5 Storylines to Watch as Seahawks Kick Off 2025 OTA Practices
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Rookies such as first-round pick Grey Zabel as well as a new starting quarterback in Sam Darnold and returning defensive tackle Byron Murphy will all have much to accomplish in Seahawks OTAs. [/caption]
Moving into the final phase of their offseason program before training camp opens in late July, the Seattle Seahawks will open organized team activities at the VMAC on May 27 and conclude festivities with a three-day mandatory minicamp on June 17-19.
Heading into his second season as head coach with plenty of optimism about the team’s outlook, Mike Macdonald will oversee the installation of a new offense for the second time in as many years with Klint Kubiak taking over as Seattle’s new offensive coordinator following the firing of Ryan Grubb, while his defense should be able to get off to a much faster start this time around with the majority of starters back from last year’s squad.
With nine practices scheduled over the next three weeks, here’s a look at five storylines that bear watching at Seahawks OTAs:
1. Grey Zabel, rookies get first taste of full practices alongside Seahawks veterans.
As is the case every offseason in the NFL, it’s one thing to get comfortable practicing with the rest of your rookie peers, and it’s a whole other ordeal once they become integrated with veterans in the final phase of the program. This transition is where the real work begins for everyone from a much-hyped first-round pick in Zabel to undrafted signees such as Jared Ivey and Zy Alexander, as they will now be evaluated and critiqued in comparison to players who have gone through the rigors of an offseason program in the league and understand what it takes to be successful against the best of the best.
While many of those veterans will happily take on a mentorship role to bring rookies along as they wrap up their first offseason with the Seahawks, there’s a balancing act at play here. Those same veterans will be battling for roster spots and starting roles, so their service as an advisor for the newcomers comes with obvious limits, as they will be helpful competitors. Nothing more and nothing less.
Keeping that in mind, the next few weeks will be critical for Zabel, safety Nick Emmanwori, and other incoming draftees to hit the ground running if they want to push for early playing time. The training wheels will officially be coming off and even with training camp still two months away, these non-contact practices could go a long way towards determining what role members of Seattle’s latest draft class play during their rookie seasons.
2. Sam Darnold begins anew - sort of - in Klint Kubiak’s offense with an overhauled receiving corps.
Undergoing a full scale retool at quarterback, the Seahawks shipped former starter Geno Smith to the Raiders for a third-round pick and promptly signed Darnold on the opening days of free agency in the aftermath of a breakout season in Minnesota, reuniting him with Kubiak, who served as the 49ers passing game coordinator when the two worked together in 2023. Due to that previous connection, and the fact that Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell heralds from the same coaching tree, the eighth-year veteran should have a decent baseline as he adopts to a new offense.
Still, Darnold faces a learning curve with Kubiak’s offense having differences from the systems he played in both in San Francisco and Minnesota. On top of mastering a new scheme, his toughest task will be building chemistry with a brand new receiving unit, as he has never previously played with any of the wideouts or tight ends on Seattle’s roster. He won’t have superstar Justin Jefferson at his disposal anymore, though Jaxon Smith-Njigba appears to be on a track to stardom of his own and free agent addition Cooper Kupp thrived in Sean McVay’s offense in Los Angeles, so he won’t be without quality weapons either.
Building a rapport with Smith-Njigba and Kupp has already been underway during earlier stages of the offseason program, and playing in a relatively familiar system should ease that process a bit for Darnold, especially with Kupp considering O’Connell learned his offense as an understudy to McVay with the Rams. How that chemistry evolves over the next few weeks will be key to the trio getting off to a quick start once the regular season arrives and in addition, these OTA sessions will also provide an extended opportunity to grow with veterans Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Jake Bobo as well as rookies Tory Horton and Ricky White III.
3. Competitions start to take shape in the interior of Seattle’s offensive line under the guidance of John Benton.
While Darnold will begin his tenure with the Seahawks as the undisputed starter under center, who will be blocking in front of him against the 49ers in the season opener remains far from certain. Away from tackles Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas, competitions will likely be underway at both guard spots as well as center with Benton, who arrives with more than 20 years of NFL coaching experience on his resume, looking to build the best unit he can for Week 1.
At left guard, Zabel will get the first crack to start after Seattle invested the 18th overall pick in him last month, but he won’t simply be given the job due to his draft pedigree. Second-year guard Christian Haynes saw some snaps at both guard positions last summer and may be thrust into the mix to compete against Zabel, while fellow rookie Bryce Cabeldue will be thrust into a three-way battle against Anthony Bradford and Sataoa Laumea on the right side. As for the pivot position, Olu Oluwatimi will be the favorite to retain his starting job after a strong second half to the 2024 season, but former North Dakota State standout Jalen Sundell could make things interesting, especially with his previous connection playing with Zabel in Fargo.
Even backup spots will be up for grabs with second-year tackle Mike Jerrell and seventh-round pick Mason Richman battling for one roster spot behind Cross, Lucas, and veteran Josh Jones and the quartet of Bradford, Haynes, Laumea, and Cabeldue possibly battling for just two or three spots on the roster. Practices in May and June carry the huge asterisk of no contact, which is a huge deal for linemen, but that doesn’t mean that these sessions won’t be important as Benton begins assessing the unit with eyes on the regular season.
4. Byron Murphy looks to jump start sophomore season taking on more of a starring role for Seahawks defensive front.
Defensively, the Seahawks didn’t undergo the significant personnel changes they did on the other side of the football this offseason, opting for continuity following an excellent finish where they ranked in the top 10 in scoring defense and run defense over the final eight games. Along with re-signing linebacker Ernest Jones IV, they also brought back savvy veteran defensive tackle Jarran Reed and nose tackle Johnathan Hankins, ensuring they would have the same starting defensive front back fully intact for 2025.
But with that continuity, Seattle didn’t make any notable additions to the defensive line from a year ago, instead losing veterans Roy Robertson-Harris and Cameron Young without any clear replacements on the roster. Even if Leonard Williams and Reed play close to the level they did in 2024, for this defensive line group to elevate to the next level, Murphy will be counted on to take a massive jump from a rookie campaign where he finished with just 0.5 sacks and two quarterback hits, providing far from the statistical impact expected as a 16th overall selection.
A strong argument can be made that those numbers don’t do Murphy’s play justice, but at the same time, the stat line is what the stat line says. For the Seahawks to be a top-five caliber defense in year two under Macdonald, they need the athletic defender to become a more consistent contributor rushing the passer, and unlocking that ability may revolve around his positional usage, utilizing him more as a 3-tech defensive tackle than a nose this season. Eyes will be on the Texas product as he aims to impress in his second NFL offseason and it will be interesting to see how the coaching staff tries to navigate getting him more snaps away from the nose spot to put him better pass rushing situations.
5. Macdonald opens process as mad scientist tinkering with loaded secondary seeking best combinations.
There’s no such thing as having too much talent at cornerback and safety, but in the good problem department, Seattle’s wealth of riches at the two positions creates a log jam with only so many snaps available. At cornerback, starters Riq Woolen, Devon Witherspoon, and Josh Jobe return, while the veteran safety duo of Julian Love and Coby Bryant will now be joined by Emmanwori, a do-it-all defender who can play deep safety, in the box, and in the slot thanks to his rare blend of size and off-the-charts athletic tools.
Finding ways to get Emmanwori on the field shouldn’t be too difficult of a task for Macdonald, who has historically enjoyed deploying three-safety packages as a big part of his defense. In nickel and dime sets, his ability to line up as either a money linebacker or big slot creates plenty of flexibility for the Seahawks with Love and Bryant still on the field together. But such an arrangement could have a ripple effect on the cornerbacks, as Witherspoon would slide outside to the boundary in some of those instances and Jobe would check out of the game in favor of the extra safety.
Again, neither of those scenarios presents as necessarily problematic. Still, Macdonald will have his hands full trying to keep everyone happy while also maximizing on the strengths of players such as Witherspoon and Emmanwori, making the next few weeks quite important ones as the coaching staff begins figuring out how to best employ Seattle’s abundance of secondary talent.
