draft with no holes on the roster. They then look to add to their roster and have a vicious 90-man offseason competition L.J. Collier Jersey , before finally having a..." The OffseasonThree positions of concern on the Seahawks’ rosterNew,26commentsPDTGeneral Managers talk about heading into the draft with no holes on the roster. They then look to add to their roster and have a vicious 90-man offseason competition, before finally having a terrific 53-man unit. In truth, it never works out quite like this. But some teams have positions that are visibly areas of concern in terms of depth and talent.The Seattle Seahawks, following somewhat of a rebuild year in 2018, still have some positions that warrant angst. Years of mediocre-to-bad drafting has seen roster holes enlarge. The competition for these roles should be particularly fierce as a result“This was not a draft we went into with big holes on our team, we didn’t feel like that,” said Pete Carroll post-draft. The size of the holes is open for debate, but here are 3 positions of early concern on the Seahawks’ roster.LEOThinking back to the best days of Seattle pass rush, days when Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril were considered depth, there were clear LEO type pass rushers on the team. The LEO is a defensive end who aligns in wider alignments to the 5-technique defensive end.Typically for the Seahawks, the LEO was around 250lbs and a speedier, bendier EDGE than the 5-technique. Chris Clemons and Avril are prototypes of the position/role. Right now, in 2019 Ugo Amadi Jersey , there is no obvious LEO-type on the roster. There’s been Carroll talk of the bigger, 275lb Free Agent addition of Ezekiel Ansah playing the spot. But Ansah is unlikely to even be ready for the first game of the season thanks to a shoulder injury. Plus: he lacks the ability to bend, particularly after hurting his knee in 2017. Ansah still looks like more of a 5-tech.Like when Bruce Irvin played some LEO, other SAM linebackers Cassius Marsh and Barkevious Mingo could fill in at LEO. However, this would only really happen in clear passing situations. The pair lack the traits or skillset to play LEO more regularly.Jacob Martin has more speed and get off than most of the rushers on the team. Yet he was reportedly down to 220lbs by the end of the year and his ability to hold up on early downs is questionable. He is more of a pass rush specialist who plays with nice technique and get off though lacks bend for his profile. At this point in time, the defensive line make-up appears to be emphasized on stopping the run far better than 2018. The key for the roster might be getting into third and longs where they can get into sub-packages, sending Shaquem Griffin and Martin while kicking the powerful bullrush of L.J. Collier inside to bully a guard.Z receiverDoug Baldwin’s retirement was painful for many reasons. Asides from the leadership vacuum it creates, Baldwin was the team’s best receiver. Moreover, he mainly played in a valuable position to the offense: the Z receiver. This being the receiver who lines up off the line of scrimmage or in the slot more, the immediate replacement is unclear. There were deep Yards After Catch and over-the-middle passing issues last year for Seattle’s offense. Partially that was a result of the lack of available underneath options.Baldwin lacked his consistent quick-separation skills due to suiting up hurt. The battle for that type of receiver appears to be between former Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds and 2019 7th-round-pick John Ursua. Both have flashed the crafty route-running ability to succeed in the slot. This preseason will be huge for the pair as they attempt to refine their craft and establish a chemistry with Russell Wilson. 2nd-round wideout D.K. Metcalf is exactly that, an X receiver restricted to the outside. Meanwhile, 4th-round selection Gary Jennings is nearing more of an X too. He certainly doesn’t fit the mold of a quick separator underneath and his best route is the post.Putting Tyler Lockett into the slot more often therefore feels like the obvious move. Indeed, Lockett has spoken about how he is working on his slot releases and routes. Still, when Lockett lines up outside to maximize his ability to separate late on Wilson’s best throw—the deep sideline go—someone needs to be able to step into the slot as the Z receiver.3rd down running backThis at first seems like a bizarre statement Mychal Kendricks Jersey , given Seattle spent a first-round pick on Rashaad Penny in 2018. When you consider that the 3rd-down running back role is a different proposition to early downs, demanding excellent pass protection, it starts to make more sense.The departure of Mike Davis to the Chicago Bears is lowkey huge. The Seahawks were right not to pay him what Chicago did. That said, Davis was able to get the hard yards running inside zone, defying backfield penetration to find a seam and squeeze through. Davis was also excellent at pass pro. He wasn’t a backup, rather he played the crucial 3rd down running back role in Seattle’s offense.The Seahawks will hope Penny will have gained a better idea of protection schemes given he is entering his second season in the NFL. But if Penny can do that, and stay healthy, he’s likely to form a much more balanced 1-2 punch with Chris Carson, leaving the 3rd down spot open.Travis Homer has the pass-catching ability to make him an interesting proposition. On the other hand, the 6th round pick will require a large adjustment period in pass pro, despite his aptitude. Remember when Seattle signed an ageing Fred Jackson purely for his knowledge of pass pro?J.D. McKissic is fully healthy now and has always been a scintillating target. His pass pro ability is largely unknown too. Whoever ends up grabbing the 3rd down running back role, they better be good. Bad performances at the spot could totally derail Seattle’s hurry-up attack and dramatically hamper the overall offense. RENTON, Wash. (AP) — The players the Seattle Seahawks lost off their defense over the past year became synonymous with being considered among the best at their position and creating an elite unit that was tough to have success against.And yet, the current batch of Seahawks sit near the midseason point with a defense that statistically is back among the elite of the NFL.“I’m not surprised at all. We knew coming into the season we had a great group of guys and we knew the outside was sleeping on the leadership we had in the building and the people that we had in the building. … We knew that people didn’t see that. They wouldn’t see that Steve Largent Color Rush Jersey ,” Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner said.“If you listened to us talk, we were very confident in what we were going to get accomplished and what we were going to be doing. What we are seeing is good, but I think there is a level where we can get better.”Heading into Week 9, the Seahawks have the No. 5 total defense (327.3 yards per game), No. 4 in pass defense (219.0) and No. 4 in points allowed per game (18.7). Those numbers include six games playing without starting linebacker K.J. Wright because of knee surgery and three games without Earl Thomas after he suffered a broken leg in the Week 4 win over Arizona.Wagner was around before the overhaul started. So was defensive end Frank Clark and defensive tackle Jarran Reed. But the rest of Seattle’s defense has been largely re-tooled over the past two seasons. And instead of Seattle taking a major step back, it has returned to being among the NFL’s best in less than half a season.“The first few games, even up until now, we were still trying to learn how to play with one another, learn how to have fun with one another,” Wagner said. “Now, you’re seeing the product of that last game and I think it’s still room to get better.”Seattle is coming off one of its better defensive performance of the season when it limited Detroit to 34 yards rushing in a 28-14 win over the Lions last week. Matthew Stafford still had a big day throwing the ball, but the Seahawks ability to make Detroit one-dimensional on offense was critical considering the Lions ability to run the ball in recent weeks.It was the fourth time Seattle held an opponent under 100 yards rushing and the Seahawks forced three turnovers bringing their season total to 16.The Seahawks were hopeful this kind of defense would develop but knew it could take some time with new players such as Tre Flowers, Shamar Stephen and Barkevious Mingo joining the lineup, and Tedric Thompson Patrick Kerney Color Rush Jersey , Bradley McDougald and Shaquill Griffin stepping into more prominent roles.“There is so much football that they don’t know you can’t be upset by what they’re doing. Because they’re working really hard, they’ve had success, they’ve had failure,” Seattle defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. said. “They’ve learned from their successes and failures so it’s really fun to watch the development of the young players.”The competition Seattle has faced should be noted and will get significantly tougher in the coming weeks, beginning with Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers. Three of Seattle’s wins have come against teams ranked in the bottom half of the league in total offense.That changes this weekend. Led by Philip Rivers, the Chargers have the sixth-best offense in the NFL averaging 402.7 yards per game, and nearly 28 points. That’s followed by a matchup with the Los Angeles Rams and their second-ranked total offense; then back home to face Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers on a short week after that; and finally a trip to face Cam Newton and Carolina to close out November.If there’s a concern that Seattle’s defense has yet to be truly tested, the examination will happen over the next four games.“We all treating them the same and that’s the best quarterback we’ve played against,” Griffin said. “That’s the type of mentality we have to bring to that, no matter what quarterback we’re facing. We’re going to bring the same mentality and play our best ball. You name some great guys and I’m looking forward to playing against all of them.”NOTES: Coach Pete Carroll said the release of veteran WR Brandon Marshall on Tuesday was mostly because of roster construction and the fact Seattle is passing the ball less. Marshall had only two snaps in the win over Detroit and Carroll said the roster spot was needed for additional special teams help. The Seahawks promoted WR Malik Turner from the practice squad on Wednesday to take Marshall’s spot. … Carroll said the team was hoping for a shorter suspension for LB Mychal Kendricks, who was suspended eight games, but looked forward to getting him back late in the season.