The Seattle Seahawks released their first unofficial depth chart of the 2024 NFL season yesterday ahead of Saturday afternoon's preseason game against the Los Angeles Chargers. This offered us our first look at how head coach Mike Macdonald views the team that he and general manager John Schneider have put together for his first year in Seattle.
Here's a look at what the team shared on Monday.
Here are a few takeaways.
No surprises on offense
The first thing that stood out was the lack of changes for the offensive unit. Apparently new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb was relatively satisfied with the way his predecessor Shane Waldron had things ordered, for the most part. Aside from the interior offensive line, the lineup is exactly the same as it was last season.
Olu Oluwatimi still number one at center
One thing that likely will change before the beginning of the regular season is the depth chart at the center position. For now, second-year lineman Olu Oluwatimi out of Michigan is still listed as the number one option. However, we learned yesterday that Nick Harris from Washington is also getting some first-team reps now and that the competition is open, according to head coach Mike Macdonald. It will close pretty quickly if the team can manage to sign top free agent center Connor Williams , though.
Johnathan Hankins first up at nose tackle
On defense one change jumped out right away - instead of Jarran Reed being the team's starting nose tackle that honor has now passed to Johnthan Hankins, who followed defensive coordinator Aden Durde over from the Dallas Cowboys in free agency. Reed is now listed as a defensive end, so he'll be flanking Hankins along with Leonard Williams on the other side.
Rookie Byron Murphy II on the bench
We had been expecting to see Hankins lower on the depth chart and rookie defensive lineman Byron Murphy II out of Texas listed as a starter. Instead, Murphy is coming off the bench, one spot behind Reed. This isn't really a huge deal, since the defensive line will be rotating a lot anyway and it would be stupid not to give Murphy significant snaps, even as a rookie. However, it's clear this staff wants Murphy to earn an official starting spot rather than just handing it to him.
Different defense coming
Overall it seems like we're in for a pretty radical schematic change compared to what we've seen the last few years. They have Uchenna Nwosu listed as a SAM linebacker, with Derick Hall and undrafted rookie Sunny Anderson behind him. On the other side there's a pure "RUSH" position, headlined by Dre'Mont Jones, followed by Boye Mafe, Darrell Taylor, Nelson Ceasar and Josh Onujiogu. Hopefully that doesn't mean Jones will be getting more pass-rush snaps than Mafe, but we're willing to wait and see how it goes before passing judgment.
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