Seahawks Mailbag: 4 Questions Leading Into The Bears Game

It was a very important win that the Seattle Seahawks just notched, restoring confidence and belief that this team might be able to mount a meaningful title defense. I asked my discord server what their biggest questions about the team are right now. Let’s take a look at what’s on the mind of the fans. The wording of the questions has been lightly edited for this article.

Long Term Intentions For Grey Zabel

“Is moving Zabel to center the long term plan? If so, what happens to Jalen Sundell?”

I’ve always thought that Zabel would end up at center in the NFL due to his short arms. I was thrilled when he was able to play left guard last season with some success, but center might be the position he can excel at, especially in this type of offense. Look for him to learn the position in the upcoming offseason and be the guy in 2027.

Zabel's skillset should make him a great center. — Seattle Seahawks guard Grey Zabel (76) celebrates a touchdown against the New England Patriots during Super Bowl LX. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

As for Sundell, he’s an Exclusive Rights Free Agent this offseason, so retaining him is trivial and can be done without Sundell’s say-so. Olu Oluwatimi is a free agent this offseason, so keeping Sundell as a backup for at least one season is completely reasonable. It’s not like Sundell is an elite player who has a right to demand a starting job. It all fits together to me.

A Trade Yet To Make An Impact

“What are we gonna do with Avery Smith? Is he playing at all?”

Obviously, there’s some degree of frustration when your team makes a trade for a player that ends up giving the team nothing. But at this point, that’s probably where we are with Smith. No reason to believe he’s bad, and it can’t be a problem to have extra depth in a season like this, but Smith’s only real chance to hack it on an NFL defense is in the slot.

Smith may not do much for the Seahawks this year, but that's okay. — Houston Texans wide receiver Jared Wayne (89) catches a touchdown pass against Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Avery Smith (36). | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Between Nick Emmanwori and Devon Witherspoon, the Seahawks have the nickel corner thing on ice. If you want to speak about cornerback in general, they’ve also gotten shockingly good play from Nehemiah Pritchett. But remember, Smith’s rookie contract is still active, so he has a chance to be here for a couple years beyond this one. His time will come.

Rewarding Seattle’s Breakout Star

“Is there any thought of giving Nehemiah Pritchett more opportunities?”

I think the hangup here is that Mike Macdonald really wants corners who can tackle and come up in run support, and he’s probably over the moon with having three corners in his nickel packages who are great tacklers. Pritchett is a liability in that area, so despite his excellent play in coverage so far this season, he’s getting sparse opportunities right now.

Pritchett can cover, but his lack of tackling skills are working against him. — Seattle Seahawks cornerback Josh Jobe (29) celebrates with cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett (28), safety Nick Emmanwori (3) and safety Ty Okada (39) after recovering a fumble against the San Francisco 49ers. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Last season, the Seahawks did rotate Josh Jobe and Riq Woolen at corner, so they’ve shown a willingness to get creative and accept some suboptimal performances to try to get their best players on the field. I would be all for putting Pritchett in the Woolen role, but even if that doesn’t happen, it’s a reasonable bet that Pritchett gets called again this season anyway.

Does The Backfield Need Reinforcements?

“Should we still pursue a RB in a trade, or do we roll with what we got?”

I wouldn’t object to a mild improvement to the depth with someone like Tony Pollard, since that should be very cheap and won’t require any investment beyond this season. I could be talked into something a little more mid-level, like Bucky Irving, as well. But the question we have to answer first is whether or not we really need to be adding on here anymore.

Jonathan Taylor would be exciting, but I'm not convinced that it would be good ultimately. — Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor (28) rushes the ball against the Minnesota Vikings. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Whatever you think of Jadarian Price right now, the Seahawks just spent a first round pick on him six months ago and clearly think highly of him. Zach Charbonnet has proven capable of being effective in a timeshare backfield. Emanuel Wilson has shown he’s a capable back when used the right way. And a healthy George Holani is a workable third down back.

Maybe it’s not the greatest backfield ever, but shouldn’t it be good enough? And should we really pump more resources into it right now? I’m not convinced it’s the right play. The Jonathan Taylor buzz in particular is a little confusing to me, as he doesn’t fit the offense and would be pricey to obtain. On this count, I’m dancing with the women we brought.

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