Seahawks Breakdown: Confidence level for each position on offense

Seattle Seahawks training camp is officially in full swing, and we have a pretty good idea for the most part what the team’s roster is going to look like in 2023.

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Dave Wyman and Bob Stelton of Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob have been down at training camp since it began, and they took a close look at each position group on the Seahawks’ offense and shared their confidence level in each unit last Thursday on a scale of 1-5 (1 being the lowest and 5 the highest).

Here’s what they had to say.

Confidence level in Seattle Seahawks’ offensive positions

Quarterback

• Dave Wyman: 5

“That’s a 5. Sorry. I mean, look, I think Geno (Smith) is going to do it again next year. The one knock on him is that he doesn’t have the track record. This time last year, he didn’t know if he was going to be the starter or not. Now he knows. And going into the season knowing that you’re the starter makes a huge difference … He has to do it for more than one year in a row. That’s the thing that I think is the only nick in that whole thing. And then Drew Lock, he’s got a lot of potential … I think he’s a good backup. There’s not very many good backups in the NFL.”

• Bob Stelton: 4

“I’m gonna go 4 on the quarterbacks … It’s not an absolute for me. Five for me is absolute, I go in with zero doubt. It’s not doubt in Geno, but I think I fall in line with the people who are acknowledging last season was amazing and totally unexpected. Is that who he is? Is is it fair to expect that that’s just who he is moving forward? And it’s not a knock on him. I think we’ve talked about this a million times: You’ve got a resume that’s a decade long and nine years of it tells one story and one year tells another. So for me, I’ll go 4 because I believe he can get it done again, I think he has obviously proven to be a very good quarterback. Does he do it to the level he did last year? That’s the question.”

Running back

• Dave Wyman: 3

“I’m gonna go 3, and the reason why is health.”

Wyman noted there was a recent season where Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry was the lone NFL running back to rush for over 1,000 yards and play in every game.

“It just doesn’t happen,” he said. ” … (And) Zach Charbonnet is a rookie. You just don’t know.”

• Bob Stelton: 4

“I’m gonna go 4 because of Ken Walker,” Stelton said, referring to Seattle’s starting running back who rushed for over 1,000 yards last year as a rookie. “And you’re right. The attrition rate that spot is (high). I mean, nobody knows it better than the Seahawks …  But just in terms of the competence and the talent, I think Ken Walker is underappreciated. I hope Zach Charbonnet is everything we’ve read about him. We’ll wait and see. But DeeJay (Dallas), we know what we’re getting (with him), and (rookie) Kenny McIntosh is another unknown. That’s the only thing that keeps it from a five because I think Ken Walker deserves a lot more pub and a lot more praise than he seemed to receive.”

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Wide receivers

• Dave Wyman: 5

Wyman said that even though he feels Charbonnet is an unknown because he’s a rookie, he’s very bullish on what rookie first-round pick Jaxon Smith-Njigba does for a wide receiver room that’s already led by two stars.

“Talking to (Seahawks general manager) John Schneider, he talked about how (Smith-Njigba) could have been like the seventh or eighth pick in the draft if he had stayed healthy his entire senior year (at Ohio State). That’s pretty high praise. And then you’ve got DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett who are two of the best … If you look at those three right there, the only thing I worry about is how do you work the tight ends in with the three-tight end set because that worked so well last year. But now you’ve got that third receiver that we really haven’t had since David Moore.”

• Bob Stelton: 5

“It’s a hard 5. I’ve got a lot of optimism about Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Dee Eskridge is a massive question mark … And then we saw a little bit of Dareke Young (as a rookie last year). They didn’t lose a ton. They lost Marquise Goodwin and Penny Hart and Laquon Treadwell. So you lost guys at the at the lower end of your depth (chart). I just think with (Metcalf and Lockett) as your starters, who are just as consistent as it gets, you’re amongst the best tandems in the league. So I go 5 with the receivers, and then if the other guys kick in, the rookie, it’s just nothing but great.”

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Offensive line

• Dave Wyman: 4

“I’m a 4 there. With (2022 rookie left tackle) Charles Cross, it’s not so much the sophomore slump – that doesn’t really happen in the NFL. And maybe it’s just my own personal experience, but when I came back my second year, there were so many things that were just taken care of … Because really, when you come out of college, you have to pay bills, you have to find a place to live, you have to be out on your own … So there’s all kinds of things that are taken care of your second year. I’d like to see Charles Cross and (2022 rookie right tackle) Abe Lucas do it again. So (the Seahawks have) those two guys and then you’ve got the big question at center. We’re not even talking about (guards) Phil Haynes and Damien Lewis – and they think a lot about Phil Haynes because they just re-signed him to a big deal. But the big question mark is at center (between) Evan Brown and Olu Oluwatimi.”

• Bob Stelton: 4

“I’m right there with you. I’m very bullish on the line. Very bullish, feeling very good about their potential and that potentially we could be looking at one of the best lines they’ve had one through five in a number of years. I’m very optimistic about what these guys can be. And I’m rooting for Oluwatimi (at center).”

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Tight ends

• Dave Wyman: 4

“It’s a 4 just because we don’t have Pro Bowl-types of guys, but they could be. Noah Fant is a great pass catcher, man. How many times was he open in the back of the end zone, it seemed? You know what we think about Will Dissly. It’s always whether he can stay healthy. Colby Parkinson took a huge jump last year. He really did. He got his body much bigger, much stronger, he was a better blocker. He might have been a better blocker than pass catcher last year. And I’ve always liked Tyler Mabry. I feel like he has the potential and he can explode at any time.”

• Bob Stelton: 3

“I probably go 3 on tight ends only because Dissly, who I think is the best of the bunch there if everything’s equal in terms of health, has just had such a hard time staying healthy … I like Noah Fant … and you’ve said as much that he’s a great pass catcher. What happens after he catches the ball? It’s not the most dynamic element of his game, perhaps. Colby, we’ll see what he does. It was a huge step for him last year. Does that continue this year? I’ve got a little more questions about the group as a whole, so I’ll go 3 there on the tight end group.”

Listen to the first hour of Thursday’s Wyman and Bob at this link or in the player near the top of this story.

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