Hawks relying on practice squad to help front seven

John Schneider and Mike Macdonald are not finished tinkering with the back end of their roster, but the Seahawks seem about 95% set for the season opener against the 49ers on Sept. 7.

They went heavy on tight ends and fullbacks (six) and light on nose tackles and linebackers – although they are using the practice squad to maximum effect at those spots and also reportedly added a linebacker from the 49ers.

Let’s take a look at all the key moves the Seattle bosses have made this week, what Schneider said and what might be coming next …

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Charbonnet should start over Walker

The Seahawks have been plowing through the preseason, ramping up a running game that they plan to make the focal point of their offense in 2025. And it is looking more and more like the guy leading that ground attack – at least in the season opener vs. the 49ers — should and probably will be Zach Charbonnet.

Mike Macdonald seems frustrated that Kenneth Walker III (sore foot) has not been available, and he seemed to drop a huge hint that Charbs is probably the Week 1 starter when he said of Walker: “At some point, you’ve gotta do it on the field so you feel confident to go out there and execute at a high level and play your best football. So that’s something that we’re working through. He’s doing the best he can, and we’re doing the best we can as a coaching staff. We’ve just gotta work together on this thing as it unfolds.”

The way it is unfolding is for Charbonnet to be the main ballcarrier and Walker to potentially be the changeup – a home run back on a snap count.

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‘Our style of football’: Can Kubiak’s offense hit the ground running?

“It was our style of football” – Sam Darnold after a 268-yard rushing game in a 33-16 win over Kansas City

When Klint Kubiak arrived in New Orleans last year, he created a surprising early-season juggernaut that probably would have continued in similar style if the Saints’ top offensive players had not started dropping like flies.

That surely is one of the things that drew Mike Macdonald to Kubiak, who is from one of the NFL’s legacy coaching trees.

The Saints scored 91 points and ran for 370 yards in the first two games of 2024. He now has brought his versatile scheme and run-first philosophy to Macdonald’s Seahawks – and the preseason returns forecast a similar explosion for Seattle out of the gate in three weeks.

Seattle’s 33-16 win over Kansas City on Friday showed the very best of Kubiak’s offense. The Hawks followed up a 170-yard rushing performance against Las Vegas with 268 yards vs. the Chiefs.

As Sam Darnold said after his Seahawks debut, “It was our style of football.”

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Hawks are setting up for another 2012-13 run

We haven’t seen Sam Darnold and the starting skill players in action yet – that apparently will happen a bit this week against the Chiefs – but the first preseason game showed everything we need to know about what this Seattle offense is trying to do.

If it succeeds, as we expect it to, the Seahawks should be well poised to repeat their 2011-13 ascent and come away with a Super Bowl trophy in Mike Macdonald’s third year (like Pete Carroll did in his fourth year).

Let’s run through the similarities that make us think this is how it is going to go.

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10 days in, what are the Seahawks doing and saying?

The first 10 days of Seahawks training camp have been full of a lot of excitement, but also not without their disappointments.

John Schneider received a big extension, Sam Darnold has taken command of the offense, a couple of rookies – Nick Emmanwori and Tory Horton — have really stood out on both sides, and the defense appears to be in midseason form.

The latter is despite the absence of Uchenna Nwosu (PUP) and Ernest Jones IV dealing with the death of his father. The biggest injury loss has been at running back, where Kenny McIntosh suffered an ACL injury.

Continue reading 10 days in, what are the Seahawks doing and saying?