The Seahawks fly to Dallas Thursday ahead of their preseason finale against the Cowboys. Friday night’s game represents a final chance for players hoping to make the team to state their case for a spot on the 53-man roster, as well as another opportunity for players competing for starting jobs to show what they can do.
“This is a big chance for all of the young guys to get a shot to show where they’ve arrived here at the end of this camp,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “We kick into two weeks after this before we play the first game, so we have a good span of time here. This is really a focal opportunity for the young guys, and we want to make sure we see them do everything that they are capable of doing well and see where they fit.”
With that in mind, here are five things to watch in Friday night’s game against the Cowboys:
1. Can Drew Lock make his case for the starting job?
So far Geno Smith has been ahead in the quarterback competition, getting the start in Seattle’s mock game as well as the preseason opener. Lock was going to start last week’s game against Chicago, but came down with COVID-19, leading to another start for Smith.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Smith will again start Friday, but that Lock will get the majority of the playing time. If Lock is going to move ahead of Smith between now and the start of the regular season, he’ll need to take advantage of that extended work on Friday night.
Carroll made it clear he’s willing to take as much time as he needs to decide on the quarterback job, and the Seahawks have two full weeks of practice after the final preseason game, so it’s not necessarily a make-or-break game for either quarterback, but a strong showing against the Cowboys could make a big difference for Lock.
“I hope he has a great game,” Carroll said. “He’s going to get a lot of playing time and get real comfortable out there. It’s really unfortunate the rhythm didn’t get to happen like we wanted it to last week, so we got to make up a little bit of time and make sure he gets his reps, and we’ll see what happens.”
2. Dee Eskridge’s preseason debut.
A hamstring injury at the start of camp has kept last year’s second-round pick from playing in the preseason, but Carroll said receiver Dee Eskridge will indeed be on the field Friday night after returning to practice this week.
For Eskridge, whose rookie season was limited due to a concussion, this game will be his chance to show coaches he’s ready to make significant contributions to the…
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