3 Seahawks Preseason Stars We Didn't Get to See
We all know the general feeling on the preseason. It’s boring, usually bad football, and is increasingly becoming the NFL equivalent of a JV football game. But every year, without fail, we would watch the Seahawks take the field in August and desperately jump to conclusions based on 50 or so snaps.
But like so many things in 2020, the preseason was not to be. In the midst of a global pandemic, the players did not want to participate in these games, and who can blame them? They wouldn't have their normal offseason or usual ramp-up to games. The NFLPA had no idea what the initial positive rate of infection would be. They didn't have protocols locked in. To play a preseason this year would have been irresponsible.
But alas, we still miss our little rituals. Our rush to proclaim Player X as "my guy" or the "next big thing." But just because there wasn't a preseason, doesn't mean we can't do what we would normally do: wax poetically about players we had never heard of. So let's keep that tradition alive. Here are three Seahawks who would have dominated the 2020 preseason.
Alton Robinson
A fifth-round pick from Syracuse, Robinson has caused quite a stir at training camp. So much so, the rookie is now expected to be a part of the rotation early in 2020, something deemed a bit of a long shot just four months ago.
Robinson flashed at Syracuse and even had a double-digit sack season to his credit. But his inconsistent production never fully matched his solid physical and athletic traits. In a normal preseason, going against the backups to the backup offensive tackles, Robinson's athletic traits would have overmatched his opponents, a recipe for flash plays to come with serious frequency.
DeeJay Dallas
The two most talked about players on offense in this extended training camp have been DK Metcalf and Dallas, a fourth-round rookie running back from Miami. Players and coaches alike have raved about the young man. Russell Wilson called Dallas “the leader of the rookie group" and coach Pete Carroll was equally impressed.
“He’s very versatile, he catches the ball well, he runs well, runs routes real well," Carroll said after Seattle's second scrimmage. "He has a background of running routes as a receiver, has a quarterback background going back to high school. He’s got a real versatility to him."
And in a preseason that wouldn’t have featured much of Chris Carson, Carlos Hyde, or Rashaad Penny, Dallas would have likely gotten the lion share of the snaps, along with former collegiate teammate Travis Homer. Dallas may have surpassed Homer as the third down back for Week 1 anyway, but his speed, power, and versatility would have left him as one of the biggest stars of a preseason campaign.
John Ursua
Remember how much we all loved Ursua last training camp and then he went away until Week 17? Well, the former Hawaii star with one career catch was having another great camp, prior to his recent hamstring injury, and led 710 ESPN’s Brock Huard to compare Ursua’s body control to Seahawks legend Doug Baldwin. Anytime a receiver is mentioned in the same breath as Baldwin, you need to take notice.
Ursua has been a popular choice for breakout player by multiple media outlets and for good reason. There is a serious upside to his game. Along with strong hands, he is an underrated athlete, a solid route runner, and has excellent body control. He spent his rookie season working on the finer points of being an NFL wide receiver and if that has paid off, he would have been nearly unguardable against backup defensive backs.
It's easy to make fun of the preseason. We call it boring, lame, pointless, and just a bad product. And to an extent, those are fairly accurate. But with no preseason this year, it is hard not to be wistful of the preseasons of the past where stars are born, even if they burn out quickly after the final cuts are made.
