Don’t be surprised when Seahawks don’t name starting QB during training camp

The Seattle Seahawks played their annual training camp mock game at Lumen Field Saturday, giving fans a first look at many of the new faces on the roster in something resembling a game situation. It also gave fans their first look at the Geno Smith versus Drew Lock competition at quarterback outside the VMAC, and left many calling for Lock to be named the winner of the camp competition.

It’s obviously still early for the team to name a starter, with all three preseason games left to be played, but fans shouldn’t be surprised if the Seahawks don’t name a starter at the position soon. In fact, it may be more likely if they don’t ever name a winner in the competition.

Now, that doesn’t mean that both quarterbacks won’t be given a shot to perform during the preseason, just as both quarterbacks received the opportunity to lead both the first and second team offenses in the mock game. The Hawks will travel Friday to face the Pittsburgh Steelers in the preseason opener Saturday, before a quick turnaround sees them host the Chicago Bears the following Thursday. Those two games will undoubtedly give fans plenty to debate during the eight days before preseason finale against the Dallas Cowboys in the preseason finale, but just because there will certainly be plenty of debate doesn’t mean there will be an answer for fans.

Head coach Pete Carroll has traditionally played things close to the vest, and doesn’t give opponents the advantage of a heads up when it comes to information that could help that opponent prepare. Whether that’s waiting until the absolute last minute in terms of league deadlines to file injury reports or waiting until 4 PM New York time on Saturdays to make practice squad elevations or move players to injured reserve, Carroll operates in a way that keeps opponents guessing until the last possible moment.

So, what that means for the Seahawks in the five weeks between now and the Week 1 regular season opener against the Denver Broncos is that fans shouldn’t be surprised if the Hawks don’t publicly name a starter. Ever. As in, fans, observers, the media, fantasy football players and everybody who doesn’t work at the VMAC are unlikely to know who Coach Carroll has named as the starter until the Hawks take the field for pre-game warmups on Monday Night Football on September 12.

Thus, if you’re one of those who is already tired of the amount of ink spilled and the amount of clicks generated by the debate about whether Geno or Drew should get the starting nod for the Seahawks, August may be a great month to log off. Barring injury to either Smith or Lock, the next five weeks are going to overflowing with speculation, debate and arguments for and against both.

But don’t be surprised if after everything is said and written and debated about the competition, the public announcement on who the starter is comes from the members of the media in the press box in the hours before the Week 1 kickoff against Denver.