Minicamp completed a bit ago and really only emphasised points we already knew. I will quickly break this down by position.

QB:

Now we have had a chance to see QB Sam Darnold so we can have a slightly less early too-early speculation on what he will bring to Seattle. I think the conversation that has caught my ear the most was that for too long as Seattle fans we have been accustomed to the talent of the quarterback being the key factor over the system itself. And that ties itself in with the talent of the offensive line as well. So we are not really just comparing Sam with Geno as an athlete, but also as a leader. And we are not just wondering if RT Abe Lucas will both stay healthy and make progress to fulfilling his talent ceiling. We are finally not having to wonder how each player will use their talent when some play call comes in that is obviously wrong to every Seahawk fan. Ever since we did not let Marshawn run the ball we seem to have continued to fail to call the running plays we should. And now we finally have a system being implemented where we may not run a bubble screen on 4th and 3 and then hope that the quarterback can run for their lives when it fails. Instead we will be asking Darnold to run a system behind a line that is running a system and finally, finally running the dang rock.

I am still looking for the line to be LT Chris Cross, LG Grey Zabel, OC Olu Oluwatimi, RG Christian Haynes, RT Abe Lucas. And Darnold having a top 15-20ish year behind them losing a couple snaps a game maybe to QB Jalen Milroe that are not enough to make a difference in fantasy football. And QB Drew Lock stays on the bench eternally.

RB:

It is not a high bar to say the fantasy stats from this group will be higher than recent years. It seems logical that RB Kenneth Walker is going to explode in value. But not only does RB Zach Charbonnet have a shot to cut into his reps, but so does RB Kenny McIntosh. And it is not a big jump from those three to RB George Holani and RB Damien Martinez based on just talent. So there is both depth and uncertainty here. It is not a bad move at this point to ensure that either McIntosh or Charbonnet is on any fantasy team that also has Walker. Later in real camps we should have better guidance, but this is a new system and it behoves Seattle not to show too much before the first couple of games. Fantasy coaches need to be ready to pivot on how this increase of fantasy value will really show itself between the players.

WR:

Seattle should have more reps going to both running backs and tight ends than last year. So it is not just comparing WR Cooper Kupp to DK, but also how many targets he will actually get. It is only rational to assume a drop off, but also DK just never performed near his athletic ceiling. Kupp and WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and even WR Jake Bobo and WR Tory Holton will.

Seattle stole WR Tory Horton in the fifth round. I think he will eventually replace WR Cooper Kupp, but definitely will have some role next year. WR Ricky White was a flyer in the 7th and not likely to provide fantasy value.

TE:

With the breaking news of the Miami and Pittsburgh trade there is now more bite to the rumor that TE Noah Fant may be traded. Miami is a logical trade partner now. I would be fine with that. TE Elijah Arroyo should get every target all year that might otherwise go to TE Noah Fant. Arroyo has the chance to be the first tight end that is actually worth starting in fantasy every week since the Holmgren days. And TE AJ Barner and TE Brady Russell have some fantasy potential, though at this point it is only that and only a real homer would have them on their teams right now. Arroyo will be a star here, Russell may end up being a fullback getting no targets and Barner should be an occasional target only.

Defense:

Somewhere in the process of reviewing what could happen in the draft for Seattle I became completely sold on the need to get a true nose tackle to free up DT Byron Murphy to do what he is really best at. It still burns my biscuits that that is not going to happen. I still think this defensive talent is enough to provide the opportunity to be better than last year. And that is saying something because they really were pretty good overall. SS Nick Emmanwori and LB Demarcus Lawrence are going to be the guys to watch. I am still not sure DT Rylie Mills will be healthy enough to show his talent and even if he does he is not a nose tackle. I am not sure that watching him play next to Murphy is going to ever provide more value than what we have with DT Jarran Reed. Instead he will help there not be a huge drop for us when age starts catching up with Reed. And that is not awful, but also is not letting Murphy, Lawrence, and DE Leonard Williams all come after the opposing quarterback every down while a true nose gets doubled just because he is massive and an average offensive lineman cannot deal with a 350 pounder by themselves. Can NT Quinton Bohana be that guy? Maybe, he does go around 350 but he will likely only rotate with NT Johnathan Hankins who is more talented though not as big (yet still bigger than Murphy). Then Murphy and Reed can rotate at 3-technique and DE Demarcus Lawrence and DE Boye Mafe will fill out the line. There were other guys in the draft who likely would have started over Hankins and be the size of Bohana. But I would still be intrigued to see snaps where Bohana, Murphy, Lawrence and Mafe are the starting line. If Bohana can draw the double and hold it, then dang. That could become the nightmare Seattle wants to create. Having a healthy DE Uchenna Nwosu to rotate with Mafe would add to that nightmare. I want this to be the case, but I am afraid that Reed and Hankins will remain the A-Gap guys and we will lose the bang that Murphy would add to the B-Gap.

I will keep watching, but I am hoping that MacDonald's system will take another jump in presence this year even though I wanted more changes in personnel than has happened.

Go Hawks!

End.