Position Watch for the Raider Game

Beware of the Turk.

There are three positions that I will be watching closely Friday night:

1) Safety. Last year the team carried 4. Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor are locks as the starters. That leaves 5th round draft pick Mark Legree battling for a spot with Atari Bigby, Jeron Johnson and Josh Pickard. I haven't seen Legree on the field much, so I would guess he is offerred a spot on the practice squad. Bigby offers game experience which the others do not. It is a very young group overall which helps Bigby's chances.

2) Wide Receiver. They kept 6 last year. Rice, Williams, and Obomano are the first three on the field. 4th rounder Kris Durham has a spot too. That leaves 2 spots and a host of guys. My guess is Golden Tate and Doug Baldwin. Burner Ricardo Lockette to the practice squad. Deon Butler on the PUP. I don't see how Husky Isaiah Stanback makes the 53.

3) Defensive Line. There is a logjam here with 15 players and only 9 roster spots likely. Chris Clemons, Red Bryant, Alan Branch, Brandon Mebane, Raheem Brock are on the team. That leaves 4 spots up for grabs. These 5 have the inside track: Junior Siavii, Jimmy Wilkerson, Ryan Sims, Pep Levingston and Clinton McDonald. I don't think Dexter Davis of Jameson Konz are going to make it. Pierre Allen to the practice squad. Colin Cole on the PUP.

Practice Cancelled?!?

So the Seahawks have been practicing for all of two weeks and Captain Khaki (er, Pete Carroll) cancelled practice this afternoon. He says the boys are tired. What makes no sense is the fact that they no longer "hit" twice a day and that most of the practices are essentially walkthroughs with shoulder pads and helmets only. I would hope that such a young team would take advantage of every allotted opportunity to be on the field given the new offense and the youth of this team. Oh yeah, tomorrow is the players day off as stipulated in the new CBA. This is not your father's NFL.

I sure hope we see a full half of the offensive starters Saturday night. They need the work in the new system and it would be nice to get a feel for how Tarvaris manages the game under center. In the next two games I would like to see:

• Q1: Jackson
• Q2: Jackson
• Q3: Whitehurst
• Q4: Portis

I hope T-Jack can excel in this offense as I love his speed, but I didn't see much poise last week when pressured. There will be pressure with a right side of the line being rookies and a Tyler Polumbus in for Okung. If, after game 3, Jackson seems behind Whitehurst, then it's time for a switch and CW can start the last preseason game and head into the season as the starter. I liked the way Whitehurst hung in the pocket last week and made the pass, while Jackson seemed to panic too quickly. It's probably not a fair comparison as Stanback and Tate are not exactly elite receivers.

Seahawks in the news:

Mike Florio's PFT Live interview with GM John Schneider

The mystery, wrapped inside the enigma that is Charlie Whitehurst by Danny O'Neil

The real reason fans bring binoculars to games