Despite media hype about winning roster spots, I tend to assume that Pete Carroll and John Schneider have already decided on a tentative 53-man roster prior to the Week 4 preseason game, barring injuries or last-minute changes of heart.
They certainly like to give their "starting" special teams units a final tune-up; therefore, whoever is on each of the first-unit special teams this week is probably going to make the roster.
(I did the same analysis last year and it turned out to be surprisingly predictive. I’m less confident this year because Jeremy Lane and Tharold Simon didn’t make the trip, which means there are fewer tea leaves to read.)
Kick Return Team
Bryan Walters
J.R. Sweezy, Lemuel Jeanpierre
Cassius Marsh, Luke Willson
Jermaine Kearse, Derrick Coleman, DeShawn Shead, Jeron Johnson, Mike Morgan, Spencer Ware
(Second kick return: Stephen Schilling and Jordan Hill for Sweezy and Jeanpierre, Ricardo Lockette for Kearse.)
Field Goal & PAT Team
Steven Hauschka, Jon Ryan
Zach Miller, Willson
Justin Britt, Jeanpierre, Sweezy, Clint Gresham, James Carpenter, Caylin Hauptmann, Alvin Bailey
(Not much to see here; on game days this will just be whichever linemen and tight ends are active.)
Kickoff Team
Hauschka
Byron Maxwell, Kearse, Morgan, Malcolm Smith, Coleman
Shead, Johnson, Marsh, Lockette, Earl Thomas
(Lane would probably be in here somewhere. Kam Chancellor could get back in the mix, too.)
Punt Team
Ryan
Shead, Johnson, Coleman
Kevin Pierre-Louis, K.J. Wright, Gresham, Morgan, Smith
Phil Bates, Lockette
(Probably best to assume Bates is filling in for Lane? Bobby Wagner is another veteran who could be back on this team soon. Second punt looked the same except for Steven Terrell subbing for Lockette at one gunner spot.)
Punt Return Team
(It took Oakland so long to finally punt that Chris Matthews was in on the first return. I’m assuming that wasn’t a regular-season unit.)
Conclusions? Speculation?
The especially versatile core special teams players: Jeron Johnson, DeShawn Shead, Derrick Coleman, and Mike Morgan. Ricardo Lockette, arguably.
Question marks: Bryan Walters, Kevin Pierre-Louis, and Tharold Simon. Spencer Ware, arguably.
Guys who were ominously absent from any first-unit special teams: Korey Toomer, Brock Coyle, Phillip Adams, and Kiero Small.
Make of that what you will, or click really hard to zoom in on the answer key: