The Seattle Mariners have been busy ahead of the trade deadline. They made a trade for outfielder Randy Arozarena on Thursday and reliever Yimi Garcia on Friday.

The impressive things about those two trades have been the fact that Seattle has only had to give up one top-10 prospect to get them (Jonatan Clase).

One of the Mariners’ prospects that has long been tied to traded rumors has been catcher Harry Ford. He’s ranked as Seattle’s No. 2 prospect and the No. 23 prospect overall according to MLB Pipeline.

According to a recent report — Ford could be out for a bit.

Ford was placed on the injured list with “concussion symptoms” according to a report from MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer.

According to the same report — the Mariners aren’t concerned Ford will be out for an extended period of time.

Ford was held out of the lineup for Double-A Arkansas Travelers’ three-game series this weekend against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals with what was described then as an illness, according to Locked On Mariners Ty Dane Gonzalez.

It’s unknown how much Ford has been involved in Seattle’s ongoing trade discussions if he has at all. But Ford would have value whether he gets traded elsewhere or if he stayed with the Mariners.

Ford has competed in the MLB All-Star Futures Games two years in a row and is batting .247 this year with five home runs and 31 RBIs. He’s caught 10 runners stealing this season.

Ford has also spent some time this season at left field and at designated hitter.

Any update on a top Mariners prospect will be scrutinized with the trade deadline two days away. Whether Ford is involved with a potential trade package or stays in Seattle’s farm system — the team will no doubt want its No. 2 prospect to get healthy as soon as possible.

MARINERS ACQUIRE AROZARENA: The Seattle Mariners reportedly agreed to a deal to acquire outfielder Randy Arozarena from the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night, according to multiple reports. CLICK HERE

MARINERS ACQUIRE GARCIA: The Seattle Mariners acquired right-handed reliever Yimi Garcia from the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday for outfielder Jonatan Clase, per reports. CLICK HERE

MARINERS INTERESTED IN MARLINS RELIEVER: The Seattle Mariners are reportedly interested in trading for Miami Marlins reliever and 2024 All-Star Tanner Scott with three days left until the trade deadline. CLICK HERE

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2023 stats (rank)

Points per game: 21.4 (17th)
Total yards per game: 322.9 (21st)
Plays per game: 58.5 (32nd)
Pass Attempts + Sacks per game: 36.1 (16th)
Dropback EPA per play: 0.09 (10th)
Rush attempts per game: 22.5 (30th)
Rush EPA per play: -0.09 (14th)

Coaching Staff

The Seahawks have moved on from the Pete Carroll era, hiring former Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald as head coach. Macdonald led the Ravens defense to No. 1 finishes in points allowed, sacks, takeaways, point differential, and turnover margin. He is now the youngest head coach in the league, taking over a Seattle team that went 9-8 last season.

Ryan Grubb also joins the Seahawks at offensive coordinator. He spent two seasons with the Washington Huskies in the same role, helping the offense to the National Championship game in 2023. Ending the season a semifinalist for the Broyles Award (awarded to college football’s top assistant coach), Grubb has been hired to bring his successful offense to the NFL. Geno Smith and company ran the least plays per game in the league last season, averaging 322.9 total yards per game, good for 21^st in the league. While Macdonald brings defensive knowledge and a new culture, Grubb has been brought on bring the middle-of-the-pack offense to greater heights.

Passing Game

QB: Geno Smith, Sam Howell
WR: D.K. Metcalf, Jake Bobo
WR: Tyler Lockett, Laviska Shenault, Dareke Young
WR: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, D’Wayne Eskridge
TE: Noah Fant, Pharoah Brown, A.J. Barner

The Seahawks passed for 230 yards per game, 14^th in the league. Geno Smith started 15 games at quarterback, though his 64.7 completion percentage, 155 rushing yards, and 7.3 yards per attempt were decreases from 2022. He regressed a bit, but was serviceable enough to contribute to the Seahawks’ top-10 dropback EPA per play. Still, the Seahawks added a solid backup in Sam Howell. For the Commanders last season, Howell threw for 3,945 yards and 21 touchdowns. Much was garbage time/down-big production, but he had a better fantasy finish than Smith. However, Smith’s tenure and leadership in the offense will keep him as starter at least in the short-term. He is a low-end QB2 this season while Howell would be a QB3 if he starts.

A trio of wideouts lead the Seahawks’ pass-catching group. D.K. Metcalf is the alpha receiver, with a mashup of size and speed to torch opposing defensive backs. Last season, Metcalf averaged a career-high 16.9 yards per reception, though his totals in targets (119) and receptions (66) were both the lowest since his rookie year. He contended with Tyler Lockett last season to be the top receiver, though he gains an edge due to being the younger receiver with more prototypical alpha size. Lockett beat Metcalf in both targets (122) and receptions (79) last season, though he had less yards and has been the No. 2 receiver in previous seasons. Metcalf became the deeper target while Lockett took shallower looks, a flip from the past couple seasons. Nevertheless, it can be expected that Smith and Ryan Grubb will continue to utilize both.

The third member of the trio is Jaxon Smith-Njigba, entering his second season. As a first-round pick last season, Smith-Njigba operated out of the slot, catching 63 passes for 628 yards. It took a while for him to see quality looks, seeing a lot of shallow targets at or near the line of scrimmage. Projecting growth for Smith-Njigba, he will still see shallow targets but can also move out into the intermediate area in Grubb’s more condensed offense, especially if Grubb uses more three-wide receiver sets than Seattle did last year. At Washington, Grubb’s passing offense primarily ran through Rome Odunze and Ja’Lynn Polk. Translating that to Seattle, Metcalf is the primary outside receiver, with Lockett the No. 2 and Smith-Njigba the No. 3 from the slot. For fantasy, bet on Metcalf being a WR2, Lockett a WR3, and Smith-Njigba a fringe WR4 value. Jake Bobo and Laviska Shenault headline the rest of the wideout group who will step into roles should any of the top-three go down.

Behind the wideouts, Noah Fant is an intriguing name at tight end. He has spent two seasons with the Seahawks, totaling 82 receptions for 900 yards and four touchdowns between both. Fant saw more production in his previous three seasons with the Broncos but is now poised for more opportunity this season. Will Dissly and Colby Parkinson are both gone, leaving smaller target competition with Pharaoh Brown and rookie A.J. Barner. Though Fant is still just the No. 4 pass-catching option, he will have the opportunity to be a fringe TE2. It is notable that Grubb’s college tight end, Jack Westover, signed with the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent as well, though he is likely on the roster bubble through preseason.

Running Game

RB: Kenneth Walker III, Zach Charbonnet, Kenny McIntosh, George Holani
OL (L-R): Charles Cross, Laken Tomlinson, Olu Oluwatimi, Christan Haynes, Abraham Lucas

The running game was a curiously small part of the Seahawks’ offense last season. They ran 22.5 run plays, third-least in the league, though that conveyed to a 14^th-best rush EPA per play. Ryan Grubb has emphasized a desire to be a physical team while Mike Macdonald wants to run the football as a part of the offensive core identity. More rushing could be in line for the Seahawks’ backfield.

With little change in the backfield, Kenneth Walker is still penciled in as the lead back. He led the way with 219 carries for 905 yards and eight touchdowns, the only running back with more than one last season. Behind Walker, Zach Charbonnet totaled 108 carries for 462 yards as a rookie. While Walker was clearly ahead as a runner, Charbonnet saw a similar share of backfield targets, giving Charbonnet a pass-catching inflation to his fantasy value. Kenny McIntosh is currently the No. 3 RB, but he missed much of last season with a knee injury. He can be a scat back if needed, but Walker and Charbonnet should be expected to hold down the bulk of backfield responsibilities. Walker will be an RB2 value this season while Charbonnet will cut into his load and have RB4 value, elevated to RB2 should Walker suffer an injury.

The backs will be running behind an offensive line that was banged up last season for Seattle. Left tackle Charles Cross played 14 games while right tackle Abraham Lucas started six and is not fully recovered from knee surgery yet. George Fant and Stone Forsythe are tackle depth, but ideally the Cross/Lucas duo holds down the tackle spots when healthy. Walker and Charbonnet’s efficiency was not great last season and a lot hinges on the health of the tackles for blocking to improve for the backs and Geno Smith this season.

Win Total

Rookie head coach Mike Macdonald is projected to lead the Seahawks to a 7.5-win total from DraftKings. The offense has a variety of playmakers, but Geno Smith doesn’t have the elite ceiling from the higher tiers of quarterbacks. The defense will benefit from Macdonald’s knowledge, but a developing team with a first-year head coach and offensive coordinator will have its share of struggles in the NFC West. Those confident in the Seahawks at least playing at the same level as last season will likely take the over while those believing in a step back in Macdonald’s first year may prefer the under.

RENTON, Wash. – Though he played the past two seasons for the Dallas Cowboys, veteran defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins kept close tabs on the Baltimore Ravens from afar, marveling at then-coordinator Mike Macdonald’s scheme and how he deployed his defensive line.

Once Macdonald accepted the Seahawks head coaching job in February and quickly tabbed former Cowboys defensive line coach Aden Durde as his defensive coordinator, Hankins knew where he wanted to continue his career with both young masterminds teaming up. Once free agency opened, the 6-3, 325-pound defender jumped at the opportunity to come to the Pacific Northwest and signed a one-year contract, filling a massive void figuratively and literally as the team’s new nose tackle.

Now in the midst of his first training camp in Seattle, Hankins isn’t aiming low when it comes to setting the bar for his new team. After starting for a top-five scoring defense in Dallas a year ago, he already has seen enough to believe Macdonald’s defense can be equally as disruptive out of the gate, starting with the defensive line he’s now happily part of.

“I think we could be just as good,” Hankins proclaimed before Saturday’s fourth training camp practice. “I think we can be probably one of the best inside in the NFL with defensive tackles such as Jarran Reed, big [Byron] Murphy, Leonard Williams, Dre’Mont Jones. We’ve got such a different combination of guys and skill set and size wise that can attack guys, I think it’s gonna benefit us a whole lot.”

Before signing his contract four months ago, like many defenders around the NFL over the past two years, Hankins had taken great interest in Macdonald’s scheme from afar. Growing to appreciate how he deployed his defensive linemen moving players around as he built the No. 1 scoring defense with the Ravens as coordinator, his presence factored as many as anything into the veteran’s decision to join the Seahawks this spring.

Hankins may have considered coming to Seattle on the merit of playing for Macdonald alone, but the allure of working with Durde again sweetened the pot. After being released by Las Vegas midway through the 2022 season, the former Ohio State star enjoyed a career resurgence with Dallas over the past two years teaming up with the energetic coach, whose ability to motivate players with sharp wit and a thick British accent coupled with a strong football IQ made him easy to grind for.

Starting 14 games for the Cowboys last season, Hankins tallied 27 tackles and three sacks, his highest total since 2016 when he was still a member of the NFC East rival Giants. With Durde bringing “joy to the room,” the veteran rediscovered his love for the game and became an integral part of one of the best defensive lines in the NFL.

“He brings the fun and excitement,” Hankins said of Durde. “When we’re out there on the field and doing drills, he’s such an energizer guy, coach, and just the way his British slang, or talk that he gives out, it kind of throws you off. But after a while you kind of get used to it, you embrace it. And then for some reason, people tend to start to try to talk like him and it never really works out, comes out like it’s suppose too. But all in all, he’s a fantastic coach, great motivator. And a lot of dudes just love to play for him and with him.”

Putting a cherry on top of the sundae with Macdonald and Durde on board, the Seahawks provided Hankins with an opportunity to go from one elite defensive line group to another, boasting a deep, talented stable of players ready to wreak havoc. Among his new potential teammates, joining forces with a former division foe in Williams as well as Reed and Jones proved too good to pass up, and the unit became even better when Murphy fell into the team’s lap for the 16th overall pick in April’s draft.

So far, the group has lived up to Hankins’ expectations and then some. As he has spent the majority of his time at the nose tackle spot covering the center or shading the A gap, players such as Williams, Jones, Reed, Murphy, and second-year defensive end Mike Morris have moved up and down the line of scrimmage as chess pieces for Macdonald and Durde in the trenches, playing everywhere from 3-tech defensive tackle to standup outside linebacker.

As he witnessed in Baltimore, Hankins has been impressed by how Macdonald and the new staff have mixed and matched Seattle’s flexible personnel up front, even introducing the “Durango” front with Wililams and Reed moving outside in a two-point stance off the edge and a combination of Hankins and Murphy/Morris playing inside. He also has relished being able to stay on the field for a more extended period of time, giving him more of a chance to contribute as an interior rusher.

“For big guys as myself, he does allow them to stay out there on the field for more than just one or two downs depending on the situation depending on whatever he’s calling,” Hankins explained. “There’s a lot of opportunity for guys like me inside to be out there even though we got a lot of pass rushers on this defense and guys that can rush at 3-technique, shade end, standing up, but just giving us more opportunities to go out there and make plays and just impact the game.”

With just four practices down, Hankins expects more creativity and innovation in how the group is unleashed as camp progresses and the regular season draws closer. As the Seahawks continue to install new formations and packages, he plans to serve as a resource for younger players such as Murphy and Morris, providing tips and answering questions any time he can in a mentor role.

As for his lofty team goals, Hankins sees Macdonald and Durde as the mad scientists necessary to bring everything together and help Seattle perform to its full potential on defense. Armed with a blend of proven veterans and high-upside youngsters, the defensive line should be the anchor for a revamped unit, and he’s eager to see how the new staff maximizes the depth up front in a scheme that should cater well to the group’s strengths, particularly when it comes to positional flexibility.

“It’s been quite interesting. For the past I’d say two or three years when he was in Baltimore, I was always fascinated about their defense and how dominant they were. And to come to find out he’s become the head coach here and A.D. [Aden Durde] came here and was gonna be able to embrace both defensive terminologies, I was excited. He brings so much to the defensive side, it’s kind of hard to explain because it’s pretty complex, but at the same time, it’s very exciting. He’s gonna put us in a lot of good situations where we can make plays and attack offenses in all different angles, so I’m thrilled and I’m excited for it.”