As Seahawks take a day off from training camp, here’s one thought on each position group

SEATTLE – The Seahawks did not practice on Wednesday, one of two days off they will take during the first two weeks of training camp.

With a little lull in the action, here’s one thought on each position group based on what I saw during their first three practices.

Quarterback

That Russell Wilson is leaner and healthy is obviously the most important thing. But there’s no intrigue to Wilson’s status with the team. What is in question is who will be his backup – Trevone Boykin or Austin Davis. Boykin has usually run the No. 2 offense and Davis the No. 3. But neither has been overly impressive in team sessions – basically, just struggling at times with accuracy – and it seems fair to say that job remains pretty wide open. That’ll at least make the second halves of preseason games more interesting.

Running back

An initial takeaway is that the Seahawks could be as deep at running back as they have been in years, maybe for the entire Pete Carroll era. Thomas Rawls is healthy, Eddie Lacy also was able to practice the first day (there had been some thought he could be limited to the ankle injury of last season but he says it’s not an issue), Alex Collins looks sleeker than a year ago, Chris Carson has shown some early signs to validate Carroll’s enthusiasm, and while C.J. Prosise missed the first two days with a stomach issue after eating something that didn’t agree with him, he’s coming off a solid off-season. And the late signing of Marcel Reece helped to solidify the fullback spot. How the carries at tailback will be divvied up remains a question but that’s a lot better one for the Seahawks than they had last season at this time.

Wide receiver

Here’s another group that so far appears to be have validated the idea it could be deeper than a year ago. While the passing game has struggled at times overall, individual receivers have stood out when given opportunities. Draft picks Amara Darboh and David Moore have each made a few highlight plays and Kasen Williams and Kenny Lawler have also had their moments. Tanner McEvoy is also back healthy after toe surgery in the spring. I consider Darboh pretty much a lock for the roster as a third-round pick. But the other four could be competing for one or two spots (with Doug Baldwin, Tyler Lockett, Jermaine Kearse and Paul Richardson along with Darboh almost certainly the first five on the roster).

Tight end

One of the underrated stories of camp is that Jimmy Graham is healthy. I said that in the spring, too, but it’s worth noting again that this time a year ago Graham was just trying to ease his way back into things following the knee injury suffered in November, 2015. But Graham has been full go for everything this offseason and into training camp with his juggling catch in traffic one of the highlight plays so far. His health reiterates that so far this is a team with fewer injury issues to key players than a year ago.

Offensive line

There’s been a lot of mixing and matching of lineup groupings with the line and it’s too early yet to say anything is really set other than Justin Britt at center – each of the other spots still seems like it could be up for grabs. But two things have stood out – the health of Luke Joeckel and Ethan Pocic being primarily a right tackle. Joeckel, recall, had knee surgery last October and there was some thought he’d be on the PUP list when cap began. Instead, he’s been a pretty regular participant and Carroll said Tuesday the time may come soon when they aren’t worrying about limiting him due to the knee in any way. That’s a nice change from a year ago when the Seahawks had injury issues to the likes of Garry Gilliam and J’Marcus Webb early in camp that helped set everything back. As for Pocic, he was mostly a center at LSU but the team has said from the start he’d get his first shot on the right side at guard and tackle. He’s appeared to play mostly tackle so far – almost solely with the second unit – competing for that position with Germain Ifedi. Both are obviously assured of roster spots, but who emerges as the RT out of those two remains one of the more intriguing position battles to watch.

Defensive line

The big story has obviously been the absence of Malik McDowell – more may be known about his situation by Thursday. A positive for the Seahawks has been the ability of Quinton Jefferson to practice some after sitting out the offseason program following knee surgery last year. Jefferson becomes a more important player for the Seahawks this year if McDowell is out for an extended period.

Linebackers

The Seahawks just keep adding to the competition at strongside linebacker, in the last week having re-signed Mike Morgan – essentially the starter there last season – and bringing in free agent Marcus Smith to compete with Michael Wilhoite and Terence Garvin. Each is also being used in some other ways, as well, though, so any and all could make the roster, with special teams playing a key, as well. But the overall takeaway is that the Seahawks may indeed have accomplished their offseason goal of improving the depth and special teams productivity from this group.

Secondary

That Earl Thomas is pretty much full go is the most important thing to happen to the secondary so far (as well as the extension given to Kam Chancellor). But from a roster standpoint, maybe the most interesting revealed to date is that Jeremy Lane appears to have a pretty strong hold on the right cornerback spot with Neiko Thorpe appearing to have the lead on being the third corner (essentially, stepping in as the RCB in the nickel with Lane then moving inside). That could leave rookie Shaquill Griffin as the fourth corner to start the season with the rest (DeAndre Elliott, Pierre Desir, Mike Tyson, Demetrius McCray) competing for the fifth spot with DeShawn Shead still out.

Special teams

The Seahawks on Tuesday waived long snapper Nolan Frese, solving the one roster spot competition in this area – Tyler Ott is now the lone long snapper on the roster. The progress of Blair Walsh figures to be a daily story given the interest in seeing if he can replace Stephen Hauschka. After going 2-4 on Saturday in team sessions on field goals he was 10-10 the last two days.