Following a dominant Week 1 victory, the Seattle Seahawks dropped to 1-1 in the preseason after falling to the Tennessee Titans, 16-15, at Nissan Stadium on Saturday.
It’s preseason, so the result doesn’t matter much. But the first half was much better for the Seahawks offense and defense than the second half was. That’s telling for the depth of Seattle’s units.
Here are three players whose stock is rising after Week 2 of the preseason, and three players whose stock is falling.
QB Sam Howell
Sam Howell seemed anxious to begin the game but finished looking as confident as we’ve seen him in this new offensive scheme. Howell finished 11-for-14 for 153 yards and a touchdown, displaying perfect touch on a 23-yard score to Easop Winston Jr. in the first quarter. As the game went on, Howell only continued to get better.
On the first throw of Seattle’s next drive, Howell rifled another one between two Titans defenders to wide receiver Cody White for a 33-yard completion — the longest offensive play of the day for the Seahawks. The offensive line in front of Howell was fine, but parts of the front broke down and he could navigate it. He finished with two rushes for 11 yards as a result, evading the broken plays. Howell’s pocket presence, overall, looked more like his better days with the Washington Commanders.
DT Myles Adams
Playing for most of the first half, Myles Adams held it down in the middle of Seattle’s defensive line. He finished with three total tackles, but that’s not representative of his overall impact on the game. Adams’ interior pressure freed up edge rushers Derick Hall, Darrell Taylor, Boye Mafe and others, pushing the pocket around Malik Willis and forcing him to make quick decisions in the pocket.
Adams is the perfect depth interior lineman for Seattle. With Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed, Byron Murphy and Johnathan Hankins already anchoring that unit, Adams and Mike Morris will be the rotational players that could be difference-makers for the Seahawks during the season. At 6-2, 290 pounds, Adams presents the size inside the Seahawks want as well.
WR Easop Winston Jr.
With his play in this second preseason game, Easop Winston Jr. is making the competition at Seattle’s sixth wide receiver spot extremely close. It’s clearly between Winston and Dareke Young, and the latter has led the group through training camp and the first few weeks of the preseason. Winston, a fifth-year pro out of Washington State, displayed his veteran tendencies on the 23-yard score from Howell by showing his hands late, securing the touchdown against Titans cornerback Tre Avery. Winston’s release on the fade route was also impressive against Avery, burning the corner to make Howell’s decision to throw into a one-on-one situation easy.
Winston finished with three catches for 47 yards and a score, leading the Seahawks in receiving in every area. He also saw the most targets of any Seattle player with four. Even if he is relinquished to the practice squad, Winston would be a quality player to be elevated to the active roster in a pinch should the Seahawks need him.
CB DJ James
Despite being a sixth-round pick by the Seahawks, DJ James just looks out of place with Seattle. He’s been borderline lost in his two preseason appearances, and he allowed the Titans’ lone touchdown in off-coverage against Nick Westbrook-Ikhine on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Mason Rudolph with 38 seconds left in the second quarter.
James was also hit with two defensive penalties on Tennessee’s second drive of the second half, first on a holding call and then on a facemask just two plays later. That allowed the Titans to get back into the game and eventually convert on a field goal to make it 12-10. He hasn’t been good in coverage and hasn’t shown enough fundamentally to make the Seahawks’ 53-man roster to this point.
T Stone Forsythe
At this point, Stone Forsythe’s standing with the Seattle coaching staff is a mystery. He hasn’t been good in either preseason appearance after making eight starts last season and has continued to just look overpowered by edge rushers on a down-to-down basis. Forsythe was tripped by running back Kenny McIntosh on a sack-fumble by Sam Howell — recovered by Forsythe himself — given up in the first quarter, but he was already beaten off that block which is why he was dropping so far back into protection.
Seattle’s depth at left tackle is a concern with Forsythe’s struggles, even with veteran George Fant able to play both sides of the line. The margin for error is getting slimmer and slimmer for Forsythe heading into the third preseason game, and he could be cut if he doesn’t show a significant improvement in the final contest.
QB PJ Walker
Taking over the offense in the second half, PJ Walker had similar weapons to Howell but looked far less capable of operating the Seahawks offense. He did, however, have an even less effective offensive line in front of him. Regardless, even when Walker had time to throw, he was early on some timing routes, and that snowballed into a lack of progression from the offense. The offense looked much more sluggish with Walker at the controls.
Walker finished 4-for-8 for 38 yards in the game and also allowed a sack. The offense gained just 38 total yards in the second half with Walker leading the unit, as opposed to the 231 yards the offense gained with Howell under center.
The Seattle Seahawks are the defending champions following a fantastic run in 2025 which resulted in the second Lombardi Trophy in franchise history. Despite this, they’re not the favorites to win their division in 2026.
Instead, the Los Angeles Rams are the hot team, thanks in large part to the addition of Myles Garrett. The two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year does give them a huge boost, but the Seahawks know they can still win their division once again.
Here we dive into three reasons to believe that will be the case for Mike Macdonald and his team.
With Klint Kubiak leaving to take the head coaching job with the Las Vegas Raiders, Brian Fleury is set to take over as the offensive coordinator in Seattle. Fleury spent the past seven years with the San Francisco 49ers and was most recently their run game coordinator and tight ends coach.
He’s expected to feature a run-heavy offense once again, but that doesn’t mean the Seahawks aerial attack won’t be a problem for opposing teams. With Sam Darnold entering his second season with the team, he’s going to have far more comfort with his teammates. As Seahawks On SI’s Russell Baxter wrote, he’s also unsatisfied with his performance in the Super Bowl and wants to improve in 2026.
His motivation, along with the presence of Jaxson Smith-Njigba is enough for the offense to be as dangerous as they were last year. Rashid Shaheed having a full offseason with the team is a reason to believe they can be even better.
Losing Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III in free agency was a blow, but the Seahawks made sure to enter the new season with just as much firepower in the ground game. Even with Zach Charbonnet still recovering from a torn ACL, the Seahawks have a strong unit.
Led by rookie Jadarian Price, Seattle also has Emanuel Wilson and George Holani. There might not be many proven options, but as Seahawks On SI’s Michael Hanich writes, the coaching staff trusts this unit.
Offensive coordinator Brian Fleury had success leading the rushing attack in San Francisco last year and his defensive background has him favoring a more violent and punishing rushing attack. That will allow the Seahawks to wear teams down with the ground game, even without Walker.
During his first season as head coach, Mike Macdonald led Seattle to the 11th best scoring defense, which was a massive jump from 25th the prior year. They shot up the leaderboard again in 2025, finishing with the No. 1 scoring defense, which is what led the way during their title run.
Macdonald made those improvements by building the defense to his preference. They have trusted veterans on the defensive line and have built a strong nickel defense with defensive back Nick Emmanwori as one of his key pieces.
This offseason, he added another versatile defensive back in Bud Clark, a speedy pass-rusher in Dante Fowler Jr., and a big-bodied cornerback in Julian Neal. Macdonald also allowed Boye Mafe to leave while putting Derick Hall in position to take on a larger load. All these moves have given them a defense that Macdonald can turn into an even better one than we saw last year.
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SEATTLE — Seattle is preparing for one of its busiest weekends of the year as Pride celebrations and the FIFA World Cup converge across the city.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend parades, festivals, concerts, and sporting events Friday through Sunday, with city officials encouraging people to plan ahead for street closures and use public transportation.
Pride weekend begins Friday with the FIFA World Cup Group G match between Egypt and Iran at Seattle Stadium.
ALSO SEE | Seattle Pride festivities to kick off with ‘Seattle Pride in the Park’ at Volunteer Park
Local organizers have designated the game as the tournament’s Pride Match Day, with community celebrations planned throughout the day. The designation has drawn objections from the Egyptian Football Association and the Iranian Football Federation, but local organizers say Pride events will move forward as planned.
Saturday’s events include Trans Pride Seattle at Volunteer Park, one of the nation’s largest transgender Pride celebrations, along with PrideFest Capitol Hill, which will transform Broadway and Cal Anderson Park into a daylong street festival featuring live music, food vendors, artists, and community organizations.
The ticketed Queer/Pride Festival will also continue throughout the weekend on Capitol Hill.
RELATED | FIFA to allow rainbow flags at Egypt-Iran World Cup ‘Pride Match’ in Seattle
The weekend culminates on Sunday with the Seattle Pride Parade, which begins at 11 a.m. along Fourth Avenue in downtown Seattle before ending near Seattle Center. Following the parade, PrideFest Seattle Center will feature live entertainment, food vendors, beer gardens, and community exhibitors through the afternoon and evening.
Seattle Pride traces its roots to 1974 and has grown into one of the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ celebrations, drawing hundreds of thousands of people each year.
Officials are urging attendees to expect heavy crowds and traffic throughout downtown and Capitol Hill, particularly on Sunday.
Organizers recommend using the Link light rail, buses, or other forms of public transportation whenever possible.
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