Unable to maintain a five-point halftime lead, the Seattle Seahawks dropped their first game of the Mike Macdonald era in a 16-15 preseason loss to the Tennessee Titans on Saturday night, leaving just one exhibition audition remaining for the coaching staff to evaluate the roster before final cut downs on August 27.
After taking a deeper dive into Saturday's defeat in Nashville, which players will be on Seattle's roster when the regular season opens against Denver on September 8? With less than two weeks until cut down day, here's my latest shot at projecting the 53-man roster as well as the 16-player practice squad:
Starter: Geno Smith
Backup: Sam Howell
Practice Squad: TBD
Comfortable wearing a ball cap on the sidelines, Smith may finally get a few reps in the preseason finale next weekend, but his job has never been in danger. With that said, Howell continues to take positive steps forward running Ryan Grubb's offense, as he completed almost 80 percent of his passes in Saturday's defeat with a touchdown and no turnovers. The Seahawks should have growing confidence that if Smith gets banged up at any point, they can certainly win games with their new backup beginning to show off his skill set and play to his potential. The same can't be said for PJ Walker, who has struggled in both preseason games and opened the door for the team to be looking closely to the waiver wire for a third quarterback.
Running Back (4)
Starter: Ken Walker III
Backups: Zach Charbonnet, George Holani, Kenny McIntosh
Practice Squad: Kobe Lewis
With Charbonnet nursing a lower body injury right now, it seems even more likely the Seahawks will hold onto each of their top four backs for the start of the regular season, as McIntosh may have locked up his spot with an impressive outing on Saturday night running the ball and snagging passes out of the backfield. Pass protection still remains a concern for him, but he's shown more than enough to warrant inclusion on the roster, while Holani's lack of snaps in Nashville suggest the team already has seen enough from him on offense and special teams to this point.
Starters: DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Backups: Jake Bobo, Laviska Shenault, Dareke Young
Practice Squad: Cody White, Easop Winston
Atop the depth chart, Metcalf, Lockett, Smith-Njigba, and Bobo all entered Saturday as locks to make Seattle's roster, and at this point, Shenault should be in that group as well. He laid a tremendous lead block to spring Dee Williams for a 41-yard kick return on Saturday night and has continued to make an impact breaking tackles after the catch and as a runner with the ball in his hands, providing a different skill set than the top four receivers on the roster. As far as competitions go, Winston may have closed the gap a little bit on Young after catching a 23-yard touchdown against the Titans, but it's debatable whether he has done enough to overtake his teammate for a roster spot. With Young being a better overall special teams player and a superior athlete who can line up at multiple spots on offense, he's still likely the sixth receiver to round out the depth chart.
Tight End (3)
Starter: Noah Fant
Backups: AJ Barner, Brady Russell
Practice Squad: Tyler Mabry, Jack Westover
Injured Reserve: Pharaoh Brown
It remains to be seen how severe Brown's foot injury suffered during joint practices is, but the fact he had to be carted off the field and the Seahawks have yet to provide an update on his status several days later suggests that he may need to miss extended time. Depending on the severity, they could wait until after the final cut downs to place him on injured reserve to ensure he has a chance to play later in the season. Assuming he's going to miss the start of the regular season, Barner and Russell would immediately step into bigger roles on offense, while keeping both Mabry and Westover as insurance options on the practice squad would be more important.
Starters: Charles Cross, Laken Tomlinson, Connor Williams, Anthony Bradford, Abraham Lucas
Backups: George Fant, Christian Haynes, Olu Oluwatimi, McClendon Curtis
Practice Squad: Mike Jerrell, Sataoa Laumea, Max Pircher*
*Doesn't count against 16-man limit on practice squad as International Pathway Player
If anything was proven on Saturday night, there's a massive, Mount Everest crevasse-sized gap between the Seahawks first and second-string offensive linemen and the third unit, which struggled mightily throughout the second half both in pass protection and run blocking. As late round picks, the team will hope to keep Jerrell and Laumea for further development on the practice squad, but it's tough to envision either of them making the team if Lucas and Williams both are ready for Week 1 as hoped. Bradford's dominant performance on Saturday night may have been enough to fend off Haynes - at least for now - in the right guard competition, while Curtis looked better than Stone Forsythe playing with the starters to further cement his roster spot.
Defensive Line (6)
Starters: Leonard Williams, Johnathan Hankins, Jarran Reed
Backups: Byron Murphy II, Mike Morris, Myles Adams
Practice Squad: Devere Levelston
Though they had to play deep into Saturday's game in large part due to lack of numbers, Morris and Adams both played solid football against the Titans, combining for five pressures, a sack, and four run stops. There's no question each player should have a spot saved for them on the 53-man roster and will play meaningful roles as rotational defensive linemen, at least until the team potentially brings someone else in off the waiver wire later this month. Murphy only played a few drives last night, which means he's already in the protection zone for the Seahawks, and it may not be too long before he's starting alongside Williams and Reed.
Starters: Uchenna Nwosu, Dre'Mont Jones
Backups: Boye Mafe, Derick Hall, Darrell Taylor
Practice Squad: Jamie Sheriff, Nelson Ceaser
Since Jones remains sidelined, Mafe and Hall have played into the second half in both preseason games, but that shouldn't send the message either player's job is in jeopardy. Both have played well in the exhibition contests, with Hall being particularly effective registering a pair of sacks, and they will see extensive roles as rotational rushers in Macdonald's defense. Taylor came back healthy to make his 2024 debut and while he had some promising rushes, he couldn't turn any of them into sacks or quarterback hits. The lack of depth at the position keeps him on the roster as a situational rusher. In the undrafted ranks, Sheriff has been a revelation in the first two preseason games with seven combined pressures and the Seahawks would be wise to hang onto him for further development.
Inside Linebacker (4)
Starters: Tyrel Dodson, Jerome Baker
Backups: Tyrice Knight, Jon Rhattigan
Practice Squad: Patrick O'Connell, Drake Thomas
With Baker and Dodson not playing on Saturday, Knight saw his most extended action yet, leading the Seahawks with eight tackles and making an impressive stop sniffing out a screen for a tackle for loss. The fourth-round pick still has room to grow dissecting run concepts and handling coverage duties, but he stood out in a reserve linebacker group that had plenty of struggles on Saturday. Rhattigan was exploited a couple times in coverage with his inability to get deep enough on his zone drops, while O'Connell committed a killer defensive holding penalty on 3rd and 2 to extend a scoring drive for the Titans. Thomas should thrust himself into the competition in next week's finale after returning from the PUP list last week, but this remains a position that could be ripe for improvement off the waiver wire.
Starters: Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen
Backups: Tre Brown, Mike Jackson, Artie Burns, Nehemiah Pritchett, Dee Williams
Practice Squad: D.J. James, Carlton Johnson
The Seahawks have a wealth of riches at cornerback with Witherspoon, Woolen, and Brown all being locks and Burns likely on the roster as well. Coming back from an injury, Jackson probably finds himself on the right side of the bubble, but he could potentially be dangled as trade bait for cornerback-needy teams with the goal of adding depth at another position or a late round draft pick. Rounding out the depth chart, Pritchett turned in a solid performance on Saturday night and has been far better than James, who gave up a touchdown in coverage and committed two bad penalties to lead to a Titans field goal in the second half. Of those two rookies from Auburn, Pritchett has earned the roster spot, while Williams continues to flash as a return specialist and looked good at cornerback on Saturday, which puts him on the right side of the bubble.
Safety (4)
Starters: Julian Love, Rayshawn Jenkins
Backups: K'Von Wallace, Coby Bryant
Practice Squad: Ty Okada
PUP List: Jerrick Reed III
Saturday night was a clear step back for Bryant, who had two awful missed tackles in the first half, including one whiff that allowed Julius Chestnut to race off for a 23-yard gain on Tennessee's lone touchdown drive. Still, his versatility and performance throughout camp should keep him on the roster, while Wallace's spot appears to be safe as well. Recording a diving interception against Malik Willis, Okada has done enough in the preseason for consideration to make the roster as well, but he may be the odd man out due to a numbers game with Seattle likely to choose a player with kick return ability like Williams for one of the final spots instead. He should be a lock for the practice squad, however.
Starters: Jason Myers, Michael Dickson, Chris Stoll
Myers has irked some fans by his struggles with extra points - he missed one for the second straight preseason game on Saturday - but he also nailed all three of his field goal attempts, including a 50-yard connection that could have been a game winner if not for the defense folding in the final two minutes. There's not another kicker, punter, or long snapper on the roster and the Seahawks have plenty of confidence in this trio moving forward.
