Training Camp thread

[Donn Beach]

“We’ve just gone the last four months of saying, ‘Hey, when the pads come on... When the pads come on... When the pads come on,’” Macdonald said. “Now they’re on. So now it’s time to go. Now you can see we’re playing real football. Who can hold up when we’re physically challenging each other.” DeMarcus Lawrence sure can. The 6-foot-3, 254-pound defensive end who spent 11 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys before signing with Seattle this spring made a huge impression on the first pads day. Particularly on Abe Lucas. In a one-on-one pass-rush drill on a side field Monday, the 33-year-old Lawrence bull-rushed into Lucas with such grown- (older-?) man power he lifted the starting right tackle off his feet.


On this play off the goal line Monday, Monday had Emmanwori start the play rushing Milroe. Then he ran back into the short flat into zone coverage to his outside and right. Milroe saw a lot of defense in college football’s mighty Southeastern Conference. Yet he was fooled by this one. After seeing him pass rush initially, Milroe never expected or saw Emmanwori in the flat. The rookie safety/linebacker intercepted the rookie QB’s short pass and easily jogged the 7 or so yards to the end zone for a defensive touchdown. The pleased Macdonald walked over to Emmanwori after his latest play and said to his 21-year-old man-child: “Hey man, you having fun out here or what?!” How can he not. Macdonald is like a mad scientist with Emmanwori right now. The defensive innovator has his rookie all over his defense, and with the starters, too. One play he’s a third safety, “big nickel,” down close to the line of scrimmage. Then he’s an edge-rushing outside linebacker. Then he’s a deep safety covering receivers as a fifth, nickel defensive back. And Emmanwori keeps asking for more. He spent so much time coming into Macdonald’s office upstairs from the locker room in the team facility this spring the head coach joked he has to tell Emmanwori: “Hey, when the door’s closed, knock.”


Rookie running back Damien Martinez was another who stepped up when the pads came on Monday. A seventh-round draft choice from Miami and Oregon State, Martinez was rugged and strong in pass-protection drills against linebackers rushing off the edge. At one point, coaches were praising Martinez so loudly they could be heard halfway across the field.

Read more at: https://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/n ... rylink=cpy

[Donn Beach]

ESPN's talent under 25 rankings, Seahawks number 2

https://africa.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/ ... ahawks#SEA

[D-train]

Obviously early but seems the new scheme hasn't magically fixed the run game..yet.

By Bob Condotta
Seattle Times staff reporter
RENTON — No matter how many years he plays football, a day like Monday — when his team put on pads for the first time — felt different for Seahawks receiver Cooper Kupp.

“It’s the same thing since the beginning of time,’’ said Kupp, who turned 32 in June and is entering his ninth NFL season. “Since Pop Warner football, you do the first few days without pads on, then the first day of pads the butterflies are a little bit more, the energy is just a bit higher. That doesn’t change. It was the same thing back when I was 9 years old as it is now in Year 9.”

Kupp’s excitement was matched by that of his head coach, Mike Macdonald.

“This is a big week,’’ Macdonald said. “Pads are finally on. We’ve gone the past four months asking, ‘When do the pads come on? When do the pads come on? When do the pads come on?’ So now they are on. Now it’s time to go. You can see like when we are playing real football who can hold up when we are physically challenging each other.’’

Who held up the best?

Mostly the defense, which turned in two interceptions and a safety and generally held stout on running plays.

Here are three thoughts on what we saw:

A breakout day for Nick Emmanwori?

There may be no Seahawks rookie eliciting as much intrigue as Emmanwori, who was the 35th pick overall taken out of South Carolina


One reason for that excitement are Emmanwori’s measurements — he’s listed at 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, the kind of size in the secondary Seattle hasn’t really had since Kam Chancellor.

Maybe it makes sense that on the first day of full pads and full contact, Emmanwori made his biggest play of camp.

During an early drill in which the offense began at its own 1-yard-line, Emmanwori stepped in front of a hurried pass from rookie quarterback Jalen Milroe at about the 4 and waltzed in for an easy touchdown.

Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels are Under Duress going into second NFL season | First Things First



Milroe, who was operating the No. 3 offense, tried to lob a pass over some pressuring linemen to tight end Brady Russell, but Emmanwori read it perfectly.

“It was a great play,’’ Macdonald said. “Wish he’d put the ball away when he caught it. But yeah, I was asking him like, ‘Are you having fun out here or what? Great atmosphere, competing.’ We’re asking a lot out of him. He’s playing hard, learning a lot. But good to see him make that play.’’

Emmanwori is listed as a safety, but at the moment he’s not competing for one of the two base safety roles — which are held by Julian Love and Coby Bryant — instead playing mostly as a third safety in five- and six-defensive back sets


But Macdonald said Emmanwori’s role could grow as the preseason progresses.

“I think he’s earning what we give him,’’ Macdonald said. “I don’t think we’re trying to intentionally overload him. We’re just going at the pace that he’s able to pick up. Shoutout to him and our coaches about getting him ready … as we get into preseason games, how he retains it, what we feel like we do well, we’re going to have to start making those decisions later on in camp as we look to start the season.’’

Milroe was coming off two pretty strong days when the Seahawks were in shells (light shoulder pads) on Friday and Saturday and the pick was his first interception of camp.

Sign up for Fan Fix
Your dose of local sports news. Delivered Monday through Friday.

Morris helps key a big day for the defense

Emmanwori’s play highlighted what was a strong effort by the defense all around, especially at the beginning.

On the series before Emmanwori’s pick, defensive lineman Mike Morris burst through the line to stop running back George Holani for a safety on the first snap of a series featuring the second-team offense against the second-team defense.

Morris is in his third year after being taken in the fifth round out of Michigan in 2023 and is in a key year to for his career after playing sparingly the past two seasons.


“This is where he needs to prove his worth is when we’re in pads,’’ Macdonald said. “There’s a big role for him that we expect out of him. We’ve got a vision for him, he’s on his way to making it come to life. But he’s in a battle, too.’’

Cornerback Riq Woolen also had an interception of a Sam Darnold pass during a 7-on-7 drill when he stepped in front of a corner route of a throw intended for tight end AJ Barner.

“We (the defense) started practice the right way today, which was good,’’ Macdonald said. “We haven’t done that every day on defense, so that was nice. So, offense needs to respond tomorrow because they didn’t start fast.’’


Seahawks fear RB Kenny McIntosh tore ACL during camp practice
Kupp confident offense will find its way soon

It was ominous for the offense from the beginning as the No. 1 unit had two straight false starts during its first 11-on-11 series when starting at its own 1-yard-line.

Macdonald felt the offense particularly struggled in the running game.

“We didn’t run the ball very well today, so we’ve got to do better,’’ Macdonald said.

Macdonald, though, professed not to be concerned about the offense, saying some back-and-forth is what happens this time of year


“That’s how these things work,’’ he said. “Offense is going to come back (and then) there’s going to be things on defense we’re going to be itching to fix. And that’s how you become a better football team.’’

Still, while the offense has had its moments, through five practices the general view is the defense has usually had the upper hand.

That shouldn’t be a surprise, though, given that the defense is returning almost every key player from the end of last season while the offense is breaking in a new scheme under first-year coordinator Klint Kubiak as well as a new QB in Darnold and two new receivers in Kupp and Marquez Valdes-Scantling to replace DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.

Kupp acknowledged that the offense isn’t where it wants to be right now but said he has little doubt the offense will begin clicking soon.

“There’s going to be a point where all the playbook is in, and there’s going to be a point where it’s all down and you’re like, ‘Hey we’ve been doing this for a while now,’’’ Kupp said. “And now plays are recycling, like, ‘I’ve seen this play before. I’ve done this. I’ve run this a couple times now with different looks.’

“This is when the feet start to get comfortable because you’re hearing plays in the huddle and you’re not thinking about where you’re lining up, you’re thinking about leaving the huddle saying, ‘Man, I hope we get Cover 4 because I know exactly what I want to get done on this.’

“That’s the point you want to get to. And with all these guys, we’re going to get there. It’s about continuing to challenge yourself, continuing to think that way and push yourself to try and get there as quickly as possible. We’re going to get there very soon. There are glimpses of stuff that’s really fun to see when we’re watching film because we’ve got guys that want to do that.”

[57reasons]

Christ, they can't step out of the shower without getting injured, that has to mess with your mind, just like that your season is over

In a non-contact drill without pads. Apparently he collided with another player. Day 3 of training camp and you've already lost someone who likely would have contributed significantly as a kick returner or as a RB given Walker's injury history. Seems like this happens every year multiple times now.

Oh and Nwosu is on the PUP list once again...

Nwosu is why the stuff about another deal coming down is being talked about i guess.

Well, that and the $30+ Million of cap space. Yeah, i'd be targeting Hendrickson too!

[maoling]

Why do I have this goofy feeling that George Holani is exceptionally valuable, and not someone we want to lose?

[Donn Beach]

Arroyo has been a routine standout at training camp. He's worked with every quarterback, from starter Sam Darnold to fellow rookie Jalen Milroe. "Arroyo continues to catch everything from everyone in this camp," local reporter Gregg Bell said after a recent practice.

[DanielVogelbach]

They hate them because guys like Lynch, Sherman, Bennett and Baldwin kicked their ass and told the, about it. No one is worried about Pete Carroll. He did a great job of rebuilding, and as quick as he built a dynasty? He fucked it up just as fast because he and John believed there was one way to do things. The farther Pete was from his college days? The less information they had on players, and the worse the draft was.

Your fucking infatuation with giving him all the credit and non of the blame is sickening. He said throw the ball on second and goal. He went along with the belief that you don’t need an O Line. He was the one that looked at the way we stacked up late in his career and thought he could win ball games like he had Lynch and the LOB. He had final say in moving down every draft, to take scraps like Tyson and Thompsen. Drafted a Guard and forced him to play Tackle based on his draft spot, drafted that fucking King of the one yard sack dance because he had a good Senior Bowl. Every thing he did right? He later fucked up. But you’re too busy bowing at his feet to see that.

This was a player run locker room. They admitted to spending more time on how to protest than how to beat the Titans. He alienated certain players because if his affection for others. This organization would have been better off if he stopped coaching years earlier. Stay in the organization, but for Christ sakes, adapt to the current game or get the fuck out of the way so someone else can.

But yeah, Pete is a God. I disagree. He earned the benefit of the doubt, and then repeatedly gave reasons why he no longer deserved it.

My boss circa 2015 told me, "I like the Seahawks, I just don't like Pete Carroll"

People HATE Pete Carrol with a passion. He got under people's skin with his positivity. They all called him a cheater from his times at USC. He was a massive part of the Seahawks identity. I still think the product is not as good without Pete Carrol, and I plan to watch him on the Raiders sidelines.