The preseason is my favorite part of the football year. The season--I live and die. The preseason--I sit and root. For the team, the youth, the scrappers, the hacks and the hanger-ons. The big egos sit and the hungry kids fight for employment. And none of it matters a damn. I love the preseason because it’s about stories and who’s gonna make it and who’s gonna surprise. It’s frivolous. It’s fun.

So is the spirit of this article. Potshots welcome.

John Carlson will be the story.

Seattle expects Carlson to start week 1. He’s been in and out of camps courtesy a gimpy hamstring. I expect Holmgren and company to give Carlson a crash course in the West Coast come preseason: lots of snaps, lots of targets and lots of minutes. Carlson has just the skill-set to torch opponent’s second and third stringers. He’s an excellent route runner and a surgeon at dissecting zones. The preseason is about getting players up to speed and evaluating talent. The fire zone can wait. I expect to see Carlson streaking down the seam against a grip of cover 2 zone and cover 2 man. He won’t Stevens it up.

Seattle will shutout an opponent.

The Hawks have silly defensive line depth. In the third quarter, against the Bears and Raiders second string offensive lines, Seattle will roll Red Bryant, Marcus Tubbs, Craig Terrill, Larry Triplett, Lawrence Jackson, Baraka Atkins and Darryl Tapp. That’s just not fair. Lance Laury and Will Herring aren’t superstars, but both are quick and technically sound. Seattle’s second string corners are Josh Wilson and Kevin Hobbs. The Hawks are a deep, young defense and against a pair of talent poor and gold leaf thin offenses, not only will they shut someone out, they’ll explode for a second half defensive rout.

Jordan Kent will do something incredible.

I’m picturing scramble left, Wallace to Kent for 70 and the score.

Olindo Mare will beat out Brandon Coutu.

I wasn’t fond of the Coutu pick and I think he’s the Hawk’s most precarious player. So far, all I’ve heard about Coutu’s performance is explanations: Nerves, inexperience—BS. I think the kid’s lost a few ticks off his fastball. His senior season his kickoff average plummeted to a Mike Vandejagt-like 59.0 and he notched only one touchback, but 3 kicks out of bounds. I expect Mare to completely outclass the rookie.

Charlie Frye will suck.

…And the search for a backup quarterback continues.