Seahawks Thursday Training Camp notes

While I was able to get a great view of practice on Saturday, today's was a bit more of a struggle. The team mainly worked on the west-most field, which means the action is a few hundred feet away from the nearest fans. It was much more difficult to pick out numbers and make notes at that distance, but I'll do my best.

Fortunately, my seat was right in line with the one-on-one pass-rush drills, so I was able to get a good view of the o-line.

Offensive Line

Russell Okung, Michael Bowie, and James Carpenter remained out. This meant that the first team, from left to right, consisted of Alvin Bailey, Caylin Hauptmann, Max Unger, J.R. Sweezy, and Justin Britt. New acquisition Eric Winston remained the second-team RT.

Alvin Bailey's pretty impressive in pass protection. Even on the one occasion that I saw him beaten pretty badly off the line, he was quick to re-direct the end far enough outside that the QB had room to climb the pocket into free space. With the less-than-ideal report on Russell Okung's availability, Bailey may be very important early in the season.

It seemed like Stephen Schilling, Greg van Roten, Lemuel Jeanpierre, and Winston wre getting a lot of reps. Winston was mostly solid, though he was badly beaten by Benson Mayowa on one occasion. Mayowa's burst was impressive enough that I initially confused him with Cliff Avril.

As expected, Garry Gilliam was excellent against outside rush moves, but showed real issues when facing interior players. With Winston's signing and Gilliam's lack of positional versatility, he's probably facing a bit of an uphill battle to make the 53.

Justin Britt had a better day, stoning an Avril outside rush at one point. He still looks a little confused out there and seemed to bite on a few outside fakes, shifting his weight to the right while the defender skipped by to the inside. More than anything, he just doesn't appear that comfortable yet, but it's early and he had some good snaps.

The single-most impressive play of the one-on-one rush drills was when J.R. Sweezy completely stuffed Kevin Williams on a bull-rush. Kevin Williams is a very large man, and Sweezy was able to stand his ground, something he really struggled with last year.

Misc

--There were a ton of players out today, and it showed, particularly at receiver. With Baldwin, Richardson, Norwood, and Harvin all sidelined, increased snaps fell to Phil Bates, Ricardo Lockette, and Bryan Walters. As in previous days, Bates stood out and had a nice rhythm going with Russell Wilson. Bates is an excellent athletic specimen who they've been developing into a WR for a few years now, and he's been mentioned very positively by Wilson in a few training camp press conferences.

Had Bates not needed to convert from QB to WR, he would likely not have gone undrafted. His athletic profile is fairly elite at the position, drawing comparisons to 2014 second-rounder Davante Adams. It's worth noting that Bates has put on weight since 2012 and is reported to be in the 220-230 range.

The team has typically only carried five receivers, and Bates is probably fighting for sixth place with Lockette and Walters. Still, with his excellent play and seeming connection with Russell, cutting him would be very difficult.

Kevin Smith made an awesome sideline catch today. He's on that Jermaine Kearse 2012 plan.

--Byron Maxwell hung out with the QBs during their drills today, running some go routes down the sideline. My guess is that the idea was to get him a little work on tracking the ball over his shoulder.

--There was a cool teaching moment with Russell and Terrelle Pryor during positional drills. The QBs all worked on red-line throws while running to their left, and Wilson led off with a nice strike to the sideline. Pryor went second, but his throw sailed over the receiver's head. Wilson took him aside afterward, coaching him on his footwork. Russell Wilson things, you guys.

--Steven Hauschka's longest attempt was at 57 yards, the kick barely creeping over the crossbar by a few inches. The team has two different mobile goalposts, and he made the 57-yarder on the one with narrowed uprights.

--I already talked about DeShawn Shead on Saturday, but he's really one of the most impressive athletes in person. Big, fast, and showed some pretty good hip flexibility. Shead and Dion Bailey were again the second-team safeties.

--The linebacking group is also missing a lot of players. All four of the key contributors from last season are out, with Brock Coyle, Jackson Jeffcoat, and Mike Morgan forming the first unit during drills. As noted by Danny Kelly, Jeffcoat's playing in a SAM/LEO role and spent some time with both the LB and DL groups.

--Ken Norton, Jr. garners a lot of respect from his guys. At one point, he stopped Brandon Denmark in a block-shedding drill and showed the new Seahawk the correct way to perform it, pointing out that Denmark wasn't getting low and driving his legs into the block. Denmark tried to resume, but Norton pointed back at the start, making him turn and do it over again. It's fun to watch Ken Norton coach.

--One of the biggest reactions from the crowd came when Robert Turbin lost his balance while receiving a handoff, faceplanting into the field.

--I didn't have a great view of the defensive linemen, but Jordan Hill and Benson Mayowa stood out a few times. As noted earlier, Mayowa really surprised me with his burst off the line.

--in the sequel to "Don't Stand Next To Zach At Training Camp," I feel bad for the guy next to me who mentioned that he'd keep Terrelle Pryor as a QB/WR. He didn't seem pumped when I asked him which two he'd cut of the 5th RB, 10th OL, and 6th WR. I'm telling you, I'm super fun at parties.

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