Skip to main content
Advertising

Top Stories

Six Takeaways From The Seahawks' Offseason Workout Program

Assessing where the Seahawks are heading into training camp following the conclusion of their offseason workout program.

20250611_MINICAMP_RM3_6843

The Seahawks wrapped up their second offseason under head coach Mike Macdonald this week, a three-month stretch that began with players arriving for workouts in April before progressing to on-field work that culminated in this week's mandatory minicamp.

The consensus among players, especially those on defense, is that the team is well ahead of where it was at this time last year when players and an entirely new coaching staff were building together, and that showed not only through execution on the practice field, but especially in the energy and camaraderie that was evident on a daily basis.

"The feeling you want going into the whole offseason program, we wanted to be tough and connected," Macdonald said after Wednesday's practice that wrapped up minicamp. "I think we're on our way to being tough. We haven't had to prove it yet with pads on, but definitely feel like we're a connected group. I think we've made a lot of strides confidence-wise in the schemes we are running and understanding what's expected and just how we roll here in general.

"So I'm really excited about this group. They're a lot of fun to coach. I think I speak for the whole coaching staff when I say that. It's good that we're going into a break here so you can kind of regather and take a breath and then kind of recalibrate going into camp, but I tell you what, I think I speak for the whole team, we're really excited to get this team going starting in training camp."

In addition to the general good vibes being felt at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center, here are six takeaways from the Seahawks' offseason workout program as players head into a break before reporting to training camp in late July.

1. The defense is playing with a lot of confidence in Year 2 of Macdonald's defense, and has big expectations.

The Seahawks started fast on defense in their first year under Macdonald, but then hit a few rough patches following a 3-0 start. It took some time, as well as some personnel changes, most notably adding linebacker Ernest Jones IV in a midseason trade, but eventually Seattle's defense developed into one of the best in the league over the final eight games of the season, with the Seahawks winning six of those contests.

Given that the Seahawks now have a full year under their belt in Macdonald's scheme, and that 10 of 11 starters from the end of last season are back, it's understandable that players on that side of the ball have very high expectations for the upcoming season.

"I think it's going to be special," Jones said. "I'm excited. I don't want to give too much because we've got to go put the work in. But, if the vision lives up to what I think, yeah, it's going to be something crazy.

"I like us versus anything and anybody. That's how I'll leave it."

Jones went as far as to say the Seahawks are looking to "put another banner up in here," referring the banner honoring the 2013 team that won Super Bowl XLVIII, and if the Seahawks are going to make any sort of postseason run, the defense expects to have a big hand in that success.

"Everybody on my side of the ball wants the defense to be the reason why," defensive tackle Jarran Reed said. "Defense wins championships, offense wins games, that just is what it is. We want to put the team on our back, and we want to be the reason why we win games."

2. Sam Darnold and the offense are progressing under new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.

While continuity is the theme on defense, things are much different on the other side of the ball. The Seahawks not only made a change at offensive coordinator, hiring Klint Kubiak, as well as several other new assistants, to revamp the offense, they also made some significant changes personnel wise, most notably by trading quarterback Geno Smith and receiver DK Metcalf while also releasing receiver Tyler Lockett.

The Seahawks then signed quarterback Sam Darnold, who is coming off a Pro-Bowl season with the Vikings, to take over for Smith, as well as veteran receivers Cooper Kupp and Marquez Valdes-Scantling, among other additions on offense.

All of that change means that, while the Seahawks are very excited about the players and coaches they've added, the offense is still learning and growing this time of year, not enjoying that level of continuity that the defense is leaning on. That means things haven't been perfect for the offense, but more importantly for the time of year, there has been growth.

"I think right where they need to be," Macdonald said. "It's tough to assess right now. It really is. It's going to come to life when you can separate the defense. You know, we are on some of these runs and then all of a sudden it's 2nd-and-4 rather than, hey, we're just kind of -- looks like a soft spot right there or we broke a tackle. That's where it really comes to life when you are wearing defenses down, and then here comes the actions and the movements that you have to honor the run game. So I think we'll have a better feel a couple of weeks into training camp. At that point you're going to start making decisions on narrowing down schematically of where we want to kind of center our focus both personnel-wise, and you can't be doing everything all the time, so you're going to have to make some decisions as camp starts to unfold."

As for Darnold, he has impressed his coach with his competitive fire, as well as with his growth in the offense.

"Sam is doing a great job," Macdonald said. "Sam is a great feel for the offense right now in terms of growing every day. So you can feel the growth. You can feel the improvement, the confidence that we're doing on that side of the ball and that we're growing. It's exciting to work with. He's a heck of a competitor. You know, this time of the year it's hard with all the competition periods, you're trying to create a bunch of situations where there's technically no winner or loser, but you are trying to just try to get great situational work where you're making great decisions, and we're doing that on both sides. Those are fun periods when you feel his competitiveness, and really all three quarterbacks you feel the competitiveness and the sense of improvement every day."

3. Running the ball will be non-negotiable for this offense.

While there is only so much to takeaway from June practices without pads, what might have been more meaningful than anything we saw on the field was what we heard from right tackle Abraham Lucas.

Talking to reporters during OTAs last week, Lucas made it clear that, in Kubiak's offense, the run game will not be an afterthought; it will be a core part of the team's identity. That would be a significant change from last year when the Seahawks struggled to run the ball consistently, putting Geno Smith and the offensive line in a lot of challenging situations.

"It's entirely new, so pretty much everything," Lucas said when asked about the differences, noting the new staff's emphasis on, "just downhill, running off the ball, establishing the run. I know we got a lot of criticism for that, so moving into this year, we're looking to really get after it in the run game, specifically."

Lucas went on to say the offense's identity has changed, noting, among other things, the use of a fullback in this offense.

"When you get a new staff in—I mean, everybody wants to run the ball—but when you come in and it's a non-negotiable like, 'We're running the ball. We put a fullback in the backfield," Lucas said. "We're changing it up, we're doing things differently.' It's like an old-school mentality with a new-school principle. Definitely looking forward to getting after that."

4. There is some good competition taking place on the interior offensive line.

The Seahawks expect to take significant strides with their offensive line play, in part because they used their first-round pick on guard Grey Zabel, and also because Kubiak's scheme, which will emphasize the run game, utilizes more play-action and puts the quarterback on the move with rollouts, should help the line from a schematic standpoint. There's also the presence of new offensive line coach John Benton, run game coordinator Rick Dennison and run game specialist/assistant offensive line coach Justin Outten, all veteran NFL coaches who should help get the most out of players.

But while the Seahawks are confident that they'll be better up front, they do not yet know who their starting five will be. Charles Cross is a sure thing at left tackle, fellow 2022 draft pick Abraham Lucas is the starter at right tackle, and Zabel is expected to start at left guard, but the competition is fully on at center and right guard.

At center, Olu Oluwatimi, who finished last season as the starter after Connor Williams' surprise midseason retirement, is competing with Jalen Sundell. At right guard, Anthony Bradford, last year's starter before suffering a season-ending injury, will compete with Christian Haynes, Sataoa Laumea, who started six games last season, and as Macdonald alluded to, perhaps also Sundell if Oluwatimi were to win the job at center.

"There's a lot of competition," Macdonald said. "We haven't settled some of the spots, and that means we have a lot of guys that are options, so it's exciting."

On right guard in particular, Macdonald added, "We'll see when the pads come on, because you have to work out the center position. Taoa is part of that equation. The rookies really haven't seen live and in color, so I wouldn't say it's a two-man race right now. It's more open."

The Seahawks don't want to rush decisions on those jobs, but they don't want to let it drag too far into camp either if they can avoid it.

"I think we would like to make some decisions sooner than later, but we're going to let the play speak for itself," Macdonald said. "We're not going to force the decision. We're going to be intentional in what happens probably within the first two weeks."

5. Rookie Nick Emmanwori will be one to watch in training camp.

The Seahawks used their first-round pick on rookie guard Grey Zabel, who has been as advertised so far in the early days of his career, and who is expected to be the starting left guard. Given the Seahawks' need to improve up front, Zabel will be a key part of the Seahawks' expected success in 2025, but the rookie who will probably be the most intriguing in camp is the player selected after Zabel, safety Nick Emmanwori. The Seahawks thought highly enough of Emmanwori, an All-American selection at South Carolina who backed his play up with an eye-popping workout at the NFL Scouting Combine, that they looked into trading back into the end of the first-round to select him. Those trade opportunities didn't work out, but the Seahawks were able to move up early in the second round to pick him.

And in his early days with the Seahawks, it's clear they're going to find a lot of ways to use him, which is why he will be a player to watch in camp and in the preseason. Emmanwori's rare combination of speed and size means coaches can use him in a variety of roles, and only a couple of months into his NFL career, he is already lining up in numerous spots, going through position drills with different position groups, and perhaps most importantly at this time of year, demonstrating an ability and desire to learn so many different elements of Macdonald's defense, a process that includes frequent unannounced visits to Macdonald’s office.

"Nick keeps showing up, "Macdonald said. "I have to tell him, 'Hey, man, the door is closed. Knock.' No, Nick has been up there a bunch.

"First thing is the vets in the room are really leading him, and they're doing a great job of setting the expectation, bringing him along. He's understanding he's a rookie, but, 'Hey, let's go. You're with us, but there's a certain standard that you're going to have to abide by.' Nick has the humility to do that and to operate that way. But to his credit, we're giving him a lot. The bullets aren't live yet. That's the next step for him is to show it he can handle it in those type of situations. He's going to be able to do that He's really poised. He has a great -- he just understands ball, and again, he really likes the process of doing football all the time, and Jeff (Howard) is doing a great job with him coaching him all the time. Really pleased."

A day later when again asked about Emmanwori, Macdonald said, "There are a lot of things we're going to ask of him, and you're kind of in this phase now where you're exposing him to a lot of things to see what hits, what doesn't. So you have a better feel for what you are going to ask him to do when we start getting close to game time. But his spirit about it and attitude, I'm going to go do this drill today. Great. I'm going to do this drill? Awesome. Keep building those skills and keep training yourself to be the best player you can, and then it's up to us as a coaching staff to keep putting him in positions where he can do stuff that he does well. Like I said, we've talked about this at length, but just with a guy with that attitude that he's had every day is just really fun to work with."

6. This is a connected team.

As Macdonald said in the quote at the beginning of this story, the closeness of this team, and the buy-in, has been evident throughout the offseason. One of the biggest ways that showed up was in the near perfect attendance of voluntary workouts. Not every player made every day of workouts and organized team activities, but every single player was present for some if not all of that time before everyone showed up for the mandatory minicamp this week.

The connection also shows up in the way players communicate on the field or find ways to bond off of it.

"I feel it a lot," veteran defensive lineman Leonard Williams said of the way the team is connected. "I'm going into Year 11, so I've played a lot of football and been on a lot of teams, and not only am I seeing that we have a very talented team right now, one thing that stands out above the talent is just the connection. That's something I've been trying to talk to the guys about, that's really going to take us to that next level where we want to go. I've told them that I've been on tons of talented teams that we had great players at all positions, but we just didn't have that same connection.

"Those small things like having connection and being able to communicate on and off the field kind of helps you get to that next level."

The Seahawks concluded their two-day mandatory minicamp on Wednesday, June 11, 2025 at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.

Related Content

Advertising