Head coach Pete Carroll isn't in a hurry to name a starting QB. (Getty Images) |
Last July, shortly after the lockout ended, the Seahawks signed Tarvaris Jackson to be their starting quarterback. That was a year after swapping second-round picks with the Chargers to acquire Charlie Whitehurst (who, incidentally, is back in San Diego).
This offseason, the Seahawks signed Matt Flynn, presumably to be -- you guessed it -- the starting quarterback. But one day into minicamp, head coach Pete Carroll isn't yet ready to name names (also muddying the process: Seattle drafted Russell Wilson in the third round of last week's NFL Draft).
Jackson took the very first snap of Friday's workout which means … well, nothing. After practice, Carroll was asked who was ahead, Jackson or Flynn.
"Who (between the two quarterbacks) said 'competition' the most?" Carroll asked according to the Seattle Times. "Whoever said that word the most when they were up here getting interviewed, he's ahead right now."
(For the record: the Times' Danny O'Neill reports that Jackson used some variation of "compete" 10 times and Flynn mustered just five mentions. Clearly, Flynn doesn't want the job.)
With the rest of minicamp, OTAs and training camp still in front of us, Carroll's in no hurry to name a starter.
"There's no timeline," he said. "The format is really just to do everything I can to organize it and orchestrate so that they get a legit shot at showing what they can do."
And then there's Wilson, who the Seahawks were ecstatic to land in Round 3.
"We'll take a good look at Russell," Carroll said according to Yahoo.com's Doug Farrar. "I can't wait for this (next) weekend coming up with the kids coming in just to see him get on the field with the guys and see what he can do, see how he does things. I have really high expectations for him — that he's going to learn the system before he ever gets here. He's going to be able to be out here and execute. I just really can't wait to see him in our uniform and playing ball with us. We'll see where it goes. We've done everything we can to make this position as competitive as possible. It's a crucial position on the football team and we're going to do everything we can to figure that out as we go down the road."
For now, everybody understands the stakes. "It's different (from Green Bay) because I know I'm going to be competing and I know everything I do matters," Flynn said. Jackson added "We're here just to compete and do the best that we can and let the coaches make the decisions." And next week, Wilson will be thrown into the mix when he arrives for workouts.
For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnNFL on Twitter, and subscribe to our Pick-6 Podcast and NFL newsletter. You can follow Ryan Wilson on Twitter here: @ryanwilson_07.