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Seattle’s Week 1 Backfield Is a Rookie Who Never Played a Preseason Snap
The plan for the season opener is to hand the football to a first-round rookie who has not carried it once in an NFL stadium. ESPN’s Brady Henderson reports Seattle intends to roll with Jadarian Price as the lead back while mixing in “a heavy dose of George Holani,” whose pass protection and hands make him the obvious third-down answer.
Consider who used to have this job. The last time these two teams shared a field, Kenneth Walker III carried 27 times for 135 yards and walked off with the Super Bowl MVP award. He signed in Kansas City in March. Zach Charbonnet opens the year on PUP and cannot play for at least four games. So the room defending a championship is three deep, and one of the three is a rookie who spent August watching.
135
Kenneth Walker III’s rushing yards on 27 carries against New England in Super Bowl LX. He plays for the Chiefs now.
That was deliberate, sort of. Macdonald pointed to a “lack of bodies” at the position as the reason Price never appeared in an exhibition game, which is a polite way of saying they could not afford to find out the hard way. Holani went undrafted out of Boise State and has quietly become the most trustworthy blocker in the group. Emanuel Wilson is the third man, still on the mend from an undisclosed injury, still doing his running off to the side with trainers.
I like Price. I liked the pick. I just think there is a difference between believing in a rookie and having no other option, and Seattle spent the whole summer erasing that difference.
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There is a difference between believing in a rookie and having no other option, and Seattle spent the whole summer erasing it.
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Hard Knocks
The Finale Was the Cuts, and Schneider Finally Explained Terrion Arnold
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The part worth your time is Terrion Arnold. Cameras catch Schneider saying Arnold’s “character didn’t fit with the allegations” and calling the signing a “long-term play,” per Field Gulls’ recap. That is the closest thing to a public explanation Seattle has offered for a cornerback who is signed, paid, and parked on the commissioner’s exempt list, unable to practice.
Elsewhere: Nick Emmanwori talks through his ankle rehab with Macdonald and sounds like a man who can see the end of it. Jarran Reed wanders the plane to Kansas City with a camera, calls Sam Darnold “ginger cuz,” and tells his general manager his shirt is too tight.
Five weeks of access, and the most revealing thing in it was a GM explaining a decision he has never been asked about on a podium.
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AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
Klint Kubiak did not wait long. Seattle’s former offensive coordinator, now running the Raiders, signed receiver Cody White to Las Vegas’ practice squad after the Seahawks left him off their own. Seattle visits the Raiders on November 15. He will know every route we run. Las Vegas Review-Journal
Zach Charbonnet’s four-game PUP stay now has names attached: Patriots, Cardinals, Commanders, Chargers. Eight months after the ACL tear he becomes available again right around the time the 49ers come to Lumen. The calendar has a sense of occasion. Yahoo Sports
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
RAMS
Sean McVay will discuss anything. Scheme, personnel, his own mistakes. Ask him how his team is getting to Australia and the shutters come down. He was still declining to explain the plan this week, after reports the Rams intend to arrive late and leave early. It is a flight, Sean. The 49ers are on the other end of it and they already know where the stadium is.
NINERS
Nine days out and San Francisco still cannot name a starting left guard. They traded for Jarrett Patterson, but they don’t want him on the field with center Jake Brendel, because Patterson is the backup center now that Brett Toth is done for the season, and if both went down nobody left could snap the ball. Rookie Carver Willis is still the favorite. Sixteen hours in the air to sort that out.
CARDINALS
Arizona used the third overall pick on running back Jeremiyah Love, then watched him hurt his ankle in a preseason game. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo now puts him at about 50-50 for Week 1. Every rebuild has a moment where the shiny new thing gets carted off in August. Theirs arrived early, as usual.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
This defensive tackle, taken third overall out of Miami in the 1990 draft, was voted NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1992 while playing for a Seahawks team that finished 2-14. Who is he?
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Cortez Kennedy. Seattle won two games that season and one of their players was still judged the best defender in football, which remains the strangest line on any Ring of Honor plaque.
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One week from tonight, they raise the banner. — The Rooster