After two weeks of seeing Seattle Seahawks rookies step into bigger roles, Week 3 was a very different story. Jadarian Price remained the rookie with the biggest opportunity, but a costly fumble limited him to just 19 snaps, while Beau Stephens continued to rotate at right guard and played another 27 snaps. Julian Neal did not play a defensive snap, while Bud Clark remains on injured reserve and Avery Smith is inactive.
Which makes this week’s rookie review a little shorter than the last one. There’s still plenty to discuss with Price and Stephens, especially with Price’s scrapping leading to a significant reduction in his workload and Stephens continuing to get valuable NFL reps. As for the rest of the class, there isn’t enough action to draw major conclusions.
Jadarian Price, Running Back — 19 snaps
There’s really no way around starting with a fumble.
Price had just three more carries before dropping the ball to the ground with 11:06 left in the first quarter. The rookie already grabbed an 11-yard run on Seattle’s opening drive, one of the few truly great snaps from the offensive line in the running game. Price also deserves credit here for his read, cutting inside and getting a first down in the process.
He then lost four yards on his second carry, but his third attempt ended with Amik Robertson fumbling the ball and Washington recovered at the Seahawks’ 21-yard line.
This is another example of poor ball-security technique. You’re in the NFL now; you have to protect the football better, especially when contact is coming. Price already lost against Arizona, so having it happen again two weeks in a row makes it harder to dismiss it as an isolated mistake.
The response from Seattle was pretty clear.
Price didn’t get another carry until the second half. More specifically, his next rushing attempt came with 12:48 left in the third quarter — meaning nearly 28 minutes of game clock passed between the fumble and his next carry. Mike Macdonald confirmed after the game that the Seahawks made a deliberate decision to “take it easy” and bring Price back after halftime.
That’s a fairly large amount of time spent on the sideline for a player who entered the game as Seattle’s starting running back. Especially when you’re sitting there watching Emanuel Wilson average less than two yards per carry.
There is too much potential in Jadarian Price to spend long periods of time on the bench. A first-round pick needs to play, but before anything else, he needs to stop pretending.
Price also needs to improve in pass protection if he is to be considered a true three-down option. This match against Sonny Styles is almost unfair to Price as Styles is making great plays, and again, nothing short of effort from the rookie. The method is not yet where it needs to be.
Price runs a nice route here and shows off his speed, while Sam Darnold puts the ball in a good spot. The problem is that Price shows his hands too early, giving Styles a chance to get his hand and make a unique football play.
There are still plenty of reasons to like what Price can be. His explosiveness and ability to do something when he goes down is evident, and Seattle clearly wants him to be a part of the offense. But for now, ball security has to come first.
Bud Clark, Safety — 0 snaps, Injured Reserve
Seattle entered the game already dealing with major issues at safety, with Julian Love and Ty Okada unavailable. The Seahawks ultimately had AJ Finley and Rodney Thomas II play every defensive snap, while Nick Emmanwori also returned to a bigger role.
A healthy Clark would be welcome in this situation.
Julian Neal, Cornerback — 0 defensive snaps
Neal didn’t play a defensive snap against Washington, so there won’t be any defensive tape to review from this game.
He got an opportunity on special teams, however, and didn’t exactly make the most of it. Neal consistently lost his special teams reps, including this play.
Here, Neal gets lost at the line of scrimmage and never recovers. This forces Rashid Shaheed to call for a fair catch, but the bigger issue is how easy Neal is to beat. That’s not the kind of performance that will help him get more opportunities, especially with the Seahawks already having a tight group of defensive backs competing for limited snaps.
Beau Stephens, Guard — 27 snaps
Stephens again split right guard snaps with Christian Haynes, playing 27 of Seattle’s 67 offensive snaps. That gave him the exact same number of snaps he played against Arizona, and the Seahawks continued to use the rookie as part of the rotation in which Bradford was unavailable.
The important thing here is that Stephens is getting legitimate NFL reps.
It’s a pretty ugly snap from Stephens. He falls to the ground and, in the process, exposes the limits of his arm’s length. Once the defender gets into his frame, Stephens struggles to recover.
Here, Stephens fails to make contact and gets beaten with a swipe-and-rip move. He was bailed out by Jalen Sundell, who could clean up the play before the pressure became a problem.
The next rep is more encouraging. Stephens tries an advanced snatch-and-trap technique and almost catches it. Unfortunately, he gives his chest a little and allows the defender to push him back. It’s an interesting rep because you can see what Stephens is trying to do. The technique is there; the execution is not yet consistent.
This snap may be overlooked, but I really like what Stephens is doing here. He struggled to establish good leverage and eventually got himself into position to make the interception. This is exactly the kind of rep you want to see from a rookie offensive lineman: strength, technique and, most importantly, the willingness to keep working the block.
Stephens is clearly still a work in progress. There were snaps where his lack of experience showed, but that’s to be expected from a fifth-round rookie getting his first significant NFL action. The encouraging part is that Seattle continues to trust him enough to put him in the rotation.
Avery Smith, Cornerback — 0 snaps, Inactive
Smith was inactive against Washington despite Seattle entering the game with significant issues in the secondary. Julian Love and Ty Okada were unavailable, and the Seahawks were forced to rely heavily on Witherspoon and Jobe, with AJ Finley and Rodney Thomas playing every defensive snap at safety.
Obviously, being inactive doesn’t mean the coaching staff doesn’t trust a player. There were only 48 active spots on game day, and Seattle had other considerations throughout the roster and on special teams.
Still, considering the circumstances, it’s at least a little strange not to see Smith active. Seattle has dealt with injuries in the secondary, and Smith ultimately lost his spot on the active gameday roster to Velus Jones Jr. That doesn’t necessarily tell us much about how the Seahawks view Smith long-term, but it’s certainly an interesting decision given the circumstances.
Smith had already seen special teams work earlier in the season, so this was a missed opportunity to gain more experience in a game where Seattle could use some additional depth in the secondary.
Week 3 was a frustrating one for Jadarian Price, whose second straight loss shut down his role for most of the first half. The talent is still obvious, but ball security needs to improve quickly if Seattle wants to continue to give its first-round pick a significant workload. Meanwhile, Beau Stephens continues to get valuable reps at right guard and has shown both rookie mistakes and flashes of technique that make his development worth watching.
The rest of the rookie class didn’t have much of a chance to make an impact. Bud Clark will be especially useful with all the injuries in the secondary, Julian Neal can’t make his special teams role any bigger, and Avery Smith’s inactivity is an odd decision given Seattle’s lack of depth at cornerback. For now, Price and Stephens remain the two rookies with the clearest paths to meaningful roles.