Seahawks HC Pete Carroll spoke to John Clayton about his roster. (Getty)
The Seahawks and other teams running the NFL began to get more sense for the football season.
Clayton: Seahawks healthier than expected as practices begin
On Friday, the Seahawks moved from the disaster up period of conditioning on the field Friday through – for the first time since the start of camp – the offense could go against the defense and the defense could go against the offense. On Monday, the Seahawks get to put pads.
There will be 14 padded practices.
Pete Carroll joined me on Friday at 710 ESPN Seattle and – as always – he was fired. What he said was pretty telling. You can tell he likes this team. While many people around the league may not have the overall respect for this roster, Carroll had a different feeling.
Not only does he see a big improvement in defense, but he loves what he sees with the offense.
Russell Wilson joined OTAs last year in search of his best. Carroll thinks he looks even better. That’s important because Wilson is finally recognized as one of the top two quarterbacks in the league. They are Wilson and Patrick Mahomes.
Wilson responded to the ‘Let Russ Cook’ campaign. Although he did not sound like he wanted to turn the offense into a 40-pass per game team, Wilson said he had the ball more in his hands in the first three quarters.
ESPN Stats and Info calculated Wilson gets the 12th most combined passes and runs in his first three quarters. In the fourth quarter, he gets the fourth most.
Carroll said earlier in Wilson’s career that everyone needed patience and giving Wilson the opportunity to develop as a top quarterback. He has evolved to be a top two quarterback, so he might have gone earlier in the game. The key is to get a four point lead through a stop. The Seahawks are 56-0 when that happens.
What is noticeable is the improved speed in crime. Without question, this is the fastest receiving unit since Carroll joined the team in 2010. Chris Carson was not at the practice due to a death in the family. Rashaad Penny is on the PUP list. Carroll had high praise for rookie running back DeeJay Dallas and veteran Carlos Hyde.
Rookie Damien Lewis looks like the front on right guard. He ran with the first team.
On defense, Carroll was pretty fat. He thinks this defense can return to the unit that could give up less than 20 points last game. Last year, they added more over 24. Again, speed is the key to improvement.
Carroll said Bruce Irvin was perhaps the best Strongside linebacker in the history of the Seahawks.
Without question, Carroll thinks this is the best secondary since the Legion of Boom. Quinton Dunbar appears to have passed his Covid-19 test, so he got a physical Friday. He would have to make his secondary debut on Sunday. Marquise Blair and Ugo Amadi are in direct competition for the job for nickel cornerback.
It was interesting to see what happened on the defensive line. Rasheem Green and Benson Mayowa ran as the defensive end of the first team, Green on the five technique in Mayowa at the Leo.
There is some concern about choice for second round Darrell Taylor. He is on the list of non-football injuries resulting from his surgery in January in which he had a rod in his leg. Carroll has no schedule for his return. Padded practices begin Monday.
Carroll said if he could not get padded practice, it would be difficult for Taylor to do much at the start of the season.
Listen to my full conversation with Carroll here as in the player below (28:33 mark).
Follow 710 ESPN Seattle’s John Clayton on Twitter.
O’NEIL: Statistics show Wilson’s right to want Hawks to avoid halftime
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