It shouldn't surprise anyone that Seahawks HC Pete Carroll announced QB Geno Smith as his starter for Saturday's preseason opener at Pittsburgh. Smith has remained atop the depth chart throughout the offseason and training camp. But it also sounds like the competition is far from done. “We’ll see what happens,” Carroll said Thursday, according to Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times. “There’s a lot of things that can happen when we go out there. We’ve just got to wait and see and we’ll put it together. We’d love to see the guys execute, and they’ve done really well on the practice field. We’d love to see a carry-over. But at the quarterback position, there are opportunities and if there are opportunities how do they seize them? Do they come through and make the play, make the big throw in the red zone or if it’s third down or whatever it is. We just have to wait and see.” We're most interested to see if either QB can look good enough to ease any concerns over the fantasy football outlooks for WRs D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, and TE Noah Fant.

Seahawks HC Pete Carroll complimented rookie RB Kenneth Walker. Carroll really focused on Walker’s improvement in pass protection. "He could play all three downs, and we'd feel comfortable with it,” Carroll shared. Rashaad Penny is currently batting a minor goin injury, but the veteran remains on track to start Week 1. How long that lasts, however, is certainly in question. Neither guy projects for big pass volume -- but the 3rd-down/receiving down role appears up for grabs here.

Seahawks HC Pete Caroll was back with the team after a bout with COVID, and he had a Friday update on the QB competition: "Geno [Smith] continues to be on top. He's ahead. He's been in the lead for all of the obvious reasons and he's holding on to it and doing a really good job of battling." Carroll did add that there's still a good bit of time left in the evaluation process. "We need reps, we need turns to see more situations to really find any reason to see a difference between the guys," he said, according to The Seattle Times. So we won't consider it decided yet, but it does seem we need to consider Smith the front-runner at this point. His primary advantage is having been with the Seahawks since 2019. For fantasy football purposes, the winner of this battle only matters in superflex, 2-QB and DFS formats.

John Boyle of The Seahawks’ official site writes that RB Kenneth Walker has “shown off his pass-catching ability” in training camp. It’s noteworthy, as the rookie exited college with only 19 career catches in 3 seasons. Rashaad Penny is currently seeing the bulk of Seattle’s 1st-team reps, but this backfield has the potential to be fluid all season.

Seahawks S Jamal Adams broke a finger on the 1st day of training camp. After getting multiple opinions, he'll return to practice with a "special cast" and a club on the hand, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. It's also "likely" that Adams will need surgery after the season. We'd bet on Adams not being hampered overall by the finger, though playing with a club necessarily makes intercepting passes more difficult. Adams will certainly remain draftable in IDP leagues but doesn't stand out as a target in our DB rankings.

The Seahawks and WR D.K. Metcalf agreed to a 3-year extension worth $72 million, with $52.8 million of that guaranteed, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo. It ends the brief hold-in for the 24-year-old wideout and puts him under contract through 2025.

Seahawks QB Geno Smith opened training camp with the 1st-team offense, right where he was in the spring. “Geno is in the lead. He’s ahead and he ain’t looking back,” HC Pete Carroll said. “He’s going for it. Drew [Lock] is not going to take a back seat. Something is going to happen.” What's "going to happen" probably won't be pretty. We're still expecting both of these guys to make starts this season. It's a situation to avoid in fantasy drafts.

Seahawks HC Pete Carroll confirmed to reporters after practice Wednesday that WR D.K. Metcalf is sitting out practices in hopes of landing a contract extension -- and not because of lingering effects from his winter foot surgery. "We are right there," Carroll said, referring to the negotiations. We'll keep an eye on Metcalf's status.

We know that RBs Ken Walker and Rashaad Penny will duke it out for early-down work in the Seahawks' backfield this season. But The Athletic's Michael-Shawn Dugar believes passing downs will go to either DeeJay Dallas or Travis Homer. "Dallas is arguably the best pass-catching running back on the roster and Homer, who is in the final year of his rookie deal, is the best pass protector among the tailbacks," Dugar writes. It makes some sense considering neither Walker nor Penny is an accomplished pass-catcher. A 3-man committee backfield in a bad offense behind a bad offensive line sounds like a nightmare fantasy scenario.

Seahawks WR D.K. Metcalf reported for the start of training camp on Tuesday, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reports. "It’s unclear whether Metcalf will practice with the team, but his appearance at camp can be considered a positive," Fowler adds. Metcalf skipped June minicamp as he angles for a new contract. But it doesn't look like he's planning to sit out regular-season games.

Seahawks RB Chris Carson is retiring from the NFL, per insider Ian Rapoport. According to Rapoport, Seattle will officially release him with a failed physical designation. It’s not a surprise, as Carson’s been sidelined with a neck injury since Week 4 of last season. His career ends with 769 carries for 3,502 yards and 24 TDs. Seattle moves forward with a 1-2 punch of Rashaad Penny and Kenneth Walker.

Seahawks HC Pete Carroll said TE Noah Fant had the "most spectacular camp of anybody" at June's mandatory minicamp, according to ESPN's Brady Henderson. We all know Carroll is prone to hyperbole and general positivity. But this also follows reports of the new Seahawk digging a TE-friendly offense. Combine it all with an ADP that finds the former 1st-round pick deep in TE2 territory, and Fant presents clear value in fantasy football drafts right now.

Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker is sidelined with a hamstring injury, HC Pete Carroll said. It's unclear when the rookie will get back on the field. No reason to panic at this point, but we'll keep a close eye on Walker when training camp opens next month.

Seahawks RB Chris Carson admits that he has "no timeline" for return from his November neck surgery. “Not trying to rush it, I’m just trying to take it one day at a time,” Carson said. “Just keep rehabbing, keep getting better. Keep building strength and then go from there." The Seahawks re-signed RB Rashaad Penny and drafted RB Kenneth Walker this offseason, so they're not banking on having Carson available this season. He's nothing more than a late-round flier in early fantasy drafts.

Let's start with HC Pete Carroll's full quote on the Geno Smith-Drew Lock competition after Thursday's practice (per Liz Matthews of Seahawks Wire: “Geno’s still ahead, you can tell that, but it’s not going to be too much for Drew to be caught up. By the time we get through camp he’ll be there. He’s really bright. It makes sense to him. He’s really sharp in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage and all of that. So it’s just time that he needs, and there’s nothing we can do but gain some more of that.” You could easily read that and come away with the headline that Smith is the leader in the race for the starting gig. It sure seems like Carroll is expecting (hoping?) Lock to catch up and potentially overtake him, though. Carroll added that "it's gonna be a real battle." It's not surprising that the incumbent stands ahead at this early stage. We'd still bet Lock between them as the Week 1 starter, though. And we also still wouldn't rule out the possibility of the team adding someone else, such as Baker Mayfield.

Seahawks WR D.K. Metcalf did not report for the start of minicamp as he continues to angle for a new contract. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler confirms that Metcalf's absence is unexcused, subjecting him to fines up to $93,000. The Seahawks have made it clear that they'd like to get Metcalf a new deal, but there's obviously still work to be done between the 2 sides. It's a situation to monitor as we get closer to training camp in late July.

We passed along a report earlier this week of Seahawks OC Shane Waldron's scheme looking friendly to TEs. Well, Noah Fant agrees. The former Bronco called it "very favorable" on Thursday, according to ESPN's Brady Henderson, specifically mentioning the downfield opportunities. That sounds especially good for Fant, who ran a 98th-percentile 40 time for the position. "I'm excited to be in this offense," Fant said. "I think I can do some good things in it." Seattle's weak QB situation has us cautious, but Fant's TE18 ADP (TE21 on Underdog) is just as cautious. That means there's more upside than risk.

Seahawks beat writer Brady Henderson writes that “TEs could be a bigger part” of the offense in 2022. The Seahawks ranked a mid-pack 17th in TE target share last year, so there’s room for growth. Noah Fant arrived over the offseason to give this unit a boost in athleticism. And don't forget about Will Dissly, who somehow earned a contract worth almost $16 million guaranteed in March. For now, we’re treating Fant as a TE2 and Dissly as a fantasy non-factor.

The NFL announced changes to the 2022 IR rules, the most notable being that designated-to-return players must miss at least 4 games. It was a minimum of 3 games last season. Also noteworthy: A player can now be designated-to-return twice per season, rather than just once. These changes will be worth keeping in mind as you make roster moves during this coming fantasy football season.

Seahawks OC Shane Waldron and HC Pete Carroll have both recently said that QB Geno Smith opens offseason workouts as the leader at QB. “Right now, Geno has done such a good job of carrying over (the offensive principles from 2021). He already had a head start over Drew right there,” Waldron told KJR radio this week. That seemed to echo Carroll's sentiment that Smith "automatically" starts ahead of Drew Lock. Waldron added, "We have a long way to go to see where this competition (goes).” For now, the fantasy football takeaway is that there's a competition to replace Russell Wilson in Seattle. It's not necessarily Lock's job.