For all the obvious focus on Russell Wilson’s return to Seattle Monday night, the game also marks the Seahawks debut of six players the team got in return.
Three are draft picks — left tackle Charles Cross, linebacker Boye Mafe and receiver Dareke Young. (Seattle also got linebacker Tyreke Smith with one of the picks acquired, but he is on Injured Reserve.)
Three others are players acquired from Denver — quarterback Drew Lock, tight end Noah Fant and defensive lineman Shelby Harris.
Lock, who for now is the backup quarterback to Geno Smith, may not play.
But Harris and Fant are each ticketed for significant roles on Monday and for the rest of the season.
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Harris is listed as a starter at one defensive end spot in the team’s 3-4 front. Defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt said this week Harris will play on all three downs, with the Seahawks hoping he can add inside pass rush in the nickel as well as stout play against the run on base downs.
“He adds a lot,” Hurtt said. “He helps out the defensive linebackers, too, with things that he sees on the field so we can trust and listen to his expertise. So, he’s going to be a valuable asset to us on all downs — first, second and third.”
Fant, meanwhile, is listed as a co-starter at tight end with Will Dissly, with both likely to be on the field regularly.
“Even though Noah is still a young man [24 years old], he comes in and has a really good sense for the game, can do everything, and is a natural player,” coach Pete Carroll said this week.
Denver is the only other team Fant has played for in the NFL after he was drafted by the Broncos 20th overall in 2019.
Harris was a seventh-round pick of the Raiders in 2014 and, after playing eight games with them over two seasons, also had brief stints with the Jets and Cowboys before finding a home in Denver, starting 49 games over the past five years.
So for Harris, playing against a former team is nothing new, and he said he’s learned some lessons in those previous games he’ll try to apply to facing the Broncos Monday night.
“When I was playing with the Broncos, I got drafted by the Raiders, so playing the Raiders the first time, I’ve learned from my mistakes of you can’t put too much emotion into it, otherwise it will sometimes get you off of your gameplan and you got to just play football,” Harris said. “You got to go out there and play your game and do what you’ve been doing. This is my ninth year in the league and I have to keep doing what got me here. Obviously playing against a bunch of guys you practiced against the last five years, played a bunch of games with, shared a lot of memories with, that’s for after the game. We could talk about all the stuff and remember all those good memories after the game. We got to handle business and come out of there 1-0.”
For Fant, it will be a new experience. But he says he’s not expecting it to be all that different.
“To me it’s like, ‘Yeah, I came from Denver, we’re playing them,’” he said. “But once it comes down to it full speed in the game, I’m not going to be thinking about any of that. It’ll be cool to see my guys before the game, but once the ball is snapped, we’re playing football, so I’m ready for it.”
But if Harris is going to try not to make too much of the game, he said he will try to make a lot out of having been traded by the Broncos and making them miss him.
“I’ve been cut before, but this is my first time being traded and I want to do everything I can and do my part to make sure that Seattle came out the winners of this trade,” Harris said. “Make sure that after this game maybe they look out and are like, ‘Damn, maybe we traded the wrong person.’”