Seahawks Observations: What Stacy Rost saw and heard at training camp

We entered Seattle Seahawks training camp with three big questions and we don’t yet have answers after just three days, but we do have some new insight.

Rost: 3 questions as Seattle Seahawks kick off training camp

First: a reminder from Pete Carroll that defensive lineman Jarran Reed is also competing at nose tackle (the question of who’d be the starter there was the first of our three).

“Jarran Reed playing nose tackle for us is crucial,” Carroll told reporters Wednesday. “He’ll do great there. That is going to be one of the key elements of building it around him and we’re really counting on him to be a big factor.”

It had been assumed the Seahawks would be looking at rookie Cam Young and potentially bring in more competition at the spot, but the first day of camp brought a reminder that Seattle’s coaching staff is hoping they have an answer already without gambling on an unknown commodity.

Secondly: There’s still no update on whether Jamal Adams and Jordyn Brooks will be ready to go at the start of the season. The assumption is that Brooks, by virtue of a late-season ACL tear, will return later and that Adams may have a better chance to return to start the season.

But the only real clarity this week was a roster move: several starters, including those two, were added to the preseason PUP list. An important note: this isn’t the regular season PUP list, so a player can be activated from the list at any point (expect to see Riq Woolen sooner rather than later, for instance). He just can’t be added back if he re-injures himself.

“I mean, they are close to being ready,” Carroll said of Adams and Brooks. “None of us from our side and the players’ side want to push it until we get more information here and take our time and judge our way through this thing.”

Our final question won’t be answered in camp, but we can get clues along the way: Can Geno Smith be “the guy”? So far, so good. Seattle’s starter looks sharp in his second season starting under Shane Waldron.

Seen and heard at Seattle Seahawks camp

• Dee Eskridge and Jaxon Smith-Njigba both look great to start training camp. It isn’t surprising given the benefits for pass catchers and offensive players in camp, but which it’s also certainly good news for the former.

• Devon Witherspoon made his training camp debut Friday after signing his rookie contract (having missed the first two days during negotiations). While the expectation is that a No. 5 overall pick will jump right into a starting role, he’ll still need a solid showing given Michael Jackson’s continued stellar performance there. Jackson was the best player in OTAs and continued to build on that offseason with a dominant Friday, including winning a one-on-one matchup against DK Metcalf in red zone drills.

• Linebacker Devin Bush joined Bump and Stacy Friday to talk about his transition to Seattle. There’s some football talk, but most fans will prefer this nugget: Devin, whose father played in the league, shared a funny story about growing up with a parent in the pros. As a kid he once asked a friend: “Which team does your dad play for?”

• Lots of energy from the defense on Friday and a pretty good day overall with a couple takeaways. It’s too early to read into anything this time of the year, but tracking growth from this side of the ball will continue to be the prime focus in camp for a team that finished 25th in scoring and 30th against the run.

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