Field Gulls
On Sunday afternoon in northern Florida, the Seattle Seahawks dispatched the Jacksonville Jaguars 20-12 in a game where the Seattle defensive front controlled the game and for the most part kept the Jags off the scoreboard.
As has been the case all season, the number of snaps played by the top two running backs of the Seahawks was closely watched. It was, once again, Zach Charbonnet getting more playing time at the position, playing 33 snaps to the 19 logged by Kenneth Walker.
As of right now, no definitive explanation has been provided by the team for the difference in snap counts between the two players. Whether it is due to differing abilities in pass blocking or reading blocking remains anyone’s guess, as the only thing that is known for certain is that the Seahawks continue to give Charbonnet more snaps than Walker.
Seahawks beat reporter Gregg Bell has attributed Charbonnet’s higher usage to the team managing a foot “issue” for Walker.
However, Walker has not appeared on the injury report for several weeks, which raises the question of whether there is actually an ongoing foot issue, which in turns raises the question of whether the Seahawks are failing to disclose a foot injury if there is indeed an ongoing foot issue that is limiting Walker’s snaps.
On defense, the big question outside of the injury status and availability of most of the starting secondary, revolves around the playing time of the second linebacker spot next to Ernest Jones. Following a strong finish to his rookie campaign in 2024, Tyrice Knight was the fan favorite to win the role and continue an upwards trajectory alongside the defense. However, Knight has effectively been relegated to playing only on special teams by Drake Thomas, with the only two defensive snaps Knight played against Jacksonville coming while Thomas was off the field after having injured his hand.
Having noted his limited playing time on defense, it’s key to acknowledge that Knight has taken on a very large role on special teams. While Brady Russell continued to pace the team with 28 special teams snaps, Knight was in a three way tie for the second most snaps with fellow linebacker Chazz Surratt and wide receiver Dareke Young, all recording 23 special teams snaps against the Jaguars.
Nehemiah Pritchett and D’Anthony Bell round out the rest of the top six Seahawks in special teams snaps.
And now it’s on to Monday Night Football and the Houston Texans.
