What We Saw: Week 1

Broncos @ Seahawks

Final Score: Seahawks 26 – Broncos 20

Writer: Jesse Maida

The history books will show Bo Nix led his team to a score on his first career possession and that can never be taken away from him. History will also show this game included the longest rush of Geno Smith’s career and the Broncos scoring two safeties…in the first half! However, one of these events is not like the others as Bo Nix had a game to forget. Saying Nix led his team to a score was not only misleading but also a sign of poor things to come. Playing in Seattle is a tough task for any visiting QB, let alone a rookie in his first-ever career NFL start and it went exactly how you thought it would. Let’s dive in a little deeper:

Three Up

• Kenneth Walker – Featured by the coaching staff, Walker received bell-cow usage and looked explosive in the 2nd half.
• Jaleel McLaughlin – In what was mostly a neutral game script, McLaughlin out-touched Javonte Williams 15 – 9.
• Tyler Lockett – Despite not playing in the preseason, it was Tyler Lockett who not only led the team in receiving yards and targets but dominated the receiving work.

Three Down

• Seahawks Offensive Line – The Seattle O-Line got slaughtered in the first half. Geno Smith was constantly under pressure, resulting in two sacks, two safeties, and only 22 rushing yards on nine carries from Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet. Some local Seattle sports journalists said it was the worst they’ve seen in 20 years.
• Bo Nix– I hate to be so hard on a rookie in his first game, but we have to be honest, Nix was awful for 55 minutes but did show some hope on his final drive.
• Jaxon Smith-Njigba – New season, same result. The 2nd-year breakout for JSN is postponed at least one more week as Tyler Lockett is not going anywhere.

Broncos

Quarterback

Bo Nix: 26/42, 138 Yards, 2 INT | 5 Carries, 35 Yards, TD

The good news is that the Box Nix era started with a scoring drive, leading the Broncos to a field goal and an early 3-0 lead. The bad news is that Nix happened to start this drive in the red zone after a Geno Smith INT and failed to gain a first down, handing the ball off twice, and then throwing an incompletion. That was a sign of things to come. One of the knocks on Nix as a prospect was his very low ADOT of 6.9 yards in his final season at Oregon, with 27% of pass attempts coming behind the line of scrimmage (Per PFF). However, he was still excellent on throws above 10 yards in college but the same can’t be said in his NFL rookie debut. Nix finished with an abysmal 3.2 yards per pass attempt, only completing 2-12 on throws of 10+ yards with two INTs, which could have easily been three of four. He did lead the team to a TD on the final drive, which included a 23-yard scramble, four completions for 27 yards, capped off by a 4-yard rushing TD.

https://x.com/RapSheet/status/1729538490348576865?s=20

Notes

• Showed off his mobility, extending some plays, scrambling for first downs (including his first career first down), and scoring a rushing TD. Nix had 700+ rushing yards and 20 rush TDs in his final two years at Oregon and showed signs that he can be effective with his legs at the NFL level.

Missed Opportunities

• Missed Sutton on at least two throws that would have been 10+ yard gains to extend drives.

Running Back

Jaleel McLaughlin: 10 Carries, 27 Yards, 1 FUM(L) | 6 Targets, 5 Receptions, 1 Yard

Both Broncos’ lead RBs were beyond inefficient in this game but it was McLaughlin who led the running back room in both rush attempts and receptions.

Notes

• Was tied for 2nd on the team in receptions (with Josh Reynolds) and could be a PPR merchant if Nix continues to target players around the LOS as he did at Oregon.
• McLaughlin lost a fumble late in the 3rd quarter but was given the ball on the very first play of the next possession, given the vote of confidence from the Broncos coaching staff.

Javonte Williams: 8 Carries, 23 Yards | 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 0 Yards

Javonte was given the first three carries of the game but was out-touched by McLaughlin 15-6 the rest of the way. The usage suggests Javonte Williams is still the Broncos lead back but the split seems to be much more even than people expected.

Notes

• He was still the team’s RB1 in terms of snaps and route participation

https://x.com/MichaelFFlorio/status/1832922806394466586

Missed Opportunities

• After a McLaughlin fumble, the coaching staff did not give Javonte the next chance in what was still a close game.

Audric Estime: 2 Carries, 14 Yards

The rookie from Notre Dame ran straight downhill for a 12-yard gain on his first career rush attempt but unfortunately fumbled the ball trying to hurdle his defender. He was only given one more attempt afterward.

Wide Receiver/Tight End

Courtland Sutton: 12 Targets, 4 Receptions, 38 Yards

Sutton had a dominant 28% target share but unfortunately, targets of 10+ yards had no value in this game.

Notes

• Currently tied for the NFL lead in targets as of Sunday night football. He seems to be the alpha WR in this offense but target quality needs to improve for that to matter.

Missed Opportunities

• Nix misfired targeting Sutton in the first half on two occasions. One miss in particular was extremely poor. Both misses were attempts of 10+ yards.

Josh Reynolds: 8 Targets, 5 Receptions, 45 Yards

With such an ambiguous WR room, the expectation was that Josh Reynolds was the favorite to enter the season as Broncos WR2 and this seems to be the case. He made some tough catches on 3rd and 4th downs and looks to be a reliable option for his rookie QB.

Notes

• Limped off the field in the 3rd quarter but later returned.

Devaughn Vele: 8 Targets, 8 Receptions, 39 Yards

Move over Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze, Bo Nix and Devaughn Vele are the number one rookie-to-rookie connection this week. The 7th-round rookie secured all eight of his targets and is probably someone you want to take a shot on in your deep PPR leagues.

Greg Dulcich: 3 Targets, 2 Receptions, 12 Yards

Even with an inactive Lucas Krull, Dulcich was not part of the game plan.

Notes

• Did not record a reception until the 4th quarter.

Seahawks

Quarterback

Geno Smith: 18/25, 171 Yards, TD, 1 INT | 4 Carries, 30 yards, TD

Geno was under siege the entire first half, leading to a brutal INT on the first offensive play of the game. The Seahawks could not get anything going until mid-way through the 2nd quarter when Geno showed us he can still do it with his legs, taking off for a 34-yard rushing score. This play alone accounted for nearly 22% of his entire rushing production in 2023. Geno was much improved in the 2nd half as the Seahawks leaned on their run game and got Tyler Lockett more involved.

https://x.com/NFL/status/1832891188376109515

Notes

• Geno’s 34-yard rush TD was the longest rush of his career
• Starting RT George Fant left the game in the 1st quarter which made the offensive line woes even worse.

Running Back

Kenneth Walker: 20 Carries, 103 Yards, TD | 3 Targets, 2 Receptions, 6 Yards

Head coach Mike Macdonald said at halftime that the team needed to lean on the run game in the 2nd half due to the struggles of the offensive line in the first half. That’s exactly what happened. After a non-existent rushing attack in the first half, Walker had 5 carries for 53 yards and a TD on the first offensive drive in the 2nd half. He was the clear bell-cow and looked explosive.

Notes

• Out-touched Charbonnet 22 to 6 before picking up an injury in the 4th quarter. Walker stated he was fine post-game.
• Only saw two targets which is a little disappointing considering the pre-season coach speak of getting Walker more involved in the passing game.

Missed Opportunities

• Had a 6-yard rushing TD called back due to a holding call on DK Metcalf.

Zach Charbonnet: 8 Carries, 12 Yards | 3 Targets, 2 Receptions, 29 Yards, TD

Charbonnet was a distant RB2 with Walker dominating the workload and was inefficient with his carries.

Notes

• The reception TD was on a busted coverage
• Played the final two drives due to Walker leaving with an injury

Wide Receiver/Tight End

DK Metcalf: 4 Targets, 3 Receptions, 29 yards

DK Metcalf was only the WR1 on the depth chart in this one, taking a back seat to Tyler Lockett. We unfortunately did not get to see the explosive Metcalf who was featured in his brief preseason stint due to the Seahawks’ sub-par offensive line play.

Tyler Lockett: 7 Targets, 6 Receptions, 77 Yards

Tyler Lockett never dies, if anything, he thrives. Accounting for 45% receiving yard market share and a 28% target share, Lockett (along with Walker) put the team on his back in the 2nd half. He did what he’s been doing for a decade now, making clutch plays and getting first downs, including a one-handed grab to ice the game. The game plan did not appear to feature Lockett because he was invisible in the first half but an adjustment was made at halftime and it worked. He was the go-to option in the second half.

https://x.com/NFL/status/1832921765812846832

Notes

• Became the second Seahawks WR in franchise history to reach 8,000 receiving yards

Jaxon Smith-Njigba: 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 19 Yards

Is it time to panic on JSN? His day started strong when Seattle could not do a single thing on offense until JSN had back-to-back catches for first downs in the second quarter (the first of the game for the Seahawks) but he was not targeted afterward for the remaining 2.5 quarters. JSN did out-snap Lockett, playing in 2 WR sets, so the usage looks promising, but Lockett’s involvement does not.

Notes

• Played 42 snaps, behind Metcalf (52), ahead of Lockett (31)

https://x.com/MikeClayNFL/status/1832923203666125114

Missed Opportunities

• Drew a 14-yard pass interference penalty

Noah Fant: 4 Targets, 2 Receptions, 11 Yards

With both Will Dissly and Colby Parkinson finding new homes in the off-season, Fant was projected for a larger workload in 2024. He did see four targets which tied Metcalf for 2nd-most on the team, but like the rest of the Seahawks’ pass catchers, Fant took a back seat to good, ole, reliable Tyler Lockett.