First of all, as many other bloggers/writers have noted, the Seahawks quarterback position is a little concerning. Charlie Whitehurst hasn't been overly impressive (read: not impressive) and Josh Portis is exceedingly raw as a passer and decision maker. Portis has impressed me enough to think that he may have a chance of sticking, at least on the practice squad, and he could be one of those diamond in the rough guys down the road.
But for now, we should concentrate more on Charlie. He made a few good throws for touchdowns, including a nice pass to a seam-route-running John Carlson for a touchdown to end the day. Before that though, he was a bit erratic. He made a nice touchdown throw on one play and then got picked off in the back of the endzone by Kam Chancellor on another. He checked down quite a bit -- whether that's by design to get the running backs into the action or just because he didn't see anything open, I don't know.
One thing that I liked, that probably a lot of other people might not like, is that he didn't show a fear of throwing the ball away. He threw two balls deep out of play instead of forcing a ball into traffic, and to me this is a good sign. You'd love to see him throw a TD pass every down (because they're practicing plays from the 15 yard line), but in reality that's not going to happen with anyone. It's good that he can recognize it's not there, and instead of trying to force it, just throw it out of bounds and live to see another down.
Now, that's the eternal optimist in me talking, but I'd add I did point out that he hasn't impressed (though only threw one interception on the day). It will be interesting to see how Charlie reacts when Tarvaris Jackson takes the field today and he isn't running with the first team anymore, but I'm hoping to see him take it in stride and pick up his game.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: the tight end group on this team looks very, very good. And Zach Miller hasn't even gotten here yet. Cameron Morrah has been sitting out, but the combination of John Carlson, Anthony McCoy, Dominique Byrd, and even UDFA rookie Ryan Travis have been making plays for the offense.
Chatting with Doug Farrar at camp, he pointed out that Darrell Bevell liked to run a lot of sets last season with a tight end in-line and another lined up in the backfield as either an H-back/fullback or set just off the line as a wing-back type role. Don't be surprised to see this type of thing utilized by the Seahawks a lot in 2011, and like I said before, I could see them keeping a TE or two more this season than last (4 last year). With the lack of vigor they've taken to signing a free agent fullback outside of Michael Robinson, this theory gains strength.
The wide receivers have also looked very good. Doug Baldwin in particular has looked the part as a slot receiver and has caught everything that comes his way. Judging on how many snaps he's getting and the success he's had, he could be a real option to make the 53 man roster. In front of him are Sidney Rice, Mike Williams, Ben Obomanu, Golden Tate, and Kris Durham, presumably. I think that Deon Butler will be placed on the PUP and Ricardo Lockette, Isaiah Stanback, and Dominique Edison will be fighting for a spot on the roster as well.
It seems like Patrick Williams and Cris Carter are getting the least amount of looks, which doesn't bode well for their chances.
The trio of running backs in Marshawn Lynch, Justin Forsett, and Leon Washington have looked great. Michael Robinson will take the field today presumably so it will be fun to see where they put him. The new UDFA signing Chase Reynolds will be of interest, though he's most likely just a camp body. Dorson Boyce is still in the mix, but will probably lose snaps now that MikeRob is back.
As for the offensive line -- I'll try to take a better look there but to be quite honest it's pretty difficult to judge from afar when they're not in full contact mode. Just watching the second and third team units work though, I have seen some impressive work by Breno Giacomini and he certainly looks the part as a big, tall right tackle. Uses his hands well, looks very mobile for his size. He could turn out to be good depth.
Overall I think the line is in decent shape when you compare it to last season. Obviously you have your presumptive starters, but you also have Mike Gibson, a guy that can and did start at right guard but can also slide over to center in a pinch. You've got Paul Fanaika, who, according to rumblings, could challenge Moffitt for his starting job at least to start the season. You've got Tyler Polumbus, an excellent back-up that can come in and start at guard or even left tackle if need be and it wouldn't scare the crap out of me if he did.
Anyway, those are my thoughts for the moment. I'll try and not get too jacked up and pumped up by all the Navy Blue Angel VMAC fly-bys today and actually pay attention to what's going on. I'll be tweeting a little but I'll also be sitting with and or in the vacinity of 30AcreFortress, Hawkblogger, and DavisHsuSeattle so
