We’re only days away from the Seattle Seahawks' preseason finale against the Green Bay Packers, providing one final showcase for players tightly locked in camp battles to gain an edge, and one final chance for those fighting for a place on the initial 53-man roster. It’s been a rollercoaster of an offseason, including signing a new quarterback in Sam Darnold, trading away franchise staple DK Metcalf, and hiring new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak to lead this offense. With kickoff just two weeks away, it’s time to take a look at the storylines you should be following heading into Saturday.

Christian Haynes on the roster bubble? 

It’s a discussion that might surprise some, but Christian Haynes' spot on this roster is about as unclear as it gets. A third-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Christian Haynes looked the part of an instant contributor at Offensive Guard for a Seahawks team in desperate need of interior offensive line help. A four-year starter at the University of Connecticut, Haynes was an experienced prospect beaming with tools, as evidenced by his combine performance that saw him test as a 91st percentile athlete for his position in Kent Lee Platte’s Relative Athletic Score(RAS) database, which measures a players size, explosion, and speed against his historical positional peers. Seattle invested real draft capital into Haynes, but his rookie year was nothing short of a nightmare, with just 167 snaps played and a below-average Pro Football Focus Blocking Grade of 48.5, ranking him 117th out of 136 eligible guards. Heading into 2025, Seattle has already invested a first-round pick in Grey Zabel, who secured the left guard spot with ease, and the right guard spot appears to be Anthony Bradford’s to lose, as he’s started both preseason games over Haynes, and the former's 81.0 grade towers over the 51.0 managed by the latter. A backup spot is nowhere near out of the question, especially for someone the franchise recently invested third round draft capital in, but the interior depth is solidifying quickly, as Jalen Sundell has a firm grip over the backup center spot, and fellow second year player Sataoa Laumea - who has routinely outperformed Haynes - looks to have a role secured as well. This likely means that only one spot on the roster remains, and it should be between Haynes and sixth-round rookie Bryce Cabeldue. Whoever takes the field first on Saturday should likely have the spot secured.

The continued ascent of Josh Jobe 

One of the bigger surprises of the 2024 season was the emergence of cornerback Josh Jobe on the outside, who performed well above the 51.0 grade given to him by PFF. Given a four-star recruiting ranking by 247Sports, Jobe played four years at Alabama, starting for his final two, which included a National Championship win in his junior season of 2020. A fundamentally sound corner, Jobe’s light measurements and unwillingness to test at the combine led to him going undrafted in 2022 before signing with the Eagles as a free agent. Jobe made his way to Seattle’s practice squad before the 2024 season kicked off and went on to start 10 games for the Hawks. Jobe brings an element of physicality on snaps when Devon

Witherspoon kicks inside to the slot, and his above-average run defense grade of 64.5 serves as evidence. The competition for snaps is going to be fierce, as rookie safety Nick Emmanwori is likely to spend some of his time down in the slot, cutting out the need for Jobe to replace Witherspoon. There's also Nehemiah Pritchett, a 2024 fourth-round pick out of Auburn who saw limited playing time in his rookie year, likely because of Jobe’s emergence. Jobe is outplaying Pritchett this preseason, with the former recording an interception and putting up a 62.9 grade in just 17 coverage snaps, while the latter has one pass breakup in 99 snaps to go with an abysmal 29.5 grade. The limited amount of snaps tells us the coaches know what they have in Jobe, and it should be exciting to see what he can do when called upon this season.

Is Tory Horton WR3?

Speaking of exciting, this wide receiver room holds plenty of intrigue heading into the season. There are no questions about Jaxon Smith-Njigba, this team's no-doubt number one receiver, who should push for a top-five finish in receiving yards this season. Behind JSN is Cooper Kupp, who has mixed extreme on-field reliability with continued off-field unavailability in the three seasons following his historic 2021 triple crown. With Kupp a borderline guarantee to miss a handful of games this season, that third receiver spot gets much more important, which is where the conversation shifts to rookie Tory Horton. A fifth-round pick in April's draft, Horton started his career at Nevada before blossoming into a star following a transfer to Colorado State in 2022. Back-to-back seasons with over 1,000 receiving yards saw his draft stock soar, yet he returned to school for a fifth and final year in 2024, one that ended up being plagued by injury. These concerns caused Horton’s tumble to the fifth round, but the league’s mistake is Seattle’s gain. Horton is a smooth operator at all levels of the field who also happens to be a 98th percentile athlete at the position, and shows enough size and strength to be physical after the catch. Marques Valdes-Scantling likely has something to say in this debate as a guy Klint Kubiak liked enough in New Orleans to bring up north, and, while he does have undeniable speed as a vertical threat that will likely earn him a role in this offense, Seattle needs down-to-down consistency on the outside this season, something fans should be eager to see if Horton can bring.