Seahawks stock report: Sam Howell, Laviska Shenault rising; Dee Eskridge falling

The Seattle Seahawks suffered their first loss of the Mike Macdonald era, falling 16-15 to the Tennessee Titans in the second preseason game for both teams Saturday night at Nissan Stadium.

Individual performances are more important than the result of the game, though. Macdonald and Titans head coach Brian Callahan rested many of their starters so that their backups could fight for jobs. For some of Seattle’s reserves, Saturday’s game was very positive because they boosted their stock with strong performances. For others, their lack of playmaking might have hurt their chances of making the 53-man roster. Let’s take stock of the roster now that Seattle’s second exhibition is in the books.

Stock up

QB Sam Howell: Howell completed 11 of 14 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown of 23 yards to receiver Easop Winston Jr. in the first quarter. He was sacked twice and fumbled once, though the ball was recovered by Seattle. One of Howell’s passes was dropped by tight end Brady Russell on a play that would have gained 15 yards.

Howell had four explosive passes (16 or more yards) against the Titans: The 23-yard go ball to Winston, a 17-yard completion in the flat to rookie tight end AJ Barner on third-and-2, a 33-yard strike down the seam to receiver Cody White and a short pass to receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. for 18 yards to beat a blitz. Seattle’s backup quarterback had only two passes that didn’t reach his receiver’s hands: A deep shot to receiver Jake Bobo to kick off the final drive of the first half and a crossing route that sailed way over Bobo’s head on the first series. Howell scrambled twice for 11 yards.

Howell’s completions to White and Winston were his best throws of the preseason, and his ability to find answers against Tennessee’s blitzes showed a greater level of comfort in Ryan Grubb’s offense. P.J. Walker hadn’t done much to threaten Howell’s status as Geno Smith’s backup, but Howell’s growth from one game to the next is encouraging.

OLB Derick Hall: The Seahawks want the game to slow down for Hall in his second season the way it did for Boye Mafe in 2023. Hall had a sack and four solo tackles against the Chargers last week and was again effective against the Titans. The 37th pick in the 2023 draft had three solo tackles, four quarterback pressures and a first-quarter sack in which he powered through backup tackle Jaelyn Duncan on his way to quarterback Malik Willis on third-and-12.

Hall also had two run-stuffs (tackles for no gain) on a pair of early-down snaps. Those plays are just as valuable as the sacks because outside linebackers in this scheme won’t get many opportunities to rush the passer on third down if they can’t be trusted to stop the run on early downs. That might get Hall more regular-season snaps than someone like Darrell Taylor, who had two pressures and one solo tackle in 23 defensive snaps Saturday.

RB Kenny McIntosh: For the second straight week, McIntosh was Seattle’s leading rusher. Against the Titans, he carried the ball eight times for 46 yards and also had two catches for 17 yards. He is battling for the RB3 job with undrafted rookie George Holani, who had just 3 yards on two carries against the Titans.

McIntosh once again showcased his burst and contact balance, fighting through defenders, stiff-arming tacklers and falling forward to generate explosive runs. He’s averaging 5.8 yards per carry in the preseason with a success rate of 43.8 percent. For context, the league average success rate among qualifying running backs was 36.9 percent last season.

McIntosh has areas to improve, however. He has had issues in pass protection, giving up a sack against the Chargers. Then on Saturday, he tripped left tackle Stone Forsythe while releasing into his route, leading to a strip-sack of Howell (Forsythe recovered to avoid the turnover).

WR Easop Winston Jr.: Winston produced Seattle’s only touchdown when he beat cornerback Tre Avery down the field in the first quarter. He led the team with 47 yards on three catches. Assuming Shenault will be the team’s fifth receiver, that theoretically leaves Winston, Dareke Young, Dee Eskridge and White competing for one spot. Winston (five catches, 77 yards) is Seattle’s leading receiver through two preseason games and has a 10-yard punt return. Young has four catches for 49 yards and has been involved on kickoff returns (he had a 27-yarder Saturday). White has three catches for 63 yards. Eskridge is out with an injury.

Numbers are only part of the evaluation, but it works in Winston’s favor that, as Macdonald said Saturday, “He makes plays when given the opportunity.”

Stock down

RG Anthony Bradford: Bradford practiced with the second-string offensive line Thursday while third-round rookie Christian Haynes took his spot with the starters. Haynes was flagged for a false start Saturday, so it’s not as if he played a perfect game as the starting left guard, but from Bradford’s perspective, losing your job to a rookie – if only temporarily – isn’t a good sign.

The film of Saturday’s game will allow a more thorough review of Bradford’s performance, but there were some obvious hiccups, like when he was beaten by undrafted rookie defensive tackle Isaiah Iton, who dropped Holani for no gain on a red zone run in the second quarter.

QB P.J. Walker: Walker completed 4 of 8 passes for 38 yards and was sacked on third-and-7 in the third quarter. Accuracy continues to be a problem for Walker, who doesn’t consistently give his receivers opportunities to make plays. He had back-to-back, inaccurate back-shoulder throws to Hayden Hatten and Winston in the third quarter (the latter was negated by a roughing penalty, but it still wasn’t a good ball).

Walker also made what looked like a bad read on a third-and-2 pass to White in the fourth quarter (as color commentator Mike Robinson noted, running back Kobe Lewis was open in the flat for a first down).

Walker has been in the league for eight seasons, so as far as third-string quarterbacks go, he’s more experienced than the other players Seattle would likely target for that job as the team’s regular-season practice squad arm. However, it wouldn’t surprise me if Seattle started looking around the league this week to see what those options are.

WR Dee Eskridge: Eskridge had a 22-yard run against the Chargers but didn’t have any catches. He missed the week of practice in Tennessee due to injury and was inactive Saturday. Eskridge was selected with the 56th pick in 2021 with the thought he would do everything we’re seeing from Shenault – produce special teams plays as a returner, deliver gadget plays as a runner and record chain-moving catches as a receiver. The emergence of Shenault has put Eskridge’s status in jeopardy.

RB George Holani: Holani’s first carry against the Titans was an attempt to get to the edge that was unsuccessful because of the blocking on the perimeter. His second rush was stuffed for no gain because of Bradford. Those plays aren’t necessarily Holani’s fault, but when McIntosh – his director competitor – is making plays every week, it would help Holani to do the same. His 11-yard touchdown run against the Chargers was a nice start, but since then, he’s produced just 16 yards on seven runs.Inside linebackers: After the game, Macdonald said the expectation is for Jerome Baker to be ready to play Week 1, although it’s not clear when their free-agent signee will be able to practice. Until he practices, it’s hard to feel good about Seattle’s inside linebackers. Rookie Tyrice Knight had eight tackles Saturday but got another tepid endorsement from his coach afterward.

“Very pleased with the tackles,” Macdonald said. “Time to step it to the next level communication-wise, blitz, coverage, play recognition. It’s almost like, ‘Hey man, you’re not a rookie anymore, you’ve got to grow up fast, you’ve got to be ready to go if your number is called. Let’s go, man, let’s not be settled with making tackles in the preseason.’”

Patrick O’Connell had a few nice plays, including one in coverage that forced an errant throw that safety Ty Okada picked off in the fourth quarter. But it’s unlikely Seattle would feel comfortable starting him, Jon Rhattigan (who returned to action Saturday) or Blake Lynch if something happened to one of the other linebackers on the depth chart.