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Approaching the halfway point of the season, the Seattle Seahawks have had to shake things up a bit among their starters. Injuries, trades, and a couple of emerging rookies have resulted in a different look than way back in Week 1.
You can confirm snap counts for yourself from Week 1 and beyond at this helpful place.
Here’s who came out of the gates for the Hawks on opening day.
The Offense
LT Duane Brown
LG Ethan Pocic
C Justin Britt
RG DJ Fluker
RT Germain Ifedi
Russell Wilson
Chris Carson
WR 1 Tyler Lockett
WR 2Jaron Brown
WR 3 DK Metcalf
TE Will Dissly
The Defense
Bobby Wagner
K.J. Wright
Mychal Kendricks
Bradley McDougald
Tedric Thompson
Shaquil Griffin
Tre Flowers
The four guys who primarily rotated through the defensive line:
Jadeveon Clowney
Poona Ford
Quinton Jefferson
Al Woods
This Sunday, we’ll be waiting on quite a few game time decisions which could provide a whole new look to the Seahawks this week.
The Seahawks' final practice report says Germain Ifedi missed his second straight practice today because of a knee he tweaked in a walk-through. He's among six players listed as questionable. Duane Brown and George Fant were full participants today, a good sign for each. pic.twitter.com/Wle33Rllti
— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) October 25, 2019
The Offense
LT Duane Brown was looking highly unlikely until today, which would have meant George Fant at left tackle again.
LG Ethan Pocic Mike Iupati
C Justin Britt
RG DJ Fluker
RT now it looks like if Germain Ifedi isn’t able to go than George Fant ends up over here.
Russell Wilson
Chris Carson
WR 1 Tyler Lockett
WR 2 DK Metcalf
Jaron Brown is still in play, but is a far stretch removed from the undeniable WR2 that he appeared to be on day one.
TE Will Dissly has turned into a Jacob Hollister and Luke Willson combo.
The Defense
A broader defensive line rotation (unfortunately with the same results):
Jadeveon Clowney
Poona FordQuinton Jefferson
Al Woods
Ziggy Ansah
Rasheem Green
Jarran Reed will undoubtedly take snaps away from the others on the inside, but Green and Woods had both earned their way to 50% snap counts for the past several weeks, including Reed’s first game last Sunday.
The rest of the defense this week is a complete cluster.
Bobby Wagner is good.
K.J. Wright is good.
Shaquil Griffin is good.
After those guys...Bradley McDougald looked unlikely all week, now listed questionable. This could possibly be a subsequent start for Marquise Blair.
Tedric Thompson Quandre Diggs was the obvious choice until he remained questionable all week. While many hope it’s not T2 this week, it’s impossible to say if a new/limited Diggs is an improvement right now.
Mychal Kendricks is presumably the starter, per usual. But, and especially if McDougald is healthy, there’s a chance Blair or Ugo Amadi or almost anyone might make a better starting option at some point. Consider,
Opponent passer rating when targeted in coverage:
— John P. Gilbert (@JohnPGilbertNFL) October 23, 2019
K.J. Wright: 89.3
Bobby Wagner: 118.4
Mychal Kendricks: 122.0
Hopefully with the addition of Diggs Seattle will play more nickel.
I would love to see Pete Carroll attempt something besides the three-headed linebacker monster who avoids pass coverage like the plague. That would be a first this season.
Tre Flowers is a new questionable on the injury report. He’s probably one of the more likely candidates to play through, but Flowers hasn’t missed a game yet and that would be a new adjustment for the defense.
By my count, we’ve got two new starters on the offense, probably three. It could be four.
Then on the defense, we’re guaranteed two who didn’t start week one: Ziggy and Reed. If Blair and Diggs make it to game day, that’s four on defense plus a couple more game time decisions.
All of this doesn’t even factor the non-starters. We’ve got Bryan Mone, who played 27% of Week 1 snaps and is no longer on the team. Ugo Amadi, who’s been in my opinion the best special teams player on the roster but hasn’t seen the defense since Week 2. Rashaad Penny has seen less and less of the field lately, not amounting to anything resembling a timeshare.
At the end of the day, it’s a good time to have somewhere from four to eight new faces starting the game against the flailing Atlanta Falcons. Whether or not most of these guys will play could come down to the wire far more than the actual game.