Seahawks Preseason Week 1 snapcounts

Look, I'm not really sure what you can glean from Preseason Week 1 snap counts. Mostly, starters will sit. Mostly, players that the front office wants to see more of will play a lot.

Also, because there's always a gray area, there will be some players that the Seahawks like but don't think will be in the plans this year, and thus they 'hide' them by not playing them and thus deprive them of 'tape' that other teams can use to evaluate talent. This was Phil Bates last year, in my opinion. Bates got a ton of love in training camp but then saw almost no action in any of the four preaseason games. He was released in the first wave of cuts and then was picked back up onto the practice squad when it was all over (at some point - maybe mid-season). Was this the Seahawks hiding him? I don't know. Kind of seems like it. It's not like halfway through the regular season, when he was sitting around waiting for a call that he suddenly started doing things they liked.

With over a thousand players hitting the waiver wire during roster cutdowns, players with 'good tape' will oftentimes get picked up elsewhere, and players with no tape have a better chance of slipping through the cracks to the practice squad when 31 other teams look to build their depth.

So, my point is, it's tough to tell what heavy or light snap counts really means for a player. But let's take a look anyway.

On offense, Seattle's coaching staff/scouting department got a heavy dose of their offensive line depth. Alvin Bailey, Michael Bowie, and Rishaw Johnson all got 44 snaps - a great chance for the team to evaluate what they have in those three players. At center, rookie Jared Smith got a long look with 30 snaps, but was preceded by Lemuel Jeanpierre who also put some tape out there with 27 snaps. Ryan Seymour and John Moffitt each got 22 snaps. Past that, apparently the Hawks know what they are getting from their starters.

Unsurprisingly, Christine Michael and Spencer Ware got long looks at running back with 27 snaps each, and fullback Derrick Coleman got a long look at fullback with 24 snaps. Chris Harper led all receivers with 27 snaps, which is actually surprising, considering I don't remember really seeing him out there much (not a great sign). Stephen Williams made the most of his 16 snaps, and Phil Bates and Perez Ashford each registered 14 snaps. Arceto Clark only got 7 snaps and after it's been said he's been very good at camp, he might be a guy the Hawks are thinking of hiding on their practice squad. Jermaine Kearse only got 8 snaps, but he's a guy that was on the team's practice squad all of last year so they may know what they're getting with Kearse.

Andrei Lintz led all tight ends in snaps, with 17. Cooper Helfet saw the fewest, with 10.

Despite taking the 2nd set of snaps after Russell Wilson was done, Brady Quinn only played in 18 snaps, compared to 26 for Tarvaris Jackson. Make of that what you will.

On the defensive side of the ball - the Allen Bradford played the most snaps of any defender, and with Bobby Wagner out, the Seahawks are trying to get him a lot of reps. Walter Thurmond, Chris Maragos, and Jeron Johnson all got extensive action, as did Ty Powell, Jaye Howard, and Benson Mayowa.

Malcolm Smith, O'Brien Schofield, and John Lotulelei all got comparable playing time, and Clinton McDonald got 21 snaps, giving the front office a good look at what to expect from him.

Surprising, maybe, was that Winston Guy, DeShawn Shead, Heath Farwell and Will Blackmon all got limited reps (relatively).  Does this mean they're behind the rest? We'll see.