Finally training camp is here. Next week pads go on too. The Seahawks are starting out overlooked by the national media as usual who expect them to be in the shadow of the 9ers and Cards. Seattle seems to thrive on the negative attention. A perfect example being DE Leonard Williams having such an amazing season last year and getting snubbed on all the lists and rankings of defensive linemen going into the season. So be it. Here is my run down on the reality in the Pacific Northwest with a focus on fantasy projections.

QB:

QB Sam Darnold fits right in that mold too. He had a productive year last year, but the word you hear makes it sound like he didn’t earn any of it. He is showing up in practice so far and may not be an upgrade, but he should be fine. More importantly this team is saying that they are changing focus to the running game. So the quarterback stats should be expected to drop. It will be interesting to see how this pans out as the team practices. And even if they get a lot of yards rushing, they still need explosive plays and after getting in the red zone the play calling may expand to more passes? Starting out I would not recommend grabbing Darnold early in any fantasy draft, but getting him late is a good idea because he should not lose value but may gain depending how games get called once the real games start. That said, what the heck happened with QB Jalen Milroe? Watching him at the Senior Bowl I did not want Seattle to draft him. He looked like he was blind to a good part of the field in the passing game and was doomed to fail in the NFL despite his obvious talent running with the ball. Early days have taken me from being certain Milroe was a wasted pick to wondering if he is going to be a steal. I am seeing a serious work ethic to go with all that talent. Not like he will get the starting job this year, but he is showing flashes that make me think Seattle may not need to pick another quarterback in the next draft. So maybe think of picking him up cheap in keeper leagues. But keep that painted as coming from only a couple of days. Looking forward to seeing him in preseason for sure.

Way too early guess on the look of the certain to be improved offensive line; LT Chris Cross, LG Grey Zabel, OC Jalen Sundell, RG Christian Haynes, RT Abe Lucas. I am projecting Haynes over OG Anthony Bradford based on him being better in the pass game, but Bradford is nasty in the run so maybe he wins out. I am putting Sundell over OC Olu Oluwatimi based on his offseason gains and connection with Zabel and the scheme in general. I am not sure many are actually talking about him at center at this point. We will see how it plays out.

RB:

Lots of focus should be here for fantasy coaches. Chances are that RB Kenneth Walker is going to simply thrive with the new spotlight. That is how I would play in it in fantasy drafts, get him early and be happy. But it is not impossible that he will be sharing reps with RB Zach Charbonnet or even RB Kenny McIntosh who quietly made massive gains in his game last year. Basically Charbonnet’s bread and butter is making the right cut fast and furious and hitting that line. McIntosh had been more cautious and now is more like Zach. That makes this more interesting because McIntosh is no longer who he was 2 years ago and may have a leg up on Charbonnet now. RB George Holani and RB Damien Martinez also have skills, but will likely not get the snaps even if they make the team.

WR:

Following the same logic from my quarterback discussion, receiving yards are not the priority but will have to happen with explosive plays and red zone. For sure WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba could poach touchdown stats in the red zone and looks to be the most likely target of planned explosive plays. I like WR Cooper Kupp and even WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling, but I just do not see a lot of targets being shared here. And most likely WR Tory Holton only makes the team because of special teams. I recommend caution here even for JSN. Let’s see a real gameplan just to see if any of these guys are even in a WR2 conversation. The last couple of years when Seattle was attempting to play without having a running play in the plan was really extreme and frustrating to me. If they flip the plan the other way will they now stop passing on obvious passing downs too? I look forward to seeing how this pans out.

TE:

I really expected TE Noah Fant to be traded. I felt he offered no value to the ‘Hawks and apparently he offered no value to any other team either since they cut him before camp. Maybe a trade is brewing that will use the cap space? But I am just glad not to have him on the team taking up space anymore. So typical of a Seahawks tight end. TE Elijah Arroyo shows some early signs of breaking that mold and TE AJ Barner is going to benefit from the new system too. Early fantasy guidance would be to keep a seat open for Elijah. That said TE Brady Russell was expected to have his reps at full back, but every snap there seems to be going to FB Robbie Ouzts out of the gate, so Russell could be in line for tight end targets too. I think he has breakout potential that has not yet been seen in game.

Defense:

This team D is gonna rock. I would not hesitate to grab them as my first defense. With all that cap room they may even add another edge? Even if they do not, they are loaded. The ‘big nickel’ look with SS Nick Emmanwori is showing up in practice pretty often. Early IDP nod stays with DE Leonard Williams until someone steps up and takes it from him. Which I would not count on.

Go Hawks!

End.