Preseason wins are meaningless. Getting excited about a preseason win is like getting excited about an attractive person talking to you. It doesn’t mean a thing. That said, it felt good watching the Seattle Seahawks win in this fashion. Here are my notes.

The Good

The Seattle Seahawks rested a lot of starters tonight, especially on the defensive front. With no Jarran Reed, or Poona Ford, Seattle’s defensive line still got good push off the ball, and were almost living in the backfield. I thought Cassius Marsh and Quinton Jefferson looked really good, but the guy that caught my eye was massive un-drafted rookie free agent Bryan Mone. For a 335 pound man, he was getting really good push, and might be pushing for a roster spot. Really liked what I saw there.

The rookie Utah Ute defenders of linebacker Cody Barton and safety Marquise Blair looked like they fully belonged on this defense. Both played with instincts and decisiveness. Blair’s play against the run up at the line of scrimmage was particularly eye catching. He made Kam Chancellor like hits and tackles, and also looked sure in coverage. A lot of hype has been on Barton’s play in training camp, and he looked good in this game, but I got really excited about Blair. Seattle likes that Utah defense, and for good reason. Stock is up on these guys.

Paxton Lynch easily won round one of the battle for the battle QB tonight. He caught my eye at training camp on Tuesday. There is a lot to like about this guy. He’s not all there as a player, but he has obvious tools to work with. He long and athletic with a live arm, and some nice wheels. I texted a friend this; I called him Colin Kaepernick-light.

For all the DK Metcalf hype, un-drafted rookie free agent Jazz Ferguson stole the show. He was a star last weekend in the team scrimmage, looked great on Tuesday’s practice, and he was a baller on Thursday night, showing good athleticism for a big guy, catching deep passes, and a great touchdown grab against tight coverage. I’m saying it now, I think he is in line to steal a roster spot.

Rookie John Ursua also looked good catching a deep inside pass on third down and extending the catch a la Doug Baldwin. He’s one to watch over the next few games.

Seattle was showing the blitz in interesting ways, bringing safeties, linebackers and corners. They also showed some standup end looks. I like the way they mixed things up, and it was fun seeing Deshawn Shead get a safety sack.

Ends Jacob Martin and Barkevious Mingo also got good pressures and sacks. Martin looks like a player on the rise. Don’t be surprised if he has a big expanded role in the pass rush this year.

Austin Calitro looked really good at linebacker. Really good.

Shaquill Griffin played a solid game at left cornerback against the run and pass.

Rashaad Penny looks like he might be a solid option as the team’s third down back.

Rookie defensive back Ugo Amadi looked dynamic as a returner.

Punt and kickoff coverage was solid.

The Bad

Seattle’s starting defense got gashed by a big run in the opening series. It looked like Cody Barton got blocked up pretty well by the fullback, and safeties didn’t fill. It brought back the horrors of 2018 for me. Glad that they cleaned that up afterwards.

Dk Metcalf didn’t make the big splash many were probably anticipating, but he didn’t have Russell Wilson throwing to him, either. He missed out on a couple deep balls, and it seemed like it might have been a positional thing, but color me not worried. He will get his down the road, and this was probably teachable. Denver also has a great starting backfield.

With no Will Dissly, Jacob Hollister, or Ed Dickson, Seattle’s tight end play was almost nonexistent. Seattle needs viable pass catching options at this position. Fingers crossed Dissly stays healthy this season.

The Ugly

Penalties were atrocious in this game. Positive runs and catch and runs were called back, and weirdly, there was a lot of defensive holding being called throughout the game against both teams. What up with that? Is this what the league is looking at more now? Stop that.

Barkevious Mingo jumped offseason horrible in the fourth quarter like the ghost of Michael Bennett. Stop that, Barkevious.

I didn’t like the roughness call Marquise Blair drew in the fourth quarter. It looked like he pulled up his helmet, and Denver’s quarterback threw the receiver an ambulance ball. So the league punishes the defender for making a hit and doesn’t punish the QB? I hate this trend.

Closing Thoughts

I’m high on a lot of these young players, but the dark horses I really like are receivers Jazz Ferguson and John Unsua, and defensive tackle Bryan Mone. Each one of these guys looked like they had what it takes to contribute as a rookie, which leads me to think that Seattle’s depth might be deeper than a lot of people think.

This game was a testament to that depth. During the first half, this game was pretty tight, but by the second half, Seattle’ backups were clearly outplaying Denver’s, and this ended up as an easy win.

I was particularly impressed with Seattle’s defensive line. I’ve been thinking maybe they would look outside for more help there. After tonight, I’m thinking that perhaps they don’t need to. They have players there.