Four Seattle Seahawks Training Camp Battles That All Fans Should Be Watching
The Seattle Seahawks 2022 training camp will bring more exciting competition at four positions than training camps of years past have brought.
The 2022 offseason has been the most eventful Seahawks offseason of the John Schneider/Pete Carroll regime, and the excitement will continue into training camp, which begins July 27. For a season in which more information needs to be gathered about young players on the Seahawks roster, training camp will kick off an actual look at the players that will be featured in 2022.
While there will be more roster decisions made during training camp this year than any year in recent memory for Seattle, there are three positions that we should all have a very close eye on. Pete Carroll has always pushed competition, but this year fans will be watching true competition at these positions while the coaching staff determines which players they want to see more from.
Defensive End
The big three names here are Poona Ford, Shelby Harris, and Quinton Jefferson. I don’t think Poona has the size to play nose tackle (that role will be relegated to Bryan Mone/Al Woods), so he gets pushed to defensive end. He’ll compete with the newly signed Quinton Jefferson and Shelby Harris who came over in the Russell Wilson trade. Ford and Harris are the frontrunners for sure, but if Poona is deemed not quick enough, don’t be surprised if Jefferson takes over. Also, don’t forget about L.J. Collier, the 2019 first round pick who could have some skin in the game for this training camp competition.
Left Guard
Having a battle for the starting left guard position would require Damien Lewis to return to the right guard spot, where he was much better in 2020. If Lewis is left at left guard, where he had a down year in 2021, then this training camp battle will be for the starting right guard spot. Either way, there are two players who will duke it out for a starting role: Gabe Jackson and Phil Haynes. The more experienced Jackson played decently in 2021, but I would love to see Phil Haynes win out. He’s younger and has more upside, meaning that he has a much larger chance to be a long-term solution on the offensive line.
Cornerback
There are so many intriguing names at both outside cornerback and nickel cornerback for the Seahawks in 2022. Sidney Jones, Tre Brown, Coby Bryant, Artie Burns and Tariq Woolen all have a legitimate shot at starting on the outside. Jones is probably the only locked-in starter, so the #2 spot is up for grabs between the returning from injury Tre Brown and the others. At nickel cornerback, expect Ugo Amadi and Justin Coleman to be the frontrunners. Amadi will likely take the starting role, but it will be an interesting training camp battle between the two.
Quarterback
Oh, the excitement of this training camp duel between Geno Smith and Drew Lock: who will win out? Geno is rumored to have an early advantage in the competition because of his experience with the Seahawks. The talent of Drew Lock is much more tantalizing, and I think he will get to show off what he’s capable of when training camp rolls around. In the end, I expect Lock to win the job because of his arm talent, but he has improving to do in quick decision making and comfort in the pocket.
There’s more at stake this late July/early August for several members of the Seahawks roster than there has been in past training camps, so keep an eye out for any news that comes from camp on who we’ll be seeing on the field come September 12.
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