Seattle Seahawks Training Camp Takeaways: Sam Howell Stellar in Place of Geno Smith

Taking advantage of his first chance to work with the Seahawks starting offense, Sam Howell impressed throwing passes to DK Metcalf and company.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Howell makes a pass during an NFL football practice, Wednesday, May 22, 2024, in Renton, Wash. / AP Photo/John Froschauer

RENTON, Wash. - Participating in his first training camp with the Seattle Seahawks, quarterback Sam Howell's performance had largely been up and down in the first handful of practices, struggling with accuracy and timing in a new offense.

But in the third-year signal caller's defense, Howell had yet to have a chance to throw to the team's talented stable of starting receivers. With starter Geno Smith out due to a knee/hip issue, however, that narrative changed in Thursday's eighth training camp practice.

Seizing his first opportunity to work with the first-team offense, though he did uncork a few wild throws, had a few catchable passes dropped, and got intercepted by Tre Brown for an ugly pick six, Howell enjoyed a stellar day overall and and made positive strides. Early on, he delivered a perfect 20-yard back shoulder completion to Jake Bobo along the sideline and hooked up with Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a 15-yard gain on a crossing route during Seattle's "mystery situation," setting up a 62-yard field goal by Jason Myers.

Later in the practice, Howell turned in easily his best red zone period as a Seahawk, lofting back-to-back touchdowns to Metcalf in the back right corner of the end zone over Brown, allowing the star receiver to high point the ball over the smaller defender along the sideline. He tacked on a third touchdown on the final play of the session by dumping a checkdown to Ken Walker III in the flats for a five-yard score that came after Zach Charbonnet plunged into the end zone on the previously play.

Though the Seahawks hope to have Smith back on the field soon, Macdonald's update after practice wasn't the most encouraging, as he indicated the veteran quarterback was "working through a couple of things" and declined to provide specifics other than he would undergo imaging on Thursday night. Given the uncertainty around his status, Howell could have an extended opportunity to show the coaching staff what he can do throwing to Metcalf, Smith-Njigba, and company and continue to grow in Ryan Grubb's offense.

Coming out of Thursday's eighth practice - and third padded camp practice - here are four other takeaways from the VMAC:

1. Engaged in an intense sparring match, Metcalf and Brown continue to partake in an exciting stalemate.

Though the two players couldn't be any different in terms of size and build, Metcalf and Brown play with the same competitive fire, toughness, and physicality, which has made their duels on the outside must-see theater during the early stages of training camp. That trend continued into Thursday with the two veterans seemingly in the middle of the majority of the big plays during the scrimmage period.

During the red zone period, Metcalf took advantage of his size mismatch on Brown, boxing him out on the first touchdown and high-pointing the ball as if he was skying for a rebound on the basketball court. On the very next play, even with Brown in near-perfect position with smothering coverage, the former All-Pro again proved too tall to defend, plucking the ball out of the air and skimming his toes along the back of the end zone for six points.

But to his credit, Brown rebounded from giving up those two scores in a major way to even up the score. With Howell telegraphing a throw to Metcalf on a curl route and their timing far from on point, the fourth-year corner undercut the route and picked off the pass, racing outside to the sideline with nothing but green in front of him for a defensive touchdown.

Then, to finish off practice, Macdonald put the first team offenses and defenses on the field for a single two-point conversion play. Rebounding from his earlier losses in the red zone, Brown again came out on top, this time shielding Metcalf on a goal line fade and forcing an incompletion from Howell to give the defense the stop.

2. Scott Huff gets a decent look at a pair of reserves in a starting role with an offensive line shakeup.

Continuing to protect veteran players, the Seahawks gave right tackle George Fant a second veteran's rest day in eight practices and center Olu Oluwatimi sat out a second straight practice with what Macdonald cited as a tricep issue. With those two players out, Nick Harris stepped in at the pivot position and the versatile McClendon Curtis hopped back into the lineup at the other bookend spot opposite of Charles Cross.

With Harris and Curtis thrust into the first-team line, Howell found himself under a fair amount of pressure early in the practice and running room was hard to come by for Walker and Charbonnet, who were wrapped up in the backfield several times in the first team session. Among those plays, Boye Mafe powered his way through Tomlinson and Harris slanting inside to meet Walker behind the line for a two-yard loss.

As the practice progressed, however, the line started to settle in and was particularly effective in the red zone period. Curtis held his own on several snaps working against Uchenna Nwosu and Mafe, while Harris had a key block that helped spring Charbonnet for a six-yard touchdown up the gut, with both players flashing at times in auditions with the first-team unit, which should show up well on tape as Huff and the coaching staff continues evaluating the group.

3. Taking the baton from the veterans, young cornerbacks get in on the action creating turnovers and pass breakups.

Stacking up against any other position group on the roster talent-wise, the Seahawks' cornerback group has shined throughout camp with Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen, Brown, and Artie Burns all getting off to strong starts. But Thursday's practice confirmed the group may have even better depth than advertised behind those veteran stalwarts.

Appearing in just his fourth practice so far due to an injury early in camp, sixth-round pick D.J. James made a spectacular diving interception in the second team session, somehow managing to get his hands underneath the ball after P.J. Walker's pass had been deflected at the line of scrimmage. He later added another pass breakup during the 7-on-7 period, making a handful of plays from the slot, where he rotated in behind Witherspoon and Burns.

In the undrafted ranks, speedy cornerback Carlton Johnson rebounded from a holding penalty that negated a pass breakup early in practice to make a fine diving deflection in coverage against Dareke Young, preventing a potential big play. Second-year cornerback Lance Boykin also got in on the act with solid coverage against Jake Bobo and Young on a pair of go routes, forcing Howell and Walker to each throw the ball out of bounds.

4. Laviska Shenault flashes some of his intriguing tools as a complementary weapon in Grubb's offense.

Previously a second-round pick out of Colorado, Shenault flashed potential in his first two seasons with the Jaguars, but drops and injuries held him back late in his tenure with the team and his production dwindled in two years with the Panthers. Still just 25 years old, however, he displayed his unique skill set in Thursday's practice, presenting signs for how Grubb may deploy him as part of a stacked receiver room.

During the first red zone session, Shenault motioned to the backfield and after Howell initially faked a handoff to Walker, he pitched the ball to the hard-running wideout on a reverse. Turning upfield with a full head of steam, he crashed his way to a six-yard gain, setting up the first of Howell's two touchdown passes to Metcalf. Such usage wouldn't be a surprise since the fifth-year receiver has 50 career rushing attempts on his resume in the NFL.

But while the 220-pound Shenault has become best known for his ability to power through tackles as a runner out of the backfield or after the catch, he also has enough burst to win downfield on occasion and showed off his speed on the longest play of the day. Despite being held coming over the middle of the field on a post route, he overcame the contact to maintain separation downfield, allowing Walker to hit him in stride and sprint 75 yards to the end zone for a touchdown.

Targets will be hard to come by for receivers not named Metcalf, Smith-Njigba, or Tyler Lockett, but Shenault's positional flexibility alone could generate some extra manufactured touches for him. Adding in his strong chances of earning a job returning kicks and/or punts, he has a real opportunity to be an impact player in a secondary role that can add a different dimension to the offense with a contrasting tool box from the rest of the receiver room.