Huard’s takeaways on notable Seahawks preseason performers

The Seattle Seahawks opened up their preseason with a 24-13 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday.

A handful of players stood out, and Mike Salk wanted former NFL quarterback Brock Huard’s opinion on some of the Seahawks’ standouts and notable performers during Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk Friday morning.

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First, rookie defensive lineman Mike Morris, who was an edge rusher at Michigan but is now an interior defensive lineman.

“Long. I was like, ‘Who is this dude to start the game?'” Huard said. “… If the whole conversation was pad level and getting it down, (it wasn’t) not 100%. But it’s not ever going to be. But man, I thought overall he played with tremendous energy and looked comfortable inside.”

Morris’ college teammate and fellow fifth-round pick – center Olu Oluwatimi – also caught Huard’s eye.

“Olu looked good, man. Olu’s gonna close the gap,” he said. “Evan Brown is a guy that will get overwhelmed – not like little Joey Hunt – Evan Brown, though, the starter going in because of his brain and his background. Olu does not get overwhelmed physically like that, and I think over the weeks ahead, that race is going to keep getting tighter.”

Another rookie with some eye-opening moments on Thursday was running back Zach Charbonnet.

“He gores people. He Thomas Rawls straight gored (Lewis) Cine, the safety from Georgia, a first-round pick,” Huard said. “He humiliated him twice. Every time the cameras showed … that poor dude on the bench, he was humiliated because he knows he’s gonna have to watch that tape and that human brahma bull gored him twice.”

In the secondary, Coby Bryant – the team’s main nickel corner in 2022 – saw time at safety against the Vikings.

“Looked very comfortable at safety. Set the tone on the opening drive with a (big) hit,” Huard said.

Coby bringing the boom!

📺 #MINvsSEA on KING 5 | NFLNpic.twitter.com/KvfRNAoqkc

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) August 11, 2023

“I’m glad those refs took the penalty off the board. He did not target the head, the receiver ducked, (Bryant) got his shoulder and he took his head out of it. Man, he was more than willing to bring some force.”

Seattle Seahawks highlights from 24-13 preseason win over Vikings

After dealing with injuries the last two years, cornerback Tre Brown started on Thursday.

“Up and down. Up and down,” Huard said of Brown’s play. “You see the scrappiness. The first series of the game, little out route, he comes in, collision, gets the knockdown. You love that. But there will be matchups that are gonna be very very tough for him, right? Just size-wise, you’re going to try to create one-on-ones, throw that ball up to him. He’s given up a times a lot of size to guys.”

Boye Mafe, a second-round edge rusher from last year’s draft, was one of the biggest bright spots for the Seahawks against Minnesota.

“Oh, his hands were phenomenal,” Huard said. “… That’s the best game he’s ever played. Granted, the competition was not (starters) across the board – there were some – but that was his best game as a Seattle Seahawk, bar none.”

One of the Seahawks’ free-agent signings, linebacker Devin Bush, was all over the field on defense and made a big hit on special teams.

“Flying, dude. And I guarantee you teammates and coaches watching in Pittsburgh were like, ‘Where was that? Where was that the last couple years? I hadn’t seen that,'” Huard said. “If the knee was a question and you want to see burst and explosion and stopping power, your saw it on base defense and you saw it on special teams, too.”

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