Seahawks camp day 2: Derick Hall shines; using Devon Witherspoon; the quarterbacks so far

Good thing for the quarterback Derick Hall wasn’t wearing pads.

The 23-year-old Seahawks outside linebacker’s speed off the ball got him straight to QB Sam Howell before any of his offensive lineman recognized Hall was unblocked.

Then Hall overwhelmed offensive tackle Garret Greenfield. His burst off the ball caused the undrafted rookie to lose his balance and fall over onto his backside.

The crowd of about 1,000 Seahawks season-ticket holders let out a loud and collective “Ooooohhh!”

Hall stormed through Greenfield directly to the startled Howell. If it wasn’t a no-contact drill, as all are against QBs in practices, Hall would have spiked Howell into the turf like a lawn dart.

It’s early. No football games are won in July, unless you play in Canada.

Yet Hall has been a standout in the first two practices of Seahawks training camp.

So far, Seattle’s second-round draft choice in 2023 from Auburn who barely played on defense last season is proving true the adage a professional athlete’s largest growth is between his first and second years.

“Oh, yeah. D Hall,” new coach Mike Macdonald said Thursday.

After that speed show on day one of camp, Hall earned a promotion Thursday: Scrimmage time with the starting defense on day two. He was the number-one left outside rush linebacker opposite $45 million veteran starter Uchenna Nwosu for the third play of an 11-on-11 scrimmage.

On one Geno Smith pass play during that session, Hall’s speed off the edge beat 32-year-old right tackle George Fant, who is with the first offense while starter Abe Lucas remains out indefinitely following knee surgery. Hall sped in on Smith before he threw the ball.

“That’s a sack! That’s another one!” Hall yelled, as he followed practice rules and ran past Smith while the quarterback continued to throw the ball.

The Seahawks defense finished 13th in the NFL in pressure rate last season; it was just over 35% of pass plays according to NFL NextGen Stats. Seattle ranked 10th in sacks per game with 2.8.

Their 30th-ranked defense was the reason the Seahawks missed the playoffs last season for the third time in 12 years. General manager John Schneider and team chair Jody Allen fired defense-first coach Pete Carroll in January. Then hired former Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald to replace Carroll.

Last season Macdonald’s switching schemes confused offenses that didn’t know where Baltimore’s defenders were coming from. The Ravens led the NFL in sacks, at 3.3 per game. That was a large reason Baltimore allowed the fewest points in the league while producing the most turnovers.

The last time the Seahawks averaged at least three sacks per game? It was 1998. The late Hall of Famer Cortez Kennedy anchored that defensive line.

So, yes, Hall showing potential as a possible reinforcing pass rusher to rotate with Nwosu, Boye Mafe and fellow rush linebacker Darrell Taylor (21 1/2 sacks in his three NFL seasons for Seattle) intrigues and excites Macdonald.

Hall was primarily a special-teams player for the Seahawks as a rookie last season. He played in only 26% of defensive snaps.

Yet he is a potentially (there’s that word again) lethal combination of size and speed for Macdonald’s defense. Hall is 6 feet 3 and 260 pounds. He’s nearly the same size as the 6-4, 261-pound Mafe, Seattle’s second-round pick a year before the team selected Hall in that round.

Mafe had a breakout 2023 with nine sacks in his second NFL season.

The 37-year-old Macdonald came up as a linbeackers coach. Hall is also impressing him with his ability to drop into pass coverage outside.

Macdonald loves to have his outside linebackers fake blitzes and drop while other inside defenders blitz instead at baffled blockers and quarterbacks.

And to think: The Seahawks aren’t going to be in full pads until next week. The coaches can’t wait to see Hall in the first preseason game Aug. 10 at the Los Angeles Chargers then in the two joint practices Seattle is having with the Titans in Nashville, Tennessee, Aug. 14 and 15.

“I think the best of what D Hall does, it’s hard to tell in this tempo,” Macdonald said. “But, a physical presence — but a guy who has some drop ability (into coverage), as well. So you can use him in some different blitz packages. Very sharp. Can move him up and down the line.

“Just excited to feel him out there when we have the pads on, especially when we are going against other teams.”

Using Devon Witherspoon

For the first time The News Tribune noticed in spring organized team activities and minicamp practices this spring plus two days of training camp, Devon Witherspoon played outside at left cornerback in 11-on-11 scrimmaging.

For one play. Macdonald went with a base defense. Riq Woolen was the right cornerback among four defensive backs.

The next snap, Witherspoon was back inside at nickel and Tre Brown was back at left cornerback.

Macdonald was in nickel with five defensive backs 79% of the time last year with Baltimore. Witherpoon has been inside as a nickel, slot cornerback for almost all this spring and summer.

Last season, Carroll had Witherspoon as the rookie fifth-pick in the 2023 draft start Seahawks games outside at left cornerback. In passing situations, Witherpsoon moved inside to nickel. That’s where he had his splashiest plays. And he made the Pro Bowl.

Wherever Macdonald decides to play him, Witherspoon will retain his bravado. It’s who he is, and how he plays.

And practices.

Late in scrimmaging Thursday, Witherspoon stayed step for step and into the chest of wide receiver Tyler Lockett as they ran down the right sideline into the end zone. That tight coverage forced Smith into a short, check-down throw.

Witherspoon, 23, wagged his finger and stomped back upfield with the 31-year-old Lockett, while yelling “C’mon!”

Quarterbacks so far

Smith, the clear starter, has been far more accurate than Howell through two camp practices. Smith has been particularly sharp lofting deep passes over defenders onto his receiver’s hands.

He did throw an interception on the final play the starters ran Thursday. Newly minted, $36 million safety Julian Love, who signed his three-year extension before practice, dived in front of a short out route by Jaxon Smith-Njigba and grabbed Smith’s pass before it hit the grass.

Howell, the Washington Commanders starter last season Seattle traded a fourth- and a sixth-round pick for this spring, left a long pass to Dee Eskridge hanging high in the air and underthrown on a deep flag route to the right sideline. Second nickel back Artie Burns left his man inside and easily peeled back down the field to intercept the pass.

Extra Points

*DK Metcalf made a diving catch of a deep throw from Smith while lunging toward the goal line late in practice.

The situation-specific drill: 15 seconds left, no time outs, down by 1 point, throwing deep into the red zone then after a long completion the entire offense hurrying to the line to get set so Smith can spike the ball before the clock expires.

The offense succeeded. Jason Myers made the field goal.

*A day after he was the first right tackle in the first scrimmages of camp, usual guard McClendon Curtis was the second-team right tackle behind Fant.

*Some new drills the new coaching staff have for players: defensive linemen on their knees holding sandbags and throwing them forward from the chest while falling forward onto a landing mat; wide receivers running short and sharp crossing routes behind a row of standing blocking dummies, “traffic,” then catching a pass then use the arm and hand not holding the ball to push away a yoga ball a coach is rolling at them; a “wrap-and-punch” drill of defensive players grabbing a ball carrier from behind in a bear hug while bringing his dominant arm and hand over the top in a hammer-like punching motion onto the ball that’s in the crook of a teammate’s arm. The ball is attached to a Velcro leash to keep balls from bounding all over the drill.

*Third quarterback P.J. Walker, who started for Cleveland against Seattle at Lumen Field last season, looks like long-ago former Seahawks quarterback Seneca Wallace. They wear the same jersey number, 15. Their statures, Walker is 5-11, are similar.

Walker has been throwing in scrimmages to Dee Eskridge, among other reserve receivers.

*The third and fourth practices of camp are Friday and Saturday. The players get a mandated day off Sunday.