Seahawks’ Secondary Looking to RELOAD For Monday Night Battle vs. Texans

Seahawks’ Secondary Looking to RELOAD For Monday Night Battle vs. Texans

The Seahawks have managed to jump out to a 4-2 start despite having the vast majority of its secondary missed multiple games. That should be coming to a close though as they gear up for the Texans. We’ll be looking at some healthy returns for Mike McDonald’s defense coming up next here on our Thursday edition of Locked On Seahawks. You are Locked On Seahawks, your daily Seattle Seahawks podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Greetings 12. This is Corbin Smith, host of the Locked On Seahawks podcast, your daily Seahawks podcast, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. Glad to be joined as always by my co-host in crime, Rob Rang. And a special thanks to each and every one of the twelves out there. Thank you as always for making Locked on Seahawks your first listen five days a week. We greatly appreciate it. Whether you’re tuning in from nearby Belleview, Washington, or you’re across the country in Portland, Maine, a special thanks to all the Everydayers out there. We appreciate your support of the podcast. The Seahawks now four days away from battling the Houston Texans Monday Night Football at Lumen Field. And changing things up with it being a Monday night game, we’ve got matchup Thursday. I believe this is the first time we’ve done that in the history of our show. We’ve done Friday, we’ve done Tuesday, we’ve done Wednesday. Heck, we did a Monday one when the Seahawks played the Rams on a Tuesday because of COVID. I think this is the first time we’ve ever done a matchup Thursday. So, we’ll be diving into all the key matchups. Houston versus Seattle. And that’s going to be coming your way courtesy of our friends at Prize Picks. Download the Price Picks app today and use the code locked in NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Now for your lead story here on our Thursday edition of Locked on Seahawks. It’s been quite some time since the Seahawks had their secondary at full health. The Arizona Cardinals game. Devin Witherspoon and Julian Love played, but they were less than 100% and they both ended up reagravating the injuries they went into that game with. Devin Witherspoon’s played two games the entire season. Rob Julian Love has just played in three of the games so far. Reek Woolen had a concussion. missed last week, missed part of the loss to Tampa Bay with that injury the week before. It has just been one player after another. Even worry missed a bunch of games as well. We may finally get to see for the first time since the first quarter of the season opener against the 49ers. A fully healthy secondary. Mike McDonald confirming today that Julian Love, Devin Witherspoon, and Reek Woolen all expected to practice today. That is huge news for the Seahawks going up against a Texans team as we’ll be talking about an extending on more later. Has got plenty of weapons in the passing game. You want to be at full strength and really get this defense humming. And again, we haven’t gotten to see Eman Worry with Witherspoon, Love, and Woolen. All four of those guys together really aside from half of a quarter against the 49ers. So fans have been itching to see that. Mike McDonald has been itching to get the opportunity to get those guys on the field together and now hopefully we will get that chance to see that come to fruition here Monday Night Football against the Houston Texans. Yeah, it’s one of the biggest reasons why we decided to kind of switch gears here and have the our matchup Wednesday or matchup Thursday, I guess, is just because of the breaking news that uh Mike McDonald did announce that um that Julian Love, Deon Witherspoon, and Tariq Woolen were all going to be practicing on Thursday. Um, and for those of you who watched the game closely and saw the defensive lineman Jiren Reed, uh, you know, kind of had to be helped off the field a little bit, uh, in the closing moments against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He also, uh, practiced on Thursday as well. So, just a full return to health for the defense that that is really needed. um you know a shot in the arm frankly in the secondary given how many yards that they have been allowing even when the defensive line has been absolutely dominant at times this season it still felt like the quarterbacks had any time at all they were able to pick apart Seattle secondary and of course now you’re going to be going up against a quarterback and CJ Shroud a young pro bowl caliber player Nico Collins a dynamic wide receiver as well a whole bunch of I former Iowa State standouts uh for the Houston Texans they have some talented playmakers on offense. So, this is that much needed uh reinforcement in the secondary that the Seahawks uh had Seahawk fans, Seak coaches in the in the national media and on the Monday night football uh kind of spotlight. Um that uh it is this exciting opportunity for Seattle to truly flex for the rest of the NFL. And I’m curious going into this game, if you have everyone available, if all hands are on deck, it does create I I think you can call it a good problem, but I’m wondering how Mike McDonald and Adam Durde are going to handle the lineup and rotations with sub packages because we’ve seen the struggles that Reek Woolen has had and the fact that he has been benched already earlier this season. Josh’s made some mistakes this year, but he’s overall been pretty good. He deserves to stay in the lineup. Darion Kendrick has played really well when he has had his opportunities except for the Buccaneers game. And look, everybody in that secondary played poorly that game. It just was one of those days. But he’s been good in three other games that he has played in. And he’s got four pass breakups. He’s got a couple interceptions. He’s been active against the run game. You expect some of those guys are going to get some reps even with everybody else returning just because I don’t know that Deon Witherspoon or Julian Love is going to be played 100% of the reps. We’ll see. the Seahawks may have held him out so they could bring him back when they were 100% so they could play every snap. But I’m curious to see how that plays out because do you keep Devin Witherspoon more on the outside and have Josh Job across from and and Woolen’s more of a situational player or is Woolen the starter again and Kendrick is the one that isn’t playing snaps? How do you handle your three safety looks? Is Eman War going to play some in the slot as he has the last couple games? I mean, it’s a good problem to have, but I am fascinated to see what it means when all hands are on deck and you have all these guys available. You only can put 11 players on the field. And I do wonder if that means we could see some of that Bandit package with seven defensive backs on a field in this game that we haven’t seen and see them flex that depth and talent muscle-wise the way they haven’t been able to up to this point. Yeah, you took the words right out of my mouth there with that Bandit reference. I do think that there’s a good possibility that Seattle is going to be using seven defensive backs when uh when Houston operates out of a three receiver set as they often do. Uh I think that there is a chance that uh your starting corners are going to wind up being Reek W on one side, Josh on the other side, Devin Witherspoon inside that nickel spot that you’re essentially going to have the three safeties um of of Julian Love, Kobe Bryant, and then Nick Eman as well. and then uh that’s then then you’re going to be allowed the flexibility that if you want to bring in a Darion Kendrick um or or one of the other quarterbacks, I think that there is a possibility that you might see that. Shaq Griffin played, I thought, fairly well except for the one mistake that resulted in a very easy Brian Thomas touchdown against the Jaguars a week ago. So, I do think that that that as you said, this is a really good problem to have. I think it allows Seattle to kind of mix and match and and do whatever they want to do. Uh I I’m excited to kind of get into our our matchup Wednesdays because I think that there are a couple of receivers that because of their height and their straight line speed, their their physicality, I think that present intriguing options for the Seahawks because they do have some corners like a Rick Woolen who have that size, have that straight line speed, but I’m also very curious to see how they use Deon Witherspoon. We know that he plays bigger and faster and stronger than he actually timed and measured. So, how does Seattle match him up? Nico Collins is clearly Houston’s top pass catcher. Uh, not only from a statistical standpoint, but just because of of what he can bring to the table. Um, I also think it’s going to be fascinating to see if Seattle does try to just match up Deon Witherspoon on him. um and and just basically have everybody else play everybody else so to speak or if they stuck with what they’ve done in the past and basically have Witherspoon at the slot position and where he can attack as a pass rusher as well as in coverage and I do think that you could see an a domino effect on the linebacking group too because Nicki Mori has shown he can play as that second linebacker at his size. So when they are in nickel and dime sets, you know, Drake Thomas played well last week, but this might be a case, well Drake, we need to even worry on the field. So he’s the one playing here. I don’t know that they’re going to do that, but we’ll see. And there’s a lot of flexibility, and that’s what we were so excited about with this defense going into the season. We just haven’t gotten to see it, at least in the secondary. Up front, more so we have, but we may finally get a chance on Monday night to see how that looks. you’re hoping that’s positive, but sometimes when you’re still trying to get all those pieces back together, you actually can be prone to more mistakes because guys haven’t played snaps together. So, those are going to be some of the storylines going into this game that bear watching. But, it is a good thing that these guys are hopefully going to be back and they will be back on the practice field today. You get Devin Witherspoon, Julian Love, and Reek Woolen back for Monday night. All hands on deck. This is a good Texans team. Don’t let the record fool you. They’ve got plenty of weapons as we will be diving into coming up next year. Starting with Seahawks offense against the Texans defense matchup Thursday coming your way up next. Lock on Seahawks. If you’re still overpaying for wireless, it’s time to say yes to saying no. At Mint Mobile, their favorite word is no. 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When you pay rent through Built, you earn flexible points that can be redeemed towards hundreds of hotels and airlines, future rent payments, your next lift ride, or other things. But Built isn’t just about rent. It’s about rewarding you and your entire neighborhood. With Built, your rent finally works for you. You’re earning points every month on something you already have to pay. Whether I’m grabbing food at my favorite local restaurant or heading to the gym, I’m still earning rewards. And Built has made everyday life more rewarding. From your neighborhood to your travel plans, turn your rent into rewards and start earning points around your neighborhood going to join.com/lockton NFL. That’s j o i n b i l t.com/lockton NFL to make sure you use that link so they know we sent you. Welcome back to Matchup Thursday here on the Locked On Seahawks podcast. I’m your host Corbin Smith. Glad to be joined as always by my trusty co-host in crime Rob Rang. And a special thanks to all the twelves who are listening in. Thank you as always for making Locked on Seahawks your first listen five days a week. We greatly appreciate it. If you look at the raw stats, we’re talking two of the top six scoring defenses in the NFL getting ready to clash on Monday Night Football. And at number one, giving up just a hair over 12 points per game, the Houston Texans. They have had a fantastic year defensively. And again, as I mentioned, they’re two and three. I know they lost their first three games, but Rob, you look at the teams that they played against during that time. Jacksonville’s obviously much improved. Tampa Bay, Seattle’s already gotten to experience that. So, that’s two of the three losses right out of the gate for the Houston Texans. And they’ve they’ve had a tough schedule the last couple games. They’ve been able to bounce back. The Baltimore Ravens were very short-handed. No, Lamar Jackson, they took him behind the woodshed. And a big reason why they’ve been able to do that is this defense. And everything starts with the edge rushers for this Houston Texans team. And to me, this is the biggest matchup in the entire game. Sometimes we wait to talk about the biggest matchup late in the segment. We’re just going to get right to it because Will Anderson coming out of Alabama a few years ago. All the talk was about his pass rushing ability, but Will Anderson is an outstanding run defender, too. He’s very physical point of attack. sets a firm edge, clean tackler, he’s just an outstanding all-around football player. Denil Hunter, when he’s been healthy, has been an elite pass rusher for a decade and he can get after in the run game. Both these guys are allound edge setters. They are not just flashy downfield pass rushers. And that is going to present a little bit of an issue for Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas in the sense that a lot of the games this point, they’ve seen somebody elite. They haven’t had somebody of similar skill on the opposite side. This game it is pick your poison with both these guys. And they’re going to have to win some one-on- ones because you’re not going to be chipping on both sides. Max protect maybe, but they’re going to have to win some one-on- ones to protect Sam Darnold against two really good rushers in this game. Yeah, not only rushers, as you said, but good quality run defenders as well. Uh, I mean there one of the reasons why I I chose to highlight Charles Cross in the Tell the Truth Tuesday segment we did a couple of days ago is, you know, I knew that the Seattle was going to be play facing uh Will Anderson in the upcoming football game. And Will Anderson at 6’3 or excuse me, 6’4, 245 pounds, has a completely different body type than the defensive lineman Eric Armstead that Charles Cross lined up against a week ago against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Armstead of course is 6’6, 300 pound, so taller, 50 pounds heavier. But at the same time, when you watch Will Anderson on tape, to your point, Corbin, he he does set a very firm edge. He’s just very strong. He uses his hips as well as any of the so-called undersized edge rushers out there in that he is just able to lock in, hold up the point of attack, force running backs to run all the way outside. And then again when as a pass rusher he definitely has some burst and some bend to him but he also has legitimate power to him as well. So he is going to be a formidable matchup whether it be for Charles Cross a player who has some finesse in his game or Abe Lucas who of course can also be a very physical player himself and so that’s going to be a fascia matchup. Denil Hunter is a very different guy. 6 foot5. He’s 255 pounds. He’s longer. He’s leaner. He’s got some bursts, got some bend, but he’s not quite as strong at the point of attack. Although he looks as cut up as any guy you’re ever going to see. Actually kind of a a physical frame a little bit. Longtime Seahawk fans might remember a guy Julian Peterson. Similar kind of a frame with Denil Hunter. But I agree with you 100%, buddy. I think that this is a a matchup problem for the Seahawks. Now, fortunately, because you’re going to be at Lumen Field, hopefully Seattle is able to pass protect effectively. But we all know that if you get pressure on Sam Darnold or any quarterback, then you can slow down an offense. And with his inconsistency as head coach of the Houston Texans, uh I think that that’s exactly what he’s looking for in this particular football game to try to pull off the upset. And I think one of the ways that you can somewhat mitigate those edge rushers is with the quick passing game that the Seahawks have been pretty darn good with this year. But I think involving the running backs more this week is going to be critical. You could maybe make the argument, well, you’re going to need your running backs in to help with blitz pickup more. Yeah, you could do that or you can get those guys out in space and burn teams. And you know, the Texans are not a team that live and die by blitzing. they’re able to get pressure with their front four, particularly those edge guys. At the same time though, you want to slow down those edge guys and frustrate them. Have them get up field and realize the ball’s already out. And you’ve got the running back and Ken Walker or Zack Charbanet catching the football like a wide out of the back field. And you look at the coverage numbers historically, Aziz Alsha, the linebacker for the Texans, is actually having a pretty good year this year, but he’s historically given up 75 plus percent. catch rates almost every season in his career. He has not been a great cover linebacker, whether it was with San Francisco, Tennessee, now in Houston. For being an athletic linebacker that’s on the smaller end, he’s had his share of issues. And Henry Toto, who previously played at Alabama, he’s a guy that has some athletic limitations, and I think you can get those guys in space against your running backs and maybe even your tight ends as well coming out of the back field. I I could see AJ Barner getting some fullback work in this game like they did last week, getting him out there matched up against those linebackers. You can get those quick throws. I think there’s some after the catch capability there and then that can open up your run game against those guys as well. It could. This is a Houston Texans linebacking core that I actually think is one of the more underrated in all the NFL. Uh I I mentioned again that the defensive minded head coach Demo Ryan. Seahawk fans might remember Demo Ryan and and all of his success as the linebacker coach, defensive coordinator at the San Francisco 49ers. He took Alsha who previously he had worked with in San Francisco as you mentioned. He played it for a season in Tennessee. Um but Alsha is very um familiar with Diko Ryan’s expectations and uh and his system. And then the same thing, uh, Deno Ryan, of course, was a a Buckus award winner. Um, you know, and one of the great linebackers in Alabama’s history. And to also was an underrated linebacker at Alabama and found him as a, you know, kind of as a steel in my opinion. It’s a day three selection. I think that these are two really good football players that Seattle is going to have to try and match up their running backs just to occupy them. These are two heat sinky missile type of linebackers here. When we talked before about linebackers that perhaps the Seahawks might be looking to trade for, I was kind of hoping that the Houston Texans would struggle and maybe be looking to be sellers. Um, and Seattle might be able to take advantage of these linebackers. So, I do think that this is kind of a sneaky matchup here that could ultimately determine who wins this football game. And I’ll mention this just because look, I already have got an I’ve got an article I posted yesterday on emeraldspectrum.com. 12 trade targets for each of the 12 teams with losing records. And I had Al Shaier from the Texans as the player. Look, if Houston’s out of the race before the deadline, I think it would make a ton of sense to try to trade for him to pair him up with Ernest Jones. So, I think these are good linebackers. I’m just saying from a game planning perspective and and just Seattle’s strengths, I do think getting those running backs out and spacing the tight ends even against these linebackers, you can put some strain on them and as you said, occupy it, which can help with the run game. It can help open up things for your other receivers in matchups. So, speaking of those other receivers though, this is another one of those get your popcorn ready type matchups because Derek Stingley had some injuries early in his career, but now we are seeing the last few years he got paid. He earned that money. He has become one of the NFL’s best shutdown corners. You get to see him going up against Jackson Smith and Jigba, who leads the NFL in receiving yards, is very much a top five receiver right now in the NFL. Just seeing those two go against each other. I expect that Houston’s going to do some shadowing. Maybe not the entire game, but I expect we’re going to see Stingley move some with him because of how dominant Jack Smith and Jigba’s been. And then in the slot, Jaylen Petri, formerly of Baylor, a guy that can play safety, he can play that nickel position. I gosh, the guy is a playmaker. He gets his hands on the football and comes up and hits people. He can be overaggressive at times. I’m wondering how Cooper Cup matches against him because a patient, savvy receiver against a really aggressive defender like that, it can lead to some penalties. It could also lead to some undercutting throws and getting some interceptions potentially like Jaylen Ramsay did in week two. So, that is going to be another matchup that I’m going to be focusing very close on. Cup has some things working for him. He’s he’s a little bigger receiver. He’s got that savviness to him. Maybe you can take advantage of the overaggressiveness, but Petra, he wins a lot of times with that aggressive play style. He’s he’s one of the most fun players in the league that doesn’t get a lot of attention. Well, and should be getting more attention. I mean, he he leads this squad with three interceptions and he’s a ball. He was a, you know, a proven playmaker at Baylor as well. Um, this is a good football player. He actually kind of reminds me in how in his versatility, the way the Seattle is starting to utilize Nicki Murray, of course, except Petri’s been in the league now for a couple of seasons, has already uh had this effectiveness. So, I do think that this is going to be a really fun matchup. Uh, you know, I I I’m fascinated to see how that Houston employs Derrick Stingley if they do match him up one-on-one with JSN all game long in a try an attempt to try to silence JSN. Uh, you know, because I think that that would make some schematic sense. Um, Camar Lacader, the the corner on the other side is a good player as well, second round pick out of Georgia a year ago. Um, who’s got some size, got some speed. So, it’s again, it’s a very interesting matchup from a lot of different perspectives. I do think that if if that uh Houston is able to slow down Jackson Smith and Jigba, and let’s be clear, nobody has been able to do that, then Derek Stingley is the type of corner who might be able to do it. I in my opinion, he is the best pure cover corner that Seattle has faced so far this season. Now, he did get victimized against the LA Rams. Matthew Stafford and Damvonte Adams took the game right at him. Um, and he was vulnerable to some of the double moves, some of the back shoulder fades and quick slants and things like that. But anytime that there was a stop route or a comeback route, this kid closes downhill on the football like he’s got turbo boosters in his feet. I mean, he really can close downhill. And so, you mentioned Jaylen Petri before. Um, as far as being like a guy like a Jaylen Ramsay, being able to undercut a throw and maybe get an interception, take it back to the house or something of that nature. To me, that is this game right here is that Jaylen Petri and then certainly the linebacker or that the cornerback um Derek Stingley have that ability to take an interception and bring a big play back and give some points to the Houston Texans offense that frankly has needed some help. When we come back, we’re going to talk that Texans offense going up against the Seahawks defense Monday Night Football as we continue this special edition matchup Thursday of Luckon Seahawks. Mazda crafts cars for those who choose to do more than simply move. They follow what makes them move every time they drive. And that’s what makes Mazda stand out. They go beyond safety, style, and performance to deliver a driving experience that feels alive in every detail. Just like an athlete focuses on all those details, Mazda does the same. From metallic accents to handstitched Napa leather, you can feel it the moment you get behind the wheel to smooth handling, intuitive controls, and standard all-wheel drive. And every crossover SUV, whether it’s a quick drive over to get a Mountain Dew coat red or a weekend road trip, Mazda makes it even everyday drives feel special. It’s the small details that make the big plays. And just like there’s more to every player, there’s more to a Mazda vehicle. Mazda, move and be moved. Welcome back to Matchup Thursday here on Locked On Seahawks. I’m Corbin Smith. He’s Rob Rang. A special thanks to all the twelves who are tuning in and thank you as always for making ranking locked on Seahawks your first listen five days a week. We greatly appreciate it. And for your second listen, don’t forget to check out a double dose of Locked on NFL podcast. Tyler the madman Roland gives you a shot of espresso to start your football day while Tony Wiggins takes you into the barberh shop for the smoothest breakdowns to the end of the day. Find locked NFL on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast. All right, Rob, we’ve talked Seahawks on offense going up against a very good Texans defense, number one scoring defense in the NFL through their first five games. Now we get to shift the focus. Seattle got back to its defensive mojo in Jacksonville, only giving up 12 points. They climb up to sixth in scoring defense after that horrific game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And then we talked about early in the show, this is a team that is looking to be a lot healthier going into this game than what they have been. Let’s talk matchups here from Seattle’s offensive perspective. What is the one that jumps out to you or Seattle’s defensive perspective? Excuse me. What is the one that jumps out to you first looking at this Houston offense? Definitely Seattle’s defensive line. Can they continue to be the dominant force that they were against the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road? You’re coming back home now. And this is a Houston Texans offensive line that look that the tackles are okay. I I I’m intrigued to see how the the rookie left tackle Ariana Ursery in particular does in this football game with the crowd noise, but especially the interior, the way that Byron Murphy the second is just kind of exploded. Um, of course, this is a Houston Texans team and there’s awful lot of Houston Texans fans that saw that saw Byron Murphy with the Texas Longhorns. I’m excited to see what he is able to do. Certainly Leonard Williams to me is just a worth the price of admission game in and game out every single time. So certainly excited to see what Bigcat is able to do. And I look at the guards for Houston Texans. Juice Scrugs has kind of taken over for Lincoln Tomlinson these last couple of games. Former Seahawk Lincoln Tomlinson at that left guard position. Ed Ingram at the right guard position. They’re they’re they’re solid players, but they’re not superstars. And like we talked about before with Sam Darnell, if you get some pressure in his face, his accuracy can plummet. That certainly can be the case with CJ Strad. So for me, my eyes are always on the line of scrimmage, but especially in this game because I do think that Seattle has a significant advantage up front. Yeah, I look at the style of players here. I mean, Ed Ingram, Minnesota let go of him because his pass protection was horrendous the last couple years. He had a lot of problems with holds. He’s had issues with athletic interior players like I think Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy in particular can have a field day against him. And now look at the center position. They’ve gotten more continuity and stability up front since they put Jake Andrews, formerly of Troy, a guy that I liked a lot coming out of the Sunbell. He’s kind of a smaller center though. His game is finessebased and technique-based. If he’s going up against Brandon Peely and Jiren Reed and Byron Murphy playing over the top there with his power, this could be a game where his weaknesses can be exploited more than what it has the last couple of games. Baltimore’s interior has not been there. This is an opportunity to get after him. I I think if you can cave this line in inside out, CJ Stout is going to have a really hard time. So, I’m looking at it as a matchup that can absolutely swing in Seattle’s favor. One other matchup on this side of the ball that actually, you know, I looked back at our matchup Wednesdays earlier this year. We have only had one game, the Arizona Cardinals game and the opener against San Francisco. There’s been two games where we have highlighted a tight tight end specifically in matchups. Dalton Schulz is having a fantastic year for the Houston Texans. He’s kind of become that number two target to go with Nico Collins and Christian Kirk now being healthy probably cuts into that some. But really Daltton Schulz has been fantastic for them this year and he has given them a playmaking tight end, a chain mover that can occasionally stretch the field and he can create some matchup problems. And so I’m looking at the linebackers. You can talk safeties here as well, but I think that you’re going to get a lot of Schultz against Ernest Jones and either Ty Tyrese Knight or Dre Thomas in this game. This is a contest where CJ Strad could be looking for his tight end early and often because he can get the ball out quickly with that pass rush. Can Seattle’s linebackers and we can throw Nick Warary in this discussion as well playing in the box. Can those guys handle Daltton Schulz and limit him because he has been one of the most dangerous third down catching tight ends in the NFL this year? You have to find a way to mitigate his damage there. That is going to fall on the linebackers and your box safeties to be able to get that job done while also helping out helping out, excuse me, against the run. Yeah, no question about it. I I love the fact that you mentioned Nikki Manori. Uh, I do think that he is somebody that just based on the way that he was utilized against Jacksonville a week ago, um, and how he a basically just kind of ragalled some of Jacksonville’s tight ends, um, he played in the slot receiver, the slot corner spot against receivers u much at the time, but when he was asked to cover tight ends, then he did very well in that regard. Uh, I also think that certainly Seattle’s traditional linebackers also can play a key role in this. Uh, and the fact that that Daltton Schultz is, as you said, having a fantastic season. I mean, he has been their ultimate chain mover. Look, Nico Collins is again, in my opinion, easily Houston’s top pass catcher, but he only has one more catch than Dalton Schultz so far this season. those two respectively. They got 22 catches for Nico Collins, 21 catches for Dalton Schultz, and the closest after that is essentially a half with with 12 catches for uh Xavier Hutchinson, the the wide receiver. So again, this has been an offense, the passing game at least, that has basically been the the primary wide receiver that everybody knows about, Nico Collins, and and then the tight end. And so I do think that is critical knowing the way that Seattle has traditionally struggled against tight ends including the last game at Lumen Field where uh you know they had all kinds of problems against the tight end position including against former Husky Kate Uton who kind of took over that game at times. I think it’s critical that you slow down Houston’s tight end uh and make that team a little bit more one-dimensional going into the secondary. Let’s assume, and I’m saying this because look, Thursday practicing would be a very good sign to me for Deon Witherspoon, Julian Love, and Reek Wool. But looking at the corners against the Texans receivers, as you mentioned, Nico Collins, Nico Collins is one of those guys that can take over a game that I don’t think gets talked about a lot because of who he plays for, but he is one of those kind of receivers that’s got size, speed, the ability to win over the middle, create after the catch, win downfield. He’s got a very versatile skill set as a bigger-bodied receiver. Reek Woolen being back for this game for all the criticism that he has had to take this year and some of it being very warranted. There are not a lot of corners that match up well physically with Nico Collins. Reek Woolen is one of them that absolutely does with his 6-4 build, his speed. That seems like an ideal situation to have those two go against each other. Devin Witherspoon matched up against Christian Kirk. That’s not going to be a new matchup necessarily for Witherspoon. He played against him his rookie year. So, I mean, these guys have played against each other and they have kind of similar athleticism. So, that is another matchup. It feels like there’s a lot of carbon copies offense versus defense in this game that that really makes it a fun chess match because even Josh, I mean, Xavier Hutchinson was not a guy that was known coming in as, you know, a superb athlete. He was more of a route runner that could, you know, a savvy guy that can get open. Josh Job wasn’t known for his athletic twitch, but he’s technically sound like those guys have a lot of similarities in how they play the game, respectively. So, I think you could have a lot of carbon copy matchups here. And it’s really, hey, can we get Nico Collins against Josh Job or can we get Christian Kirk going against Reek Woolen? Like, can we can we get some mismatches? And for Seattle, you’re looking are there going to be some matchups that we could take advantage of when these get mixed up because Seattle doesn’t typically travel corners. So, I just I think this is a really fun matchup just because there are those similarities and it’s going to boil down to like who can get the looks of different players matched up against different types of defenders who’s going to be able to do that in this game. And if Seattle can win that battle, then it could really help him hold this passing game down. Yeah, no question. I I do think that it’s going to be fascinating because you’re talking about two very accurate uh successful quarterbacks um for Seattle of course and for Houston and uh offenses that are basically geared around one primary pass catcher. And so if either team is able to get their their superstar wide receiver going um then then that could open up the offense for them. if they are unable to, then it’s going to be critical uh to be able to run the football or perhaps get a tight end or some other kind of secondary receiver going. So, again, it’s I I think it’s like that old Spider-Man meme basically where they’re kind of pointing at each other. Um, you know, because I think that there are just so many uh similarities between how the Houston Texans with their general manager Nick Cacerio and their defensive-minded head coach uh and Demo Ryan, how they match up against John Schneider and uh and Mike McDonald’s squad because again, there are a lot of similarities. These are two def teams that are built around their defense and line of control, the line of scrimmage with precise play action passing. It’s going to be fascinating to see which one winds up taking this game in Seattle on Monday Night Football. As always, you can follow me on Next to Blue Sky at Corbett Smith NFL. You can follow Rob Rang. Make sure to subscribe to Locked on Seahawks on YouTube and wherever you listen to your podcast to make sure you don’t miss a single episode. Coming up tomorrow, I’ll be teaming up with my buddy Nick Lee. The two of us will be dishing out game plans for a Seahawks victory against the Texans. get our picks to click, game predictions, and much more that’ll be coming your way. Make sure to listen in and enjoy the rest of your Thursday. Go Hawks.

For the first time since their season opener, the Seahawks hope to have their full secondary on hand for a big Monday Night Football clash with the Texans. Hosts Corbin Smith and Rob Rang share their thoughts on the expected returns of Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen, and Julian Love after each player missed a Week 6 win over the Jaguars and why their returns will be invaluable against a talented Houston squad, break down potential advantages the Seahawks could have on offense against the top-ranked scoring defense in the NFL and where trouble could await, and dish out evaluations of key matchups for Seattle’s defense against C.J. Stroud, Nico Collins, and company in prime time.

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Beat reporter Corbin Smith and NFL Draft guru Rob Rang provide comprehensive analysis and commentary on the Seattle Seahawks with the daily Locked On Seahawks podcast. A former player, high school coach, and standup comedian, Smith shares his wealth of football knowledge and insight on the pulse of the team with a splash of humor, while Rang has thrived as an NFL draft analyst for nearly two decades and has had his work featured on FOX, CBS, and many other outlets.

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