3 Ways Seahawks, NFL Will Be Shaped by COVID-19 Policies in 2020 Season
When the NFL opened its door to another league year on March 18, the rest of the world was just beginning to shut down due to COVID-19. Five months later, the dust is beginning to settle on a Seahawks team that's set to kick off a new season at Mercedez-Benz Stadium without a fan in sight.
The impacts of coronavirus reach far and wide, yet the Seahawks and their 31 league counterparts are hustling through training camp at hyper speed. While our SeahawkMaven practice reports show promise in a team brimming with new additions, the truth is that players still face unique challenges presented by COVID-19 limitations.
Here are three ways the 2020 Seahawks will be shaped by NFL coronavirus policies:
Without OTAs and minicamps, player health is more at risk than ever before.
While the Seahawks have been incredibly diligent and thorough with preventative coronavirus measures, the team only has one month to practice together - and that means running a much, much higher risk of being sidelined with injuries.
Offseason conditioning is to athletes what stretching is to long-distance runners: without the preparation, taut muscles and ligaments are more likely to tear, especially when going the distance.
This prediction has already proven true for players, such as the unfortunate case of (now former) Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, who was promptly cut from the team after injuring his right quad. What's even worse is that McCoy's injury fulfilled a contract clause stating that if he injured said quad, his contract would be voided.
While tight end Will Dissly looks healthy coming off a 2019 Achilles injury, other Seahawks players are already sitting out practices as they tend to recent wounds. Phillip Dorsett, Demarcus Christmas, Poona Ford, and Freddie Swain are just a few players that have experienced injuries during a shortened training camp.
Rookies like Jordyn Brooks and Swain face additional risks due to this being their first NFL camp, an intense and dramatic shift from collegiate training camps. Experienced veteran players face similar injury risks, but for different reasons. Their age and injury history can impact whether or not they make it through the rigorous next few months. Seahawks players have done all they can by lifting weights and repeating drills during quarantine, but no amount of private workouts compares to losing a summer of on-field work.
Injuries happen at every point during the NFL season, and they happen in training camp all the time, making it impossible to know whether these injuries are because of coronavirus limitations or simply strokes of bad luck. However, there's no debating that less opportunities to practice in the offseason has made it tougher on bodies that are set to endure a full 16-game season.
One month to practice means less time to build team chemistry, and that could mean excessive penalties against offensive and defensive lines.
“When you look at what’s going to occur, without a doubt, I guarantee you: come September 13, that weekend, there will be more pre-snap penalties from teams that don’t know how to focus and concentrate.”
Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay may have opened the second episode of Hard Knocks urgently warning his team of this, but the issue translates to the Seahawks and every other NFL team. Less time to practice together means less team chemistry all around - and while Russell Wilson seems to have found his rhythm with new receivers such as Dorsett and Greg Olsen, it presents a challenge for a newly-minted Seahawks offensive line.
Over the offseason, the Seahawks swapped center Justin Britt for B.J. Finney and right guard D.J. Fluker for Damien Lewis, as well as losing reserve tackle George Fant and right tackle Germain Ifedi in free agency. According to their depth chart, the projected starting line consists of Duane Brown, Mike Iupati, Ethan Pocic, Damien Lewis and Brandon Shell. Only Brown and Iupati are returning from 2019, leaving minimal continuity from last year to this year.
Offensive line chemistry is integral each and every offensive play, starting with getting the snap off without players committing false starts. But team chemistry doesn’t just affect the offensive line - an unsynchronized defensive line is more likely to commit offsides penalties.
The snap is something football players have done thousands of times, yet it’s easy to make a mistake and jump off a little early, especially if communication has been compromised. Players have to develop a rhythm and burn those snap movements into their muscle memory, something they weren’t able to practice alone during quarantine.
Although there won’t be opposing fans to drown out the Seahawks' defense, ensuring everyone can read and respond to offensive changes cohesively is a bigger challenge with fewer practices. Llinebacker Bobby Wagner is still the MIKE who manages the defense, but having two less months to build a rapport with his teammates on the field means those in-the-moment adjustments may be harder to execute.
Getting a feel for things takes time NFL teams don’t have this year, and reports from training camp show that the Seahawks are connecting on plays just fine. It’s likely that refs will get a little flag-happy with every team this season, so if the Seahawks can get into a rhythm sooner than most, they’ll have a competitive advantage heading into an unusual season.
Rookies and undrafted free agents that could have made the team in 2019 may not make it without a 2020 preseason showcase.
While Kemah Siverand made headlines for attempting to sneak a woman into the Seahawks facility, all of the rookies and undrafted free agents face exceptional difficulty in making the team this year because of one big reason: there's no preseason.
Each year, teams take a chance on players during training camp and give them an opportunity to put their talents on display and potentially earn a roster spot. Teams kick off with 90 players during camp and eventually whittle that number down to an active 53-man roster for the season - that's 37 players who fail to make the cut every year.
NFL practice squads provide an opportunity for on-the-fence players to develop and perhaps make the team in future years, but that still leaves 25 players who leave the facility for good. Rookies and undrafted players are at risk of those first cuts, so they have to work even harder to make the team the first year.
New players utilize every minute of training camp to showcase their capabilities, but the fourth preseason game has become the ultimate test for borderline players: all the starters sit out the game while unproven players battle it out before scrutinizing coaches. In fact, elusive Chargers running back Austin Ekeler started as an undrafted free agent in 2017, and the final preseason game showed head coach Anthony Lynn that he deserved a spot on the squad.
“I know there are one or two guys that are going to change our minds tonight,” Lynn said before that fateful preseason game - and that guy happened to be Ekeler, who is now the featured running back for the Chargers.
Past Seahawks rosters have featured remarkable stories like Ekeler's, such as the journeys of receivers Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse, and Poona Ford, to name a few. Even the supremely talented Baldwin went undrafted, carving a role in a crowded wide receiver room by becoming Seattle's star slot receiver for nearly a decade. Undrafted free agents aren't necessarily bad, and the best way to truly evaluate talent is to get players on the field right in front of coaches and determine whether they will fit into the team's scheme and locker room.
While Pete Carroll is unique in staying true to his "always compete" mentality and has had several UDFAs make the team over the years, the lack of opportunities - and the compounded weight of every mistake - puts unproven players at a major disadvantage without camp and without their usual preseason showcase.
2020 has been a trying year in just about every way imaginable, and the state of the world around us influences how the game is played, as well as the people who coach it and play it. This season, we're likely to see more injuries, more flags, and less underdogs taking the field, but that's the unfortunate, unavoidable price the NFL community is paying in order to see at least one thing in 2020 go somewhat according to plan.
