Seattle Seahawks: 5 Preseason Position Battles to Watch

The Seahawks bring in a lot of new faces and every job is ready for the taking.

With a preseason game come and gone, players' roles are becoming more apparent as the 2011 regular season approaches.

With some jobs still up for grabs, here are the Seattle Seahawks' five preseason position battles with a bold prediction for each one. 

5. Wide Receivers: Third, Fourth and Fifth Receivers

Third: Golden Tate vs. Ben Obomanu

Fourth and Fifth: Kris Durham vs. Doug Baldwin vs. Isaiah Stanback vs. Ricardo Lockett 

With the offseason addition of Sidney Rice, the Seahawks wide receiver battle got a little clearer. Or did it? Mike Williams and Sidney are the obvious top-two receivers, but the battle for the reserve players got even more competitive.

Golden Tate and Ben Obomanu will battle for the third spot, and a logjam for the remaining spots.

Bold Prediction: The Seahawks go after a name like Terrell Owens, or attempt to bring back a retired Randy Moss to get another big name receiver for the new quarterback—or if Ochocinco doesn't fit in New England, look for a trade to happen.

4. Cornerback: Starter

Battle: Walter Thurmond III vs. Richard Sherman vs. Brandon Browner vs. Kelly Jennings

The Seahawks have an abundance of young CBs with little experience but tons of upside and potential. The veteran, Marcus Trufant, has battled the injury bug but is the clear leader in the secondary. With Trufant grabbing one starting spot, the other cornerback job is up for grabs.

The favorite is Thurmond to get the spot, but fans shouldn’t overlook Jennings.

Yes, Jennings, who was the starter for most of last season, got beat way too many times and is not too popular with fans right now. But going with Jennings, you know what you have as opposed to the other young CBs.

Prediction: Thurmond, with only one career start, grabs the other starting corner position. Going with Thurmond is a risk considering his injury history.

3. Offensive Line: Everything but Left Tackle

Tom Cable will have a lot of work to do with the line this year. The O-line may be the Seahawks' weakest position in 2011.  And as mentioned in the headline, Russell Okung at LT is probably the only player whose job is safe.

The Seahawks will have at least three new faces on the line, and maybe more if injury or changes in the depth chart are made.

Center Max Unger missed almost all of last season with injury, and now his job may be in jeopardy.

On the right side of the line, guard John Moffitt and tackle James Carpenter, two rookie draft picks, will battle for a staring job with veterans Paul Fanaika and Breno Giacomin.

Bold Prediction: The Seahawks will go with Carpenter and Moffitt, two rookies on the offensive line.

2. Defensive End: Starter

Battle: Bryant vs. Brock

While it is pretty clear that Chris Clemons will get one starting defensive end spots, the battle between Red Bryant and Raheem Brock may be closer than most Hawks fans realize.

While Bryant is probably "more deserving" and more talented than Brock, Bryant’s long history of nagging injuries makes him a risky pick to go with as the starter.

Brock is technically a left end, but transitioning him to the right side is the best option for the Seahawks going into 2011.

Bold Prediction: Coach Carroll picks Brock as the starter for their opening game.

1. Quarterback: Starter

Battle: Jackson vs. Whitehurst

I, like many Seahawks fans, see the Tarvaris Jackson move as applying a Band-Aid when a tourniquet is more fitting. Yes, Hasselbeck needed to go, but I had much higher expectations with who the Hawks were going to land.

Regardless, the battle between Jackson and Charlie Whitehurst is one that will have Hawks fans up at night. Jackson already has a relationship with new receiver Sidney Rice, and the scrambling ability Whitehurst lacks.

But Whitehurst has been in Carroll’s system for longer and has a longer relationship with the other receivers.

Bold Prediction: The Seahawks go with Jackson in 2011, then trade-up in the 2012 draft for USC QB Matt Barkley to be reunited with Coach Carroll.