Winners and Losers from Seahawks 23, Raiders 23: Seattle rookies,

There’s something almost poetic about Pete Carroll coming back to Seattle and neither winning nor losing against his former team. Yes, the Seattle Seahawks and Las Vegas Raiders played to a 23-23 tie to kick off their respective preseasons. Overtime ceased to exist in exhibition games as of 2021, so a tie game at the end of regulation is a wrap on the night.

The final score aside, this was a mostly entertaining night at Lumen Field, especially if you watched how the rookies starred in the first half and parts of the second half. This was a night to assess the offensive line and the young talent on the team, and I suspect most fans will have come away from the game with a positive outlook.

Time for Winners and Losers! Oh how I missed doing this but dislike doing it at 11 pm. It ain’t gonna be as thorough for this reason, so I apologize in advance.

Hell yes, I’m leading with a fullback. Old school football is back in Seattle and Robbie Ouzts is here for it. He was prevalent throughout the first half as a blocker, twice springing George Holani for explosive runs. We even saw Ouzts catch a pass for 17 yards to remind everyone he was a tight end at Alabama. It’s just preseason but I cannot wait to see what he does in regular season play as a blocker for Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet.

All aboard the Tory Train. The Colorado State rookie had three catches for 31 yards and a touchdown, as well as a dazzling 5-yard punt return (yes, you read that right). I know that Marquez Valdes-Scantling was given quite a bit of guaranteed money when he was signed in March, but I no longer believe his roster spot is secure. At the very least, Horton may be WR3 sooner rather than later whether MVS is here or not.

Having missed out on the RB3 spot to Kenny McIntosh last season, Holani made a major statement on Thursday. The former Boise State star (Ashton who?!) had 61 yards on 7 carries and a touchdown, as well as a 20-yard gain on a screen pass in which he really did most of the work. Add in his kick return experience and the roster battle may be flipping in his favor.

Offensive Line, led by Grey Zabel

No sacks until Jalen Milroe’s late in the fourth quarter, just two quarterback hits allowed, and a whopping 170 yards rushing on 32 attempts. I thought Grey Zabel looked outstanding both in pass pro and in the run game. He gave Jonah Laulu so much hell that Laulu committed two holding penalties against Zabel, which you rarely see. There was really little to complain about regarding the OL, and Christian Haynes looked to have a good game at left guard.

Yes, it’s preseason yadda yadda yadda, but it was encouraging to watch Seattle’s OL look competent. I also felt the coaching staff made it a point to have Abe Lucas out there getting some run.

Pritchett was not exactly lighting it up in preseason or in his limited regular season time as a rookie, but he was sound in coverage and recorded an interception off of Aidan O’Connell. With Shaq Griffin only just back from a personal absence and the corners below him mostly failing to impress, Pritchett helped his case greatly to keep his roster spot.

I’d love to see Wright on the practice squad. While he was unlucky to lose a 45-yard run to a Brady Russell holding penalty, he still had 34 yards on the ground and a touchdown. Wright’s in tough with all of the competition in front of him at running back, but he might be Seattle’s umpteenth preseason darling at RB.

Connor O’Toole may have gotten a late sack on Cam Miller, but I thought the best edge rusher for Seattle was Tyreke Smith. The 2022 fifth-rounder was a handful for the Raiders OL for as long as he was in the game, drawing a holding call that wiped out a big pass play, and essentially forcing Aidan O’Connell into an intentional grounding penalty. Edge rushing depth is a bit questionable for Seattle with Uchenna Nwosu’s return uncertain, so it was good for Smith to perform as well as he did.

Hey, he got the block that preserved the tie. Cliff Avril sought him as a player to watch and he delivered right at the end.

I must admit that my Martinez stock is looking shaky. George Holani was as great tonight as Martinez struggled. While I’m well aware that preseason games are not the sole arbiter for roster battles, I thought it was notable that Holani was predominantly the third back over Martinez in Saturday’s scrimmage at Lumen Field. Martinez had just 6 carries for 10 yards and looked plodding compared to his fellow running backs. With limited special teams experience, Martinez returned kicks and muffed one that backed Seattle up at the 6.

Through two camps and preseason I’ve been underwhelmed by Alexander, and I’m not sure he makes it to the second week at this rate. He got burned on a double move in the fourth quarter, which sparked the late Vegas comeback to eventually tie the game.

Two targets, two drops. One was admittedly a tough one to hang onto because Kyu Blu Kelly lit him up, but it seems like Dareke Young may have the edge over him in the receiver pecking order.

The ball spotting by Clete Blakeman’s officiating crew

How did Aidan O’Connell get that QB sneak in his favor on 4th down? That was somehow not the most egregious of spotting inconsistencies throughout the night when you see how they inexplicably ruled George Holani’s touchdown short of the end zone. Video difficulties meant we didn’t even get to see the virtual measurement technology.

• Drew Lock was about to be in the Losers list until his touchdown drive, which was nicely done. His side-arm throw to Dareke Young was sweet and he was accurate on the Horton score, but he was throwing almost everything in one speed and his accuracy was wayward. The interception was bad and so was his mishandling off Jalen Sundell’s snap, which was far from perfect but still catchable.
• Jalen Milroe didn’t have a lot of opportunities to showcase himself due to all of the penalties (and prolonged Raiders drives), but he still displayed his tantalizing potential with his designed runs and throws to Tyrone Broden and Marshall Lang. It would’ve been a tough play to convert that 4th and 1 late in the game with an oncoming linebacker, but I think he had a shot to run it sooner. The sack was a tough one to take and set up the possibility for a Raiders win. I hope we get to see more of Milroe over the next two preseason games.
• Jamal Adams sure looked good at linebacker, didn’t he? Maybe this is the one way he can extend his NFL career, and I know Pete Carroll won’t ever give up on Adams’ talents.
• To my relief, it sounded like no booing for Geno Smith and only one taunting sign from a fan who was trying to be funny but failed.
• Nick Emmanwori was used on the blitz and he had a backside pursuit tackle of Ashton Jeanty in his limited action. It doesn’t seem like Emmanwori’s little injury scare was serious, so that’s a relief.
• Eric Saubert’s value as a blocker also showed on some of those first half runs. Klint Kubiak was really emphasizing 12 personnel looks and mixing in some 13 deep into the game. The goal and desire to run the damn ball is real.
• Brandon Pili and Quinton Bohanna are both continuing their solid training camps and I believe at least one of them will make the roster as another big body on the interior.
• I’m sleepy. It’s great to be talking Seahawks football again. We go again next week with the Kansas City Chiefs, and maybe we’ll see some regular starters out there for a mini-dress rehearsal.