Seattle Sea Dragons 2023 Offensive Preview
Ed Stein
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Quarterback
Former Dallas Cowboys signal caller Ben DiNucci leads the Seattle Sea Dragons offense. Coming out of James Madison in 2020, scouts praised his athleticism and accuracy. That lead to Dallas drafting him in the seventh round.
He played in three games for the Cowboys, completing 53% of his passes for 219 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. DiNucci spent all of 2021 on the Dallas practice squad and was released just before the 2022 season began.
In a wide-open offense, DiNucci should be very effective. He moves well and can either extend plays outside the pocket or take off with the ball. The type of quarterback who can execute the RPO.
If opposing defenses keep an extra man in the box to “spy” him, DiNucci is accurate enough to exploit single coverages. But if they lay off, he can pick up yards with his legs.
What DiNucci doesn’t have is a big arm. So stretching the field with deep passes may not be an option.
Backing him up is a QB with a cannon, Steven Montez. Although he hasn’t seen an NFL action, Montez was a force for Colorado in the Pac-12.
Running Back
Seattle doesn’t possess much pro experience in the backfield. That presents a bit of a challenge.
Although the Run and Shoot has much more shoot than run, it still requires some run. That’s why TJ Hammonds is a good fit. At Arkansas, he played both running back and wide receiver.
Brendon Knox is a wrecking ball at 5’11”, 235 pounds. He will be good in short-yardage situations with his ability to bowl over would-be tacklers. The knock on Knox is that he’s a bit slow (4.67 40-yard dash) and can be indecisive when hitting the hole.
An X-factor is Morgan Ellison. As a freshman in 2017, Ellison was the Indiana Hoosiers leading rusher. A sexual misconduct charge got him kicked off IU’s team. He went to Independence Community College and finished his career at Southeast Louisiana during the Covid-shortened 2020 spring season.