Pete Carroll breaks down Seahawks competitons at OL, edge rusher

With Pete Carroll running the show, you know it’s all about the competition with the Seattle Seahawks.

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This year, it’s a little more clear who will be starting and playing at certain spots. But that doesn’t mean the roster doesn’t have competitions going on.

During a Tuesday visit with Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk, Carroll discussed what two position groups currently look like.

First, let’s start with edge rushers.

The Seahawks return their two top sackers from 2022 – Darrell Taylor and Uchenna Nwosu. Both had 9.5 sacks last season. Additionally, the Hawks return 2022 second-round pick Boye Mafe and they drafted another edge rusher, Derick Hall, in the second round of April’s draft.

“We’re missing Darrell Taylor being out there right now,” Carroll said. “When he’s there (with) Chena – we kind of overlook Chenna because we’re looking at the young guys so much. But Chenna’s is a marvelous player on the edge for us, and is the most consistent of all the guys we have.”

Taylor has a shoulder injury he’s been dealing with.

As far as the two younger guys, Carroll is thrilled with them.

“Hall, he’s gonna factor in. He’s a monster of a guy physically. Really fast, really has got great arm length and explosion. He’s got a great attitude. He’s tough as hell now. He’s going to find his way into the rotation of it,” Carroll said. “It’s really helped Mafe, too. Boye has just improved his game from one year to the next. But the two of those guys are battling it. They’re duking it out with (tackles Charles Cross and Abe Lucas) on the edge every day and getting better at it. Darrell is the most flashy of our guys rushing-wise, so that’s a good part of it. So we’re excited about those guys.”

Onthe other side of the ball, the interior of the offensive line stands out, especially at center where free-agent addition Evan Brown is battling with fifth-round pick Olu Oluwatimi.

“The center spot, Olu’s done a really good job. Unfortunately, he’s had an elbow that’s kind of bothered him and it’s holding him back a little bit,” Carroll said. “But Evan has done really well, Evan Brown really showed well early on. He’s showing great command. And his experience seems to show up in his kind of ownership of the spot. But Olu could jump in there right now and battle at that level, too. So that’s a really good spot for us. And don’t forget Joey Hunt. Joey Hunt is a very experienced, very well-tooled and tough as hell kid in that three spot right there. So that’s a good one.”

The Seahawks also have some intrigue at guard. It’s likely that the two starters are Damien Lewis at left guard and Phil Haynes on the right side, but Carroll had a lot of praise for fourth-round guard Anthony Bradford on Tuesday.

“At guard, we probably had the most fun watching Anthony Bradford last week. If you go back and look at some of the clips there, he nailed some guys,” Carroll said. “He is physical. He was 342 pounds last week. And remember that the guys runs (the 40-yard dash in 5.08 seconds). Hhis athleticism with that size shows up and makes him special. Phil Haynes is playing well, playing good ball. And we love what D-Lew does on the other side. But that combination right in there is a good mix.”

Listen to the full interview with Pete Carroll at this link or in the player near the top of this story.

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