Observations From Day 1 of Seahawks 2021 Rookie Minicamp

Despite having a smaller minicamp roster than usual, the Seahawks were able to get "great work" in on the field at the VMAC and coaches were able to get their first glimpse of the incoming rookie class along with a now healthy Darrell Taylor.

Kicking off their offseason program, the Seahawks took the field for the first time in the 2021 season for their annual three-day rookie minicamp on Friday.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NFL teams were only allowed to bring in five tryout players this year, a major departure from past seasons prior to 2020. With other limitations in place, Seattle had only 31 players on the field for Friday's opening session, nearly 20 players less than usual.

Nonetheless, having a smaller roster of players on the field brought unique benefits for coach Pete Carroll and his staff as they got their first extended looks at incoming draft picks and undrafted free agent signings.

"This was great work today now," Carroll told reporters after practice. "They'll get the same amount of reps they will get in a normal camp - we have to adjust the tempo a little bit to get that done - but they'll get the same snaps. That's the main thing so we can make good evaluations and all. It was a really good start. It was really fun to see those guys out there."

Following the conclusion of Friday's practice, here are three quick observations from the VMAC:

1. Stone Forsythe looks like a "monster" compared to the majority of Seattle's players, with one notable exception.

Few tackles in the NFL stand 6-foot-8, but the Seahawks now have two of them on the roster in Forsythe and undrafted rookie Greg Eiland. The two stood out like sore thumbs compared to the rest of Seattle's offensive linemen during drill work, with the sixth-round pick out of Florida in particular standing out to Carroll.

"The one thing you can't miss is that Stone Forsythe is a monster of a guy," Carroll gushed. "Gosh, he's such a big, good-looking athlete. Anxious to see what the film looked like on his first day out here, but man he's got tremendous length and stature and he's built so beautifully. He's just really perfectly fit for the position of left tackle, so we're looking forward to seeing how that goes."

With rookie minicamp sessions being non-contact, Forsythe won't have a chance to go against defensive linemen anytime soon. But understanding his height can be a detriment winning the leverage battle, he's using time on the practice field to work on his technique, particularly honing the three-point stance after primarily using a two-point stance in Florida's pass-happy offense.

"Your stance is everything, that's what you start the play with," Forsythe said. "So just kinda fine-tuning that stance, kinda feeling out those angles in the run game, just keeping that leverage, and keeping those angles and pressing those defenders."

2. Albeit running routes against air, D'Wayne Eskridge displayed his explosiveness, quickness, and soft hands in his first practice session.

Much like linemen not being able to go live in one-on-one drills during offseason workouts, receivers such as Eskridge don't face the same physical coverage they will see when training camp arrives in late July. He also won't be catching passes from Russell Wilson anytime soon, but he made the most of his first chances to impress while reeling in passes from Danny Etling and showing off his elite speed.

"He's going to fit in beautifully and he'll work his way, compete his way into how much he can contribute," Carroll remarked. "It's a real positive for us."

If there's one area Carroll is curious to see how Eskridge performs this weekend, it will be working from the slot and moving around the formation. The former Western Michigan star played north of 80 percent of his snaps on the outside as a senior, but the Seahawks were able to see him in motion quite a bit on day one as he learns a new playbook and gets acclimated.

"We're gonna have to uncover some of that flexibility as we go through it. Just today he was lining up in the slot, motioning around and moving around as well as playing outside... He's a really bright kid, he cares about the details and stuff already, he's made a big impression with Nate [Carroll] and the guys on the receiver side of things, so we'll see how things pan out."

3. Returning to the field after a lost rookie season, a healthy Darrell Taylor is working double time learning two positions.

After missing his entire rookie season recovering from surgery to place a titanium rod into his leg to repair a stress fracture, Taylor returned to the practice field and showed off his versatility. He did sled work with other edge rushers and dropped back into coverage in several drills playing the SAM linebacker spot.

Darrell Taylor back out on the practice field working sleds. pic.twitter.com/KpWDSlTtsI

— Corbin K. Smith (@CorbinSmithNFL) May 14, 2021

Having already played defensive end and linebacker at Tennessee in college, Carroll doesn't envision Taylor having any challenges double-dipping and mastering both positions in Seattle's 4-3 scheme.

"We liked him as a rusher first, which we still do, but he's got all the athleticism, he's a real natural athlete, real light on his feet, burst and explosion, change of direction is really good," Carroll stated. "So this is not going to be a challenge for him to learn the position. We need to see how he feels when we do mix him dropping and rushing and knowing we want to see him as an outside rusher as well in passing situations. We're double-teaching him and he's such a good looking athlete, he looks like he can do whatever you need him to do."

Finally able to get over the hump after stem cell therapy last November, Taylor was grateful to get back on the field and admitted he didn't want to leave when practice wrapped up. Though he indicated his fractured leg will never be fully behind him, he's confident he will bounce back from it to play at a high level wherever Seattle needs him and he's using the injury as motivation heading into the 2021 season.

"I'm definitely looking forward," Taylor said. "A fresh start for sure. It's going to fuel me. I feel like my injury from last year is going to fuel me, not being able to be on the field last year is going to fuel me, not being able to share those 16 games with my teammates is going to fuel me to be out there with them so they can see how I play and how I conduct myself as a professional."