Rashid Shaheed Ready to Break Out? | Albert Breer's Top 5 Seahawks Camp Takeaways

All right, we are back on the training camp trail.

Renton, Washington.

Beautiful, gorgeous Renton, Washington.

First stop of my training camp trip, 2026 is with the world champion, Seattle Seahawks.

And my first takeaway from Seahawks camp, we'll give you a five from here, is there are a number of players who look ready to take another step coming off a world championship.

And one of the first names that came up today and talking with people here was Rasheed Shaheed.

He was traded for mid-season.

Uh, from New Orleans last year.

I think it was a mild surprise to the people in this building .

They were able to keep him on a 3 year, $51 million deal.

He was a free agent.

And last year, he jumped on a moving train, and so they were able to get something out of him, but maybe not grow his role to the degree that they've grown at this offseason.

Now coming here, he's one of the guys who really benefits from Brian Fleury coming in as the offensive coordinator, taking over for Clint Kubiak.

There is a lot of continuity there, and so that's allowed them to grow his role, and I, I think they're gonna use him.

In some interesting and creative ways, different player, but similar to the way that Debo Samuel was deployed in San Francisco.

So some exciting things could be coming, um, for Rasheed Shahi is a really nice compliment to Jackson Smith and Jigba.

Uh, second thing from here, that coaching change going from Kubiak to Fleury has benefited a number of guys on the offensive side of the ball.

And I'm gonna give you two more in particular.

One is Sam Darnold.

They really feel like Sam Darnold has earned the right to more ownership of the offense.

And so they've gone back and not only built on the stuff that he did last year here, but also, um , some of the things that he did in Minnesota the year before that.

So Sam Darnold's got more ownership of the offense.

And then number 2, Grace Zel coming back after playing at an all-pro level as a rookie.

He really has stepped into a leadership role in the offensive line.

And looks like he could wind up being one of the best players at his position in all football again this year.

Um, take away number 3, it's a veteran defense, a lot of the guys back Nchenu Owosu, Derrek Hall, Dante Fowler, um, Leonard Williams, Dante Fowler, of course, coming over, um, Ernest Jones.

There's a lot of older players, a lot of experience on the defense, um, but there are a couple of younger guys that look ready to take a step.

One's Byron Murphy, who, you know, they believe here is just scratching the surface, um, of what he can be as a pass rusher.

They think he can be a Geno Atkins type of game wrecker, um, you know, playing next to Leonard Williams, who's a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year candidate last year.

They think he could have a real, another real breakthrough this year.

And then the second guy is Drake Thomas.

An off-ball linebacker who didn't get a lot of attention but had a lot of tackles for losses the last couple of years.

He's really now become a true starter.

This isn't a backup just filling in or trying to make his way anymore.

So those would be two names to watch on the defensive side of the ball.

Uh, the number 4, would be the two positions that I think will have the most competition over the course of training camp.

Those two positions would be corner and safety.

A corner, of course, they lose Rick Woollen, who went to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Um, they drafted, they drafted Julian Neal in the 3rd round out of Arkansas.

He'll be part of a competition at that spot.

And then at safety, losing Kobe Bryant to the Bears, they drafted Bud Clark in the 2nd round out of TCU.

Again, he'll be part of a larger group competing, but whether or not the Seahawks' defense can play at the level it did last year, some of it's going to hinge on what happens at those two spots.

Finally, there are a couple of injuries to get here.

This will be my 5th and final takeaway from here in Seattle.

Um, Zach Charbonnet, he's iffy for week one.

That's gonna put a little bit more on Jaarion Price, and rather than focusing on the competition at that position, which is lively, um, what they're trying to do here is figure out the right roles for their backs.

Jerion Price is gonna be a big piece of that puzzle.

He looks like somebody who's eager to prove, um, that he can be more than he was at Notre Dame, where he was sort of a compliment to Jeremiah Love.

So Price, of course, I think will have, you know, a pretty big role in the offense.

Charbonnet, they're gonna be very smart with.

Um, it's iffy on him getting back for week one, but they're going to do what they think they need to do to get him back at his best when it matters most later in the year.

And then the other injury to watch, of course, is Nick Eamon worries.

He had ankle surgery earlier in the summer.

Um, he also is iffy for week one.

The one thing that's interesting with him is because he does play a couple of different positions in that hybrid role.

And effectively is a safety and a linebacker.

His absence has allowed guys at both positions to emerge.

One would be D'Anthony Bell at safety.

Another would be Tyresee Knight at linebacker.

Appreciate you guys coming out.

This is just the start.

We're gonna be doing this from all of the different stops on our training camp tour.

Although I don't know that anywhere will have quite the background, the backdrop that we have here.

We'll be in Arizona next.

We'll see you guys from there.