Why Even The Young Seahawks Will Be An Important Preseason Evaluation

Is preseason worth watching? For an outfit that just took the league title, you’d think the backups wouldn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things… but they do! From the collective horse’s (Hawk’s?) mouth itself.

Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald on the rookie class: “This has been a great rookie class. They’re different than last year; it’s a little bit smaller group, but different personality. Those common threads that we want in our program, like respect, honest work… they’re very talented in their own right. They have all those things.” He goes on to talk about how, “one of the messages to the team right now is: ‘this is a new team. Even though you are a rookie there is a responsibility to add to who we’re gonna become. We don’t know what that’s going to be yet, so we’re trying to create that space for them to be themselves and add to our team so that we become the best version of ourselves.’”

Macdonald ended that thought by stating plainly: “We’re going to need them this year, so our vets are doing a great job of fostering as well.”

One of those vets is safety, Julian Love. A versatile, cerebral and reliable player on the back-end, Love spoke on the same concept, of having a “new team.”

“Those pillars we had last year… it’s like, okay. Do we want to create new ones? Do we want to have that same kind of umbrella, but really think differently about what makes it up, who we are in this current day? … I think we want to shape this thing and learn it and start from ground level and incorporate everybody along.” Love says, “This whole unit—everyone is going to be incorporate in how we build things. It’s a conscious choice. It could be real easy to be like: ‘let’s keep on going with what we did last year!’”

It’s not just the rookies (Jadarian Price, Bud Clark and Julian Neal’s pro debuts excite the PNW mind), it would be nice to see some of the new additions get some run and get into the flow of this team. Emmanuel Wilson at running back, Noah Igbinoghene as an inside/outside DB, and Dante Fowler Jr. as a 4th established edge rusher all have shots to be contributors. Fowler Jr. “wanted to be here.”

Fowler discussed the idea of adding to the formula: “They’re bringing all the new guys and the young guys along really well,” Fowler said. “But you know like I just fall in line and do what I’m supposed to do. They already had a great defense before we got here, and they won a Super Bowl. It was the best defense in the world last year. So my job is to just fall in line and do whatever I gotta do to make this defense upgrade a little bit more.”

Hard Knocks Ep.1

Mike Macdonald is shown addressing his team in the debut of the Seattle Seahawks’ version of Hard Knocks. He talked to his team about how Michael Jordan was always supremely talented, but he didn’t win a title until Phil Jackson became coach and started structuring the team around “team basketball.” Jordan then went on to achieve a 3-peat. Macdonald goes on to state that he believes that “the secret sauce of the NFL is connection.”

The directive is clear: to make it back to the mountaintop, and go on a special run, Macdonald believes that they’ll need to commit to team ball.

Coach’s money is where his mouth is later in the episode, when a fight broke out.

Second year guard, Bryce Cabeldue went after safety Rodney Thomas II after he decked a ball-carrying Velus Jones Jr. Bedlam ensues, when Tyrice Knight, Leonard Williams, and Derick Hall subsequently came to RTII’s defense, going at Cabeldue before Josh Jones finally came in to stand up for B.C. Josh Jobe came in and even swung a helmet.

Cameras showed Coach Macdonald addressing the fight at a macro level, then addressing a hurtful comment that was said (Brady Russell to Derick Hall, according to DC, Aden Durde) at the micro level. He was more worried about preserving harmony and team flow than the actual physical fight.

The slogan, 12-as-1 is personified in each level of the organization.

John Schneider talked, pre-draft, about the search for players that “want to come in and compete at a high level and not be enamored by the guys they just saw playing in the Super Bowl. In a less formal instance (the league’s annual meeting) John Boyle quoted Schneider as saying they want guys who possess the attitude of: ‘I want to take their jobs.’

Are those types of dawgs present among the young and the (current) backups on this roster?

Remember how guys like Josh Jobe, Drake Thomas, Ty Okada, Brandon Pili, Jalen Sundell, George Holani, Eric Saubert and even A.J. Barner rose from relative obscurity to help push the Seattle Seahawks towards a Lombardi Trophy? That shouldn’t stop now, and it feels like Schneider is on a mission to make sure he learns from being in this position before.

This time last year, Tyrice Knight (if healthy) over Drake Thomas felt like a given. Mike Macdonald has been quoted as saying, “Players are allowed to get better, our guys are going to get better, they’re going to develop.” You love to hear it.

Who will be the ones to make unexpected contributions this year? The Seattle Seahawks are banking on those coming through in multiple spots. The reality of a rough and tumble NFL says that they are a necessity. Some are hungry. Others are starving to make their mark.

Seahawks Fan Fest

While rookie DB’s Bud Clark (who Mike Macdonald called, “a really smart guy”) and Michael Dansby have gotten early training camp hype (and made plays in the Lumen Field atmosphere as well), two pass catchers caught my eye at Seahawks Fan Fest 2026. I saw 2nd-year TE, Elijah Arroyo catch a red zone TD and a competition period one-on-one pass against Clark, and I saw 6th-Round WR, Emmanuel Henderson Jr. catch a red zone TD and a competition period one-on-one pass against Dansby.

Not overreacting to manufactured situations, but Arroyo and Henderson are two players I will keep my eyes on in the passing game. Henderson Jr., in particular enters battle against Cody White, Montorie Foster Jr. and Ricky White III for possibly the last wide receiver spot on the roster.

I saw OG’s, Bryce Cabeldue and Christian Haynes early on, working with the 2nd-team offensive line. Can Haynes ever find any of that potential that surrounded him coming out of the 3rd Round in 2024? How do Mason Richman and Beau Stephens figure in?

Amari Kight will have to fight with all his might if he wants to ensure a spot, with (at least) veteran OT, Bobby Hart now in the fold. Depth on the O-line is a must, and a battle royale could baptize this unit by fire.

After the in-stadium scrimmage/practice, new free agent running back, Emmanuel Wilson was asked about a guy that will most likely be his main competition for snaps come the season opener. J.J. McCarthy went slightly viral for his answer to a similar question in Minnesota, but Wilson struck a different (more effusive) tone: “He’s got great feet. And also, the way he tracks the ball when he’s catching, he’s wonderful. Jadarian, he’s got a lot to him. He’s going to be a great back in this league.”

Two players who may have bigger roles on their respective sides of the ball looked good at times as well: CB, Nehemiah Pritchett and WR, Tory Horton. AJ Finley and Rodney Thomas II may be competing for the final safety spot, and they both came up with interceptions!

These are just a few of the storylines that I can’t wait to add more data and insight to. This Seahawks team has shown investment in a complete roster in everything they do. There’s a long history of even undrafted guys stepping up and becoming factors.

This team doesn’t feel like it is going to lose its edge anytime soon.

Hard Knocks Ep.2

Coach Macdonald: “Young guys: when we talk about the fog, this is the fog. We got a stadium practice on Friday, we got a good practice tomorrow morning, then a week from Saturday we get to go play another team. Okay? It might take you a play or a series or whatever… but at some point, you’re going to realize during that game that we’re just going to play football, and I’ve been training for the last five months.”

He goes on to say that, “If I’m a young guy right now, I should be not satisfied with where I’m at. Okay, I should feel a pull to get better and take my game to another level and try to play to our standard all the time. But I should also be excited about where I’m going and confident that I can play great football when given the opportunity.”

We should all be excited to see what the next phase of Seahawks football can look like. It started in OTAs, but it will continue to manifest in preseason action!