Team news: Seattle Seahawks | Page 4

Seahawks’ first-round pick Jaxon Smith-Njigba is undergoing wrist surgery today in Philadelphia, but still could have a chance to be ready for the start of the regular season, per sources.

Related players: DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, D'Wayne Eskridge, Jake Bobo, Dareke Young

Schefter added that JSN broke a bone in his wrist on the play in which he almost scored Saturday night. Surgery will determine how long he will miss. Reading into it a bit, even if JSN misses games, it seems safe to conclude it may just be a couple of weeks to start the season. Metcalf and Lockett will remain the top-two targets but Eskridge, Bobo and Young are next up behind Smith-Njigba should he not be available. We'll continue to monitor his timeline.

Sam Howell will start the season opener at quarterback for the Washington Commanders, coach Ron Rivera said Friday, ending what had been a one-sided competition for the job. Howell has worked only with the starters since spring practices began. He has taken all but several reps with the starters; Jacoby Brissett, signed in the offseason, took his place for a handful of snaps before the preseason opener against the Cleveland Browns.

On the surface, Howell is surrounded by a lot of talent, but he will be the most unproven commodity at the position outside of the incoming rookie class. Howell did show a bit with his legs in limited action last year and should firmly be on 2QB/SF radars.

If there were a set of rules for Sam Howell to follow as he tries to lead the Washington Commanders' offense, one of, if not the first on the list would be to get the ball to Terry McLaurin as often as possible.

McLaurin has been a security blanket for a variety of quarterbacks as he enters his fifth NFL season. As part of an offense that has gone through overhaul at almost every position, McLaurin has been one of the only constants, and despite all the turbulence that has surrounded him, he has found ways to be productive with every signal-caller he's worked with, from Alex Smith to Garret Gilbert.

Howell is the 10th player to throw passes to McLaurin in his career, and their relationship is still growing as Howell tries to earn the role of Washington's Week 1 starter for the 2023 season. Although the two have only been working together consistently since June, McLaurin can already tell a difference in their connection, and over the last few weeks, he feels it has risen to another level, the story went on to say.

Terrace Marshall just took a front seat ride on a cart. Not sure what happened there. Didn’t seem like anything super dramatic.

Related players: D.J. Chark, Jonathan Mingo, Adam Thielen, Laviska Shenault

Other reports claimed HC Frank Reich said Marshall tweaked something in his back. Marshall has been a disappointment after getting second round draft capital in 2021. He's battling for a top-three spot on the re-made Panthers offense, but we put him behind Chark, Mingo and Thielen on our fantasy depth chart.

Per Fortier, who was at the presser with head coach Ron Rivera; Rivera still considers it a competition between Sam Howell and Jacoby Brissett.

In a later conversation, Fortier asked if it was important for Brissett to receive first-team reps. The veteran responded with "we'll cross that bridge when we cross that bridge."

This is clearly an annoying situation for fantasy owners. The easiest thing we can boil this down to at this point; Jacoby Brissett represents a clear floor for both himself and his pass catchers in Washington. On the other hand, Sam Howell offers a very intriguing ceiling while offering what amounts to an incredibly low floor.

We'll have to wait and see how this develops.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are poised for an offseason quarterback competition between Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask that could last deep into training camp.

Asked Wednesday about the balance between naming a starter early so he can get extra reps in the offense and allowing the competition to run its course, new offensive coordinator Dave Canales cited his experience last year during the Geno Smith-Drew Lock battle in Seattle.

The Tampa Bay job is sneakily a good one for fantasy purposes, as the team decided not to move on from any of their veteran pass catchers, despite many rumors to the contrary. Superstars Mike Evans and Chris Godwin may be aging, but they're still a fantastic one-two punch, while Cade Otton and Rachaad can pull their weight at their respective positions.
We would assume that Mayfield has the initial leg-up here since the team went out and got the former first round pick, who has 69 starts under his belt. Compare that to Trask, who has nine dropbacks to his name.

They (the Seahawks) wanted a slot receiver who understood zone coverage and how to feel underneath defenders and make himself available to the quarterback. They needed someone who was more quick than fast, but at the same time, crafty and explosive with the ball in his hands. Against man coverage, their preferred receiver needed to be proficient at the line of scrimmage and have a wide catch radius.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba is the perfect fit for Seattle’s offense.

Related Players: DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett

The article mentions that the Seahawks ran a below-average amount of 11 personnel (53% of their plays), yet it was the team's most popular player grouping. The drafting of JSN should give a clue as to how they will prefer to run their offense this coming season, and all three receivers should have their moments, barring injuries.

If Metcalf and Lockett cut their prerequisite 100+ target seasons, it's difficult to see how Smith-Njigba has a ceiling outcome 2023 season. All three options are top-50 WRs in our current rankings, with Metcalf leading the way as the WR15.

The Washington Commanders are signing QB Jacoby Brissett to a one-year deal worth up to $10 million and $8 million guaranteed. Washington gets a starting option for a quarterback who played well for Cleveland last year.

Related Players: Sam Howell

This constitutes one of the first quarterback competitions of the 2023 offseason, so buckle up. This contract is essentially double what the Browns paid him on a one-year deal, so we can take that as a hint as to how Washington perceives Brissett. Howell only started one game during his rookie season, so it's difficult to compare them statistically, but one can assume that Brissett has the leg-up at the moment.

The Eagles have agreed to terms with Seahawks RB Rashaad Penny.

Related Players: Ken Walker, Kenneth Gainwell, Miles Sanders

For the Eagles, this could put a damper on the prospects of Philadelphia re-signing Miles Sanders. Though with Penny's injury history, it's improbable that he will be the only back they add in the offseason.

In Seattle, Ken Walker is setting up for a pure bellcow role with only the likes of DeeJay Dallas, Godwin Igwevuike, etc. sitting behind him.

Geno Smith and the #Seahawks are finalizing a three-year contract extension worth $105M with the ability to earn $52M in the first calendar year, sources tell @theScore.

Smith earned Comeback Player of the Year and Pro Bowl honors after leading the NFL in completion %.

Smith was the fantasy QB5 last season, though he played 17 games and his per game average was the 11th-highest at his position. This signing is good news for both Tyler Lockett (WR13) and DK Metcalf (WR18), who both posted solid to high-end WR2 numbers with Smith at quarterback. Smith will be in the high-end QB2 mix in 2023.