Winners and Losers from Packers 19, Seahawks 15

Congratulations, you made it through another NFL preseason. Unlike the previous two exhibitions, the Seattle Seahawks’ finale against the Green Bay Packers was just ugly football befitting of a final preseason game. I guess it wasn’t all that bad considering we had a dramatic finish (albeit in a loss), but let’s just say I had a hard time keeping my undivided attention on this one.

This means I’m not doing an overly thorough Winners and Losers because, well, we saw a lot of people who have close to zero shot of making the roster. They’re auditioning for other teams and arguably other leagues.

Winners

Jake Bobo

His roster spot is secure both for injury reasons and for performance reasons. Every preseason game he had an explosive play, and his final catch of August was an 18-yard touchdown grab in the back of the end zone. Bobo had 7 catches for 125 yards and 2 touchdowns over these three weeks, and he may have a much greater role than expected in the regular season for as long as Jaxon Smith-Njigba and (presumably) Dareke Young are out.

Easop Winston Jr

I think there’s a case for Winston to get onto the 53. On one drive he had 3 catches for 74 yards and sprung a lethargic offense into life. Add in his performance against the Minnesota Vikings and there’s a chance he sneaks in. The only thing I’ll ding him for is the backpedaling fair catch of a punt at his own 5-yard line, but that’s minor since he surely won’t be returning anything in the regular season.

Jerrick Reed II

With Joey Blount injured again and Jonathan Sutherland out, this was a chance for the sixth-round rookie out of New Mexico to put in some work. He had a clutch 3rd down tackle for loss on a read-option keeper and had another TFL in the 2nd half. I don’t see Seattle keeping all three of Reed, Blount, and Sutherland, so a tough choice will have to be made.

Artie Burns

Playing Artie at nickel is interesting. He was sound in coverage and had a run stop, and could’ve had a sack but failed to wrap up Jordan Love. Maybe my prediction that he won’t be making the cut is a wrong one.

Matthew Gotel

Potentially a practice squad stash as a defensive tackle. He was impressive against the run and seemed to be at the heart of a lot of disrupted plays.

Levi Bell

I think Bell will make the roster if only because they’re trying him everywhere. Dude was at OLB, DE, and fullback today. There must be some value to having Bell as a utility player who can fill in at multiple positions in a pinch.

Jon Rhattigan and Patrick O’Connell

Certainly more than Ben Burr-Kirven, whose situation is very understandable given he was told he wouldn’t play football again, Rhattigan and O’Connell stood out among the linebackers this afternoon. Rhattigan led the team in tackles with 12, but they were generally meaningful tackles and one of them came on 4th down. O’Connell has generally had a solid preseason and I can see him landing on the practice squad.

Losers

Mike Jackson

I don’t think Jackson is in danger of getting cut, but I don’t believe he’s keeping his starting job. For all of the training camp praise, the preseason performances have been underwhelming. He switched sides with Tre Brown today and that might have caused an even greater struggle trying to contain Christian Watson, but he got beaten for a touchdown on a drive when he should’ve been beaten for a longer TD by Watson had Jordan Love’s throw been on time. They were relentlessly picking on Jackson until he left the game, much like we saw last week by the Dallas Cowboys’ backups. He did have some passes defensed and a blocked PAT, but I suspect there was something more to him and Tre Brown getting as much run as they did.

If I were to guess the Week 1 roster, your starting outside corners are Riq Woolen and Tre Brown.

The linebacker depth

This sounds like I’m contradicting myself a bit given my praise for Rhattigan and O’Connell, but it’s a good thing Jordyn Brooks is probably playing Week 1. Devin Bush got concussed playing special teams in the 3rd quarter, so his status is in question. If anything happens to Brooks or Bobby Wagner, Seattle better be running a whole lot of dime and other extra DB packages because there aren’t too many other inside linebackers I’m comfortable seeing get regular season snaps. Rhattigan and O’Connell played well today but that doesn’t mean I want them as potential emergency starters.

Benjie Franklin

He was a long shot to make the roster but getting toasted by Jadakis Bonds (elite name, by the way) pretty much was the nail in the coffin.

Holton Ahlers

If there was any thought to Ahlers getting onto the 53-man roster as a QB3, the fact that he didn’t play until the two-minute drill gives you your hint. The interception felt inevitable and he was threatening picks earlier in that drive, too. He’s a fun preseason option where he’s a real grab bag of mostly chaotic outcomes, but practice squad QB may be his ceiling.

That taunting penalty nonsense

Joey Blount did the Aaron Rodgers discount double check celebration after a PBU in front of the Packers sideline. Green Bay pointed him out and the officials threw the flag. Stop flagging for non-obscene taunts.

Final Notes

• I thought Drew Lock was worse than his stats suggested, and he really should’ve had a pick-6 on his marker. But I don’t really care all that much because there’s no QB competition and his overall body of work this preseason just affirms that he’s the QB2. His play-action proficiency continues to be on full display, and that’s at least something to build off of down the line.
• The backup offensive line struggled to run block outside of the Bobo touchdown drive. They held up in pass pro reasonably well but I’d say neither Olu Oluwatimi nor Anthony Bradford will be starting in Week 1.
• Tyreke Smith has impressed me more as an edge setter than a pass rusher. I expect him to stay on the team as depth and have his “rookie” season in effect, since he missed all of last year.
• Alex McGough denying the Seahawks a perfect preseason was pretty funny, I gotta admit.
• We’ve made it this far, we’ve got another preseason in the books. Now the real games start soon. Stick around over the next few days for the cutdown tracker, practice squad tracker, and analysis of the initial roster.