Seattle Seahawks: 1 breakout candidate from each position group
Quarterback: Drew Lock
The Seattle Seahawks don’t have many options at quarterback for a breakout candidate. Geno Smith opens the season as Pete Carroll’s starter. Everyone in the NFL knows what kind of QB is by now.
Sometime during the season, the Seattle Seahawks will need to know what they have in Drew Lock and whether or not he should be part of the team’s future. No one would be surprised if he fizzled out like he did in Denver over the last few years.
Lock has a huge arm and a big upside. He could find magic with receivers D.K. Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Noah Fant, and find his groove as an NFL quarterback.
Running Back: Rashaad Penny
Over the last six games of 2022, Rashaad Penny was a superstar, living up to the Seattle Seahawks’ expectations when they drafted him with their first round pick in 2018. While his performance turned head, six games isn’t a season.
In 2022, Penny starts the year as Seattle’s “Bell-Cow Back.” Eventually, second round pick Kenneth Walker III will gain carries. That will keep Penny fresh and hopefully healthy for an entire season. One thousand rushing yards this year isn’t out of the question.
RASHAAD PENNY CANNOT BE STOPPED. 62-YARD TD. #Seahawks
📺: #SEAvsAZ on FOX
📱: NFL app pic.twitter.com/VorOzU8W98— NFL (@NFL) January 10, 2022
Wide Receiver/ Tight End: Dee Eskridge
The Seattle Seahawks’ first draft selection in 2022, they picked Dee Eskridge from Western Michigan in the second round (56th overall). Maybe expectations for him were a little high, but Eskridge failed to meet them whatever they were.
It wasn’t necessarily all his fault. In Week 1, Eskridge suffered a concussion which kept him out through mid-November. Even then, it didn’t seem like he was 100%.
Eskridge is a breakout candidate because he’s a bolt of lightning looking for a spark. At any time or any place on the field, he can catch a pass, turn on the afterburners, and take it to the hose.