Which Seahawks helped or hurt their roster chances in the final preseason game?

The NFL preseason is in the books. The Seattle Seahawks suffered a heart breaker as they lost their only road contest of the preseason against Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers. Regardless, this was a final audition for a lot of guys; we may see some interesting roster moves after this game, some due to performance and some due to injury, unfortunately. So who helped and who DID NOT help their chances on this Wisconsin excursion?

*Unless otherwise noted, any stats cited below pulled from the ESPN box score

---

Helped

Jake Bobo

Are you kidding me? Is he going to be on the roster? I think the real question is whether he is going to win OROY, or OPOY.

Mike Jackson Sr.

It was a somewhat uneven performance, but he had a great PBU on that first drive, and then a great stick short of the sticks a bit later. He didn’t look perfect, but it is going to be difficult to keep his veteran presence off the roster, particularly with some uncertainty around Devon Witherspoon. He got beat by Christian Watson, but he showed great makeup speed and got his hand in to break up the play. Sure, that could have been bad, but Joey Blount offered some help over the top... and hat holding call could have been OPI on what was a borderline pick play. Of course, he allowed the TD to Christian Watson. It was a great play, but that is not what we wanted to see... He responded with the blocked PAT though! He isn’t perfect, and it may only be a matter of time before the team is turning to Devon Witherspoon, but it is hard to argue with his passionate play. He brings a bit of a Byron Maxwell vibe, to me, and I am okay with that. He was second in tackles with 7 and recorded two pass breakups, as well.

Matt Gotel - DT/NT

Have you heard that the Seahawks are a bit light at Nose Tackle? Well, the 2022 UDFA out of West Florida shrugged off Jon Runyan with ease in the first quarter to collect a nice run stuff, and then he kept looking like an immovable object throughout much of the first half. He is 6’1” and 341 lbs, and he looked like an immovable object that can... move. When he wants to. He heard his name called early and often, he is a name to keep an eye on. 3 solo tackles (5 total) and a tfl.

Artie Burns

His name got called a number of times during the first half, and he nearly had a pick on third and long that at least assisted on the Jerick Reed Jr. pass breakup. He wasn’t perfect, but he made some plays. He had a TFL, a PBU, and a good pressure on Love to force 3rd down in the 2nd quarter.

Jon Rhattigan

He was flying around and led the team in tackles with 12. He had great coverage on an early punt. He has a nose for the ball and plays hard. With Jordyn Brooks returning and Bobby Wagner... existing... Rhattigan may be fighting for a roster spot, but he is fighting hard. His special teams value is a big plus for him.

Patrick O’Connell:

Linebacker depth is valuable, and O’Connell has been in on 18 tackles throughout the preseason, per ESPN. The UDFA out of Montana could be a name to watch for the practice squad.

Ty Okada

The rookie safety from Montana State looked good to me after stepping in for the injured Joey Blount. He played with good instincts and intensity. He helped over the top on a big Mike Jackson pass breakup, and he showed good tackling skills when he brought down Emanuel Wilson down behind the line for a TFL.

Jerick Reed II

The Seahawks roster lists Reed as 5’9” and 196 lbs, but he plays much bigger than that. He flies around and isn’t afraid to hit. I swear, every time I looked at the pile at the end of a play, Reed was right in the mix. He hits with intensity and brings a little bit of that Earl Thomas/Quandre Diggs vibe of “just try me, punk.” He was a 6th round draft pick, and he looks like he’ll make the roster, if you ask me.

Easop Winston Jr.

Sure, a lot of his damage came late in the game, but it looks like he has something to offer. The former standout for the Washington State Cougars helped to get the offense down to the goal line, leading to the go-ahead score in the 4th quarter.

Jake Curhan

The offensive line in general put together a solid performance from what I could tell, as ESPN credits them with surrendering zero sacks and only one QB hit. The starters are locked in with Cross and Lucas, obviously, but Curhan provides veteran depth at tackle.

Holton Ahlers

I don’t care that he threw the game losing pick, and I don’t care how bad of a pass it was. He showed poise and athleticism to get the team down to the goal line, and he just brings excitement to the field. He could be an emergency 3rd QB if called upon, and a no-brainer practice squad candidate. He came in cold and led a fun drive. That is a win in the preaseason for me.

---

Did NOT Help

Joey Blount

That taunting penalty was awful on the heels of a great play, you know that is going to make Carroll angry. Blount helped provide some over the top coverage on that Mike Jackson breakup that was nearly a big gain for Christian Watson.

Ben Burr-Kirven

He got faked out bad by the play action on the penultimate play of the Packers first touchdown drive. I love BBK... we all do. But I just thought he got objectively outplayed by Rhattigan, O’Connell, and Bell. He doesn’t add much as a pass rusher With Bobby Wagner, Devin Bush, and Jordyn Brooks the clear top of the roster, there just might not be room for everybody.

John Hall

Offsides on the punt at the end of the half that turned into a field goal. These are the types of mistakes that cost a player who was already climbing a steep hill to make the roster.

Matt Landers

He has made a few plays in the preseason, and his size/speed combo is impressive. But he lost one of Drew Lock’s best passes of the game on what should have been a conversion on 3rd and long. He started out the preseason as a guy some of us were keeping our eye on, now I think he is a practice squad candidate at best. He missed last week and finished the preseason with 3 catches on 8 targets for 40 yards, and 30 of that came on this broken Ahlers scramble play against the Vikings. He has the talent to put together an NFL career, but the team just has better options at the position right now. And the previously mentioned play will always go down in history as a memorable preseason highlight:

---

Their roster spot is likely safe, but...

Drew Lock

He just wasn’t able to bring much life to the offense until late in the game, and he nearly threw a terrible pick 6, and then he failed on a 3rd and 1 sneak. Sure, that may not be entirely his fault, but he just didn’t really execute it well — looked to me like he went high and never had a chance. The team could save $2.25M if they cut or traded him, according to Over the Cap, but I doubt that is enough encouragement to lose a veteran presence at the position (albeit a perpetually underwhelming one). Maybe I am too harsh on him, he did throw a great ball to Bobo on that TD, and he demonstrated a great connection with Easop Winston Jr. late in the game. Mixed bag.

Devin Bush

I don’t think he played poorly, but that injury is unfortunate. Hopefully it is nothing major, but the team pretty clearly has their starters locked in to place, so even if he doesn’t miss any time, he is unlikely to be a starter at this point.

Onward to the regular season!!!!