Field Gulls
It’s time for Seattle Seahawks football again! Preseason begins with a home game against the Las Vegas Raiders, and while preseason is usually a chore to sit through, it feels different given the excitement among Seahawks fans regarding the roster, the new offensive coaches, a new rookie quarterback, and oh yes, the return of some former Seahawks on the other sideline.
This series was created almost by accident last year, and now I’ve decided it’s a regular feature to make five predictions for each Seahawks game. It’s the preseason so this is going to be a little lighter than what you’d see in the regular season, but the format is otherwise unchanged.
Bold prediction: There will be some boos for Geno Smith
I did not say a majority of the fans will boo, but they’ll at least be audible if he so much as comes out on the field for warmups and people are recording. The relationship between Seahawks fans and Geno is an interesting one. When Russell Wilson left, it was clear that fan opinion was going against him for the manner in which the trade transpired, but I bet you if he returned to Lumen Field now there would be cheers. Geno was the guy who replaced Russ and that was a near-impossible act to follow. The “GENO!” chants when he filled in for Wilson in that 2021 game against the Los Angeles Rams was probably the beginning of the end for Russ as a Seahawk, and then Smith was one of the premier stories of the 2022 season.
These last two seasons have not been as kind to Smith. You’re a great story until you aren’t, and fans can turn on you in an instant. Not everyone will dissect the Seahawks offense and see that Seattle’s offensive woes extended way beyond Smith; they’ll just see the interceptions and red zone inefficiencies and point to Geno as the main source. It’s also not lost on me that Smith’s goodbye message to Seattle was a fairly short one.
Any booing by fans will not be out of the notion that Smith is a villainous figure, but instead dislike of him as a quarterback. He may be seen by some as a hindrance to getting an actual long-term, young QB. It ain’t his fault and I sure as hell don’t agree with any booing, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think some booing will happen. I anticipate appreciate cheers (mostly), indifference, and some booing in that order.
No, I’m not giving you a take on Jamal Adams.
Seahawks offense prediction: Jalen Milroe will score at least one rushing touchdown
I’ve seen enough of Milroe in-person to realize that he should be the best and fastest athlete on the field against second- and third-stringers. It’s a totally different story if he’s going up against starters; I don’t want to pretend he didn’t have issues with bad sacks in college. His speed looks effortless and we know how elusive he can be...
