The Seattle Seahawks kick off the regular season on Sunday with a divisional matchup at home against the San Francisco 49ers. By far, the two most popular questions we’ve had on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy ahead of this one are:

• “Will letting MVS head to the 49ers cost Seattle?”

• And “Why are the 49ers favorites?”

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So, let’s dive into both here as we get ready to watch these two teams battle it out.

The 49ers signing MVS is worth noting, but isn’t nearly as impactful as you think.

The 49ers swooped in to sign veteran receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling to their practice squad shortly after he was cut by the Seahawks. On Tuesday, they promoted him to their 53-man roster.

For Valdes-Scantling, it’s an opportunity to play right away – which he’ll have with Jauan Jennings only recently returning to practice with a calf injury – in an offense he’s already familiar with. But given that he’s signed with a divisional foe and playing against a team that just kicked him to the curb, it’s natural to wonder what kind of insight San Francisco gains with the signing.

“I mean, look, he’s a really smart player,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald told reporters this week. “He’s probably going to give them information. That stuff happens all the time. Some things you can take into account, some things you’ve just got to call it and haul it.”

This does happen often. Former Los Angeles Rams wideout Cooper Kupp coming to Seattle is the most obvious and most recent example of a team signing a player from a division rival. And the Seahawks have made these moves just as often with players coming from division rivals. They claimed former 49ers defensive back D.J. Reed off waivers in 2020 and signed former Arizona Cardinals receiver Jaron Brown in 2018. Just last week, they signed linebacker Chazz Surratt after he cut by the 49ers and added him to the 53-man roster, and claimed cornerback Derion Kendrick off waivers after he was released by the Rams.

Michael Bumpus put it more bluntly on Tuesday’s edition of Bump and Stacy.

“He’ll give some pointers on how to beat a guy,” Bumpus said. “‘Spoon (Devon Witherspoon) doesn’t like this, Coby (Bryant) doesn’t like this.’ But your language is your language, man. And if those coaches are relying on MVS to give them a nugget to win a ball game, go ahead and sign your retirement papers and get up out the league.”

The truth is there is information Valdes-Scantling can give San Francisco, and the 49ers are certainly going to use it. It’s a nice advantage in a big Week 1 matchup. But, like Macdonald said, it’s not a challenge teams are unfamiliar with.

MVS will have insight on playing opposite key defensive weapons. He’ll be familiar with new Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s playbook. But consider this, too: Kubiak is running an offense Kyle Shanahan is already plenty familiar with, for a team Shanahan prepared for twice last season. Seattle’s offseason improvements, personnel and gameday execution will be massively more impactful than anything a recently cut player will provide.

The 49ers have been dealing with the injury bug but did get good news recently.

Seattle is an underdog in Week 1, but Seahawks Draft Blog’s Rob Staton thinks they deserve a bit more respect.

“The Niners have had a lot of health issues over the past few weeks,” Staton said during his weekly interview with Bump and Stacy. “To me, they feel a bit like the Seahawks in 2017: a lot of people see them as contenders, but maybe their best years are in the past.”

The 49ers had several players dealing with injury, including receivers Jauan Jennings (calf) and Russell Gage (knee), guard Dominick Puni (knee) and edge Yetur Gross-Matos (knee). All four returned to practice this week.

Most questions about the team center around the team having traded Deebo Samuel, being without Brandon Aiyuk for the time being, and having an older set of stars. But as a word of caution: those stars are still healthy and set to play Week 1.

I’d caution against leaning too much into San Francisco’s 2024 season for a prediction, mostly because the 49ers had, by far, the most games lost due to injury. And that was at several positions outside of running back, where 2023’s Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey didn’t start a game until November. The favoring of San Francisco isn’t just based on doubt of Seattle or historical performance from the 49ers, but is also based on the fact that this team was hardly at full strength last season.

Even then, Staton thinks Seattle deserves some more respect.

“I feel like the Seahawks, having finished with the same number of wins as the Rams last year, deserve a bit more respect in this division,” Staton said. “I think they’re going to win the NFC West. So this is a good opportunity to make a bit of a statement this weekend.”

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