Seahawks studs & duds from NFL preseason debut against the Raiders

The Seattle Seahawks have just wrapped up their first preseason game of the year against former head coach Pete Carroll and the Las Vegas Raiders, ending in a 23-23 tie. As always, anything that happens in August has to come with an asterisk - and you can only learn so much when the playcalling is as vanilla as the Wisconsin state fair on both sides.

Nevertheless, let's try to sort out who had a strong game for the Seahawks and who did not in their first action on the field since January. Here is our first edition of studs and duds for the year.

Stud: OC Klint Kubiak

It's only preseason and most of the starters weren't out there, but at the outset the Seahawks delivered on their offseason promises of establishing a more physical, run-first identity. While it was a total team effort, new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak gets the nod for a high-quality run game. On the first drive, George Holani broke off 33 yards on three runs with assists on great blocks from wide receiver Jake Bobo, tight end Eric Saubert and fullback Robbie Ouzts. The run blocking continued to look strong throughout the first half - and better than it's been in a while. Collectively, the Seahawks ended the game having averaged over five yards per carry and scored two rushing touchdowns.

Dud: QB Drew Lock

While the run game looked like a well-oiled machine in the first half, Seattle's returning backup quarterback Drew Lock showed a whole lot of rust when it came time to air the ball out. On the first drive, Lock may have been able to lead rookie wide receiver Tory Horton into the end zone but he threw the wrong route by his own admission. Lock then followed that up with another bad throw that was picked off by Raiders safety Isaiah Pola-Mao. Lock finished the evening with an underwhelming line of 12/22 for 147 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT and a 71.6 passer rating.

Stud: RB George Holani

On their second drive Seattle's run game got stuffed a couple of times by Jamal Adams, but it took off when Holani came back on the field. Holani got another great block from Robbie Ouzts and used his burst to break outside and score on a 24-yard run that was initially ruled short. For the evening Holani posted 61 yards and a touchown on just seven carries. Holani also racked up 20 yards on a screen pass later on - overall a positive start for what might be his second-straight impressive preseason.

Dud: C Jalen Sundell

One play shouldn't completely define any player's game - but Seattle's coaching staff can't afford to be too forgiving about bad mistakes along the offensive line, even during the preseason. With Olu Oluwatimi sitting out due to injury, we saw a supremely ugly rep from Jalen Sundell in the second quarter when he snapped a ball wide and over Drew Lock's head, resulting in a 19-yard loss that killed the drive. Sundell was also flagged for a hold later on.

Stud: Seahawks secondary

The Seahawks sat starters Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen, Julian Love and Coby Bryant, but they still got some quality performances on the back end of their defense. Rookie DB Nick Emmanwori showed some burst as a blitzer early, and some preseason mercy by not cracking Geno Smith's back even though he had the opportunity. Boundary cornerback Josh Jobe also picked off an atrocious deep pass by Aidan O'Connell in the second quarter while Nehemiah Pritchett notched another INT on a nice read and posted a PBU, as well. Elsewhere, backup safety D'Anthony Bell flashed some pretty sharp tackling in the open field.

Stud: WR Tory Horton Jr.

The hottest playmaker at Seahawks training camp carried that momentum over into his NFL debut. Rookie wide reciever Tory Horton Jr. was clearly Drew Lock's preferred target in the first half. There were a few misfires from Lock but Horton made good on his legitimate opportunities, posting three catches, 31 yards and a touchdown after a nifty little spin move. Horton's momentum to take over Marquez Valdez-Scantling's role as the team's WR3 continues to build.

Dud: Seahawks pass rush

You can only expect so much when all your best pass rushers are on the sidelines. Still, as Michael Bennett lamented near the end of the game, there was a real lack of pressure on the Raiders' quarterbacks all night. As a team, Seattle finished with just one sack. The one exception to the rule was rookie outside linebacker Connor O'Toole, who finished with three quarterback hits.

Stud: QB Jalen Milroe

When the third quarter began Mike Macdonald subbed out Lock and put in rookie Jalen Milroe at quarterback. Milroe's night mostly consisted of handing the ball off, so we didn't really get to see him unleash his awesome deep arm power. However, we did get to witness his highly-potent speed on the ground. Milroe ran for 38 yards and left multiple pass rushers in the dust before completing a 15-yard pass to Tyrone Broden. Milroe also put a hell of a lot of zip on a couple of his short and intermediate completions. Milroe did have one bad miss on a comeback throw to Dareke Young and he took a rough sack on the final drive, but otherwise he played a clean game and flashed some of the high-level traits that got him drafted.