Seattle Seahawks Training Camp Takeaways: Competitions Heating Up on Offense

Now well into August with preseason games on the horizon, the battle for roster spots has escalated at several positions, including third down running back.

Jul 27, 2024; Renton, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks running back George Holani (36) during training camp at Virginia Mason Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports / Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

RENTON, Wash. - Back in action on the practice field after a much-needed day off, the Seattle Seahawks ramped up the physicality a bit - both pre and post-snap - in Monday's 10th training camp practice as competitions at several positions continue to take shape.

Setting the tone with a punishing running style, rookie running back George Holani turned in the play of the day when he bowled over fellow rookie cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett, leading to Ken Walker III sprinting from the sideline to celebrate. Only a few plays later, he powered his way into the end zone for a touchdown, capping off another outstanding practice for the undrafted signee out of Boise State, who has caught the attention of coach Mike Macdonald.

"That's a great example of a guy who just keeps doing it," Macdonald said of Holani. "We'll see in the preseason games, he'll have an ample opportunity to show what he can do and it's good to see him make a couple plays today."

Remaining a critical component of Macdonald's philosophy, recent training camp practices have oozed with competitive juices throughout the roster as battles start to heat up for both starting jobs and roster spots. With Holani's recent surge, including a stellar showing in Saturday's mock game at Lumen Field, third down running back has vaulted to the top of competitions to watch with second-year back Kenny McIntosh trying to hold off his rookie counterpart.

When the Seahawks did two-minute drill work on Monday, McIntosh did receive all of the snaps out of the backfield with the first-team offense, catching a pair of passes. But Holani followed up in a starring role with the second-team unit, showcasing his rugged running style as he bullied his way to extra yardage and eventually found pay dirt, making it clear he's in the rearview mirror and closing in.

"Kenny's getting pushed right now. He's in a battle," Macdonald said bluntly. "I think George is right there with him. He's in a battle to see who's going to be the third running back for us. He's getting his money's worth. It will be interesting to see how it plays out over the next few weeks."

In the trenches, the Seahawks have also opened up the competition at center, where the team has a starting vacancy to fill after losing Evan Brown in free agency. Only a week ago, second-year pivot man Olu Oluwatimi seemed to have the starting job on lockdown, but veteran Nick Harris has started to cut in to his first-team reps.

Making the situation even more intriguing, per agent Drew Rosenhaus, Seattle remains in negotiations with free agent Connor Williams, who is expected to sign with a new team within 48-72 hours. If he's added to the mix, potentially on a multi-year contract, he would immediately usurp Oluwatimi and Harris as the starter after two strong seasons in Miami.

Until Williams signs, if he does after visiting with the Ravens on Monday, however, the ball remains in Oluwatimi and Harris' court as the Seahawks continue to split up reps between them with the first-team offense.

"It's open," Macdonald said of the competition. "Nick [Harris] has done a nice job. He's pushing Olu [Oluwatimi]. Young pups are doing a good job too... It's open."

Recapping Seattle's 10th practice, here are four other takeaways from the VMAC:

1. Back from injury, Geno Smith looked sharp and healthy with quality pocket movement, while Sam Howell remained erratic.

After undergoing imaging last week on his knee/hip and missing a quartet of practices, Smith returned to the practice field and didn't have any limitations, taking all of the snaps with the first-team offense in team sessions. Moving around well in the pocket and not showing any residual effects from the lower body injuries, he took off a couple of times as a runner and evaded pass rushers to deliver quality throws downfield.

Among his most notable throws, while engineering an impressive 75-yard touchdown drive, Smith stepped up in the pocket as tackle Charles Cross washed a blitzing Rayshawn Jenkins upfield, buying himself time to hit Jaxon Smith-Njigba in stride on a crossing route. The second-year receiver turned on the boosters with nothing but green in front of him on a 40-yard gain, eventually leading to a touchdown run by Walker.

With Smith back rolling and healthy, Seahawks fans should be breathing a sigh of relief, especially since Howell continues to struggle with inconsistency as a passer.

Back with the second-team offense, Howell got off to decent start in Monday's session, throwing an excellent back shoulder throw to Cody White in the end zone for six points during the team's first red zone period, which was catered specifically to third down situations. But as the practice progressed, continuing a not-so-welcomed trend thus far in camp, he airmailed several throws that got away from him and sailed over his intended target.

Howell also got burned on several occasions for holding onto the football too long, and though the Seahawks allowed plays to continue without a whistle, he likely would have been sacked at least three times on the afternoon. On two occasions, undrafted rookie Nelson Ceaser beat tackle Stone Forsythe off the edge and collapsed on him in the pocket, while Derick Hall also continued a strong camp powering his way past a block for a flag football sack by tapping the quarterback.

2. Tre Brown and Artie Burns could be giving Macdonald and his staff quite a fun problem in the secondary.

With Devon Witherspoon and Woolen both having outstanding training camps, the Seahawks have two of their starting cornerback spots locked up. But with Witherspoon likely to split time between the boundary and slot, Macdonald and his staff have been mixing and matching combinations in nickel and dime personnel groupings looking for the best running mate to pair with the two young stars in the defensive backfield.

Now nearly two weeks into camp, Macdonald may have more questions than answers on that front, but for positive reasons. Playing left cornerback opposite of Woolen with Witherspoon sliding inside to the slot, Brown has been a standout throughout camp when granted the opportunity to play with the first team, and he continued to play at a high level on Monday with a pair of pass breakups, including knocking a ball away from DK Metcalf during 1-on-1 drills.

When the Seahawks moved Witherspoon back to the boundary, Burns checked in as the nickel cornerback and kept producing in a myriad of ways. Building off a strong mock game, he did most of his damage as a blitzer on Monday, "sacking" Smith and deflecting a pass at the line of scrimmage on two of the plays where he was sent as an extra rusher from the slot. He also recovered from getting beat by White on a fade route, punching the ball out of the receiver's hands along the sideline as he tried to secure the catch.

So far, there hasn't been much separation between Brown and Burns, who has capitalized on Mike Jackson being sidelined for the past few practices and performing well with extended reps. If anything, Macdonald may now be able to comfortably rotate both players into game action, which provides outstanding flexibility for how the Seahawks plan to deploy an incredibly versatile weapon such as Witherspoon.

3. Tempers continue to flare during padded practices, but the skirmishes haven't escalated beyond the line just yet.

Since the pads came out last week, there have been no shortage of post-whistle drama on the practice field for the Seahawks. On multiple occasions, Riq Woolen and DK Metcalf had to be separated after exchanging words on the outside, while safety Marquise Blair got into it with receiver Dee Eskridge after slamming him to the turf during 1-on-1 drills at Saturday's mock game.

Such fights aren't uncommon in NFL training camps, and early in Monday's session, a scuffle broke out along the sideline after Woolen wrapped up Walker on a run play. The third-year cornerback grabbed hold of Walker's face mask and held on after the whistle, drawing the ire of the running back, who threw a forceful shove into the defender's face mask. Woolen followed up by tackling Walker to the ground, leading to teammates coming in and coaches having to break it up.

From Macdonald's perspective, he values Woolen's competitive nature and fire between the lines. But while skirmishes between the lines aren't necessarily a bad thing as long as they don't escalate past a certain point, he also wants his players to protect one another.

"I love the competitor, I love the spirit, all that," Macdonald said of Woolen's feistiness. "We need to take care of one another so if we get in a scrap here or there, that's understandable, but we have to make sure everybody's healthy and we're taking care of one another at the same time."

4. Injuries have started to pile up with the attrition from training camp slowly starting to settle in.

While Seattle did welcome Smith back under center on Monday and Oluwatimi was full-go after sitting out a few practices last week, several other noteworthy veterans remain sidelined as the team's injury list continues to grow, particularly on the defensive side of the football.

Still dealing with a hamstring injury suffered on July 26, Dre'Mont Jones missed his seventh consecutive practice, and the Seahawks continue to take a conservative approach with his recovery. Darrell Taylor also missed his fourth straight practice with a lower body injury, providing more opportunities for Ceaser and fellow undrafted rookie Sunny Anderson in his absence, while Jackson missed his fourth straight practice with an undisclosed injury.

Maybe most importantly, Seattle didn't have veteran linebacker Jerome Baker in pads on Monday as he navigates a hamstring injury suffered last week. With him sidelined, rookie Tyrice Knight took all of the reps with the first-team defense at weakside linebacker alongside Tyrel Dodson, while Jon Rhattigan and Patrick O'Connell played with the second-team defense.

When asked about how Knight has developed thus far, Macdonald seemed irked by the defense's performance at the end of practice, and injuries may be a significant factor in those struggles.

"It's good to see him making some tackles in the set. We did threes [third unit] live, tackling without the quarterback on Saturday, made a few tackles which is good to see. I want to watch the tape today to see if he's taking the next steps. The challenge to him is, can he build on it everyday? We're at a time of two steps forward, one step back, and that goes for everybody. Without making judgment right now, but we didn't finish the way we needed to on defense today so that's what's burned in my mind right now."