but man, you talk about quickness off the ball, he explodes off the ball, and he is running sideline to sideline,” Heaps said. “And I have to note that it’s not just showing up in pass-rushing situations but in the run game as well.”
Mayowa had a play on a tackle with new safety Jamal Adams that Heaps said showed something Seattle’s defense was lacking in 2019.
“Now it’s not full pads, it’s not a full scrimmage, but with Benson Mayowa you can see his hustle from sideline to sideline. Jamal Adams made a tackle on one end and then hustling very, very closely behind the running back was Benson Mayowa from the opposite end of where he was lined up, just kinda scraping and staying close to the line of scrimmage and ultimately chasing down the ball carrier.
“Those are things that you love to see and oftentimes was something that you didn’t see from both edges. Last year it was just Jadeveon Clowney and you didn’t see it from Ziggy Ansah and Rasheem Green at a consistent level. I think you’ve got two guys in Bruce Irvin and Benson Mayowa who are going to be chasing and scraping sideline to sideline, which is an exciting thing.”
More camp coverage from Heaps: Jamal Adams’ INT of Russell Wilson