They aren’t all bad — starting quarterback Geno Smith and tight end Will Dissly headline the Seattle Seahawks players we want to steal for the New Orleans Saints. A great way to scout an upcoming opponent is to look at your own roster, gauge the weaknesses, and then look at what the opponent does well to imagine how big of an upgrade they’d be for your team. With that in mind, here are a couple of Seahawks players we’d rather see suiting up for New Orleans than against it:
TE Colby Parkinson
I was a big fan of Colby Parkinson when he was in college, and that has continued into this season. I know it may be weird to choose a team’s backup tight end as a player to add, but he’s the type of player that this team is missing. Parkinson is a 6-foot-7 250 pound receiving threat, remind you of anyone? He brings a lot to the table as a receiver, and it’s something that I think this team could really use. — Dylan Sanders
TE Will Dissly
Through three games, the Saints have played five players at tight end. The five of them have combined for just 15 catches, 153 receiving yards and no touchdowns. Dissly, Seattle leading tight end in offensive snaps, has alone totaled 12 receptions for 116 receiving. He’s topped off that 9.7 yards per reception average with three receiving touchdowns. This is the position the Saints could stand to bolster the most, adding a productive pass catcher to the position would help that. — Ross Jackson
QB Geno Smith
Yeah, I’d like to see the Saints upgrade at tight end, but there’s so much more growth potential at quarterback. Smith is enjoying a banner year as Seattle’s starter and doing many of the things we hoped to see out of Jameis Winston going into the season. He’s protecting the football (just 2 interceptions and 1 fumble in 4 games) and completing a record-high rate of his pass attempts (77.3%) while averaging the highest adjusted net yards per attempt (7.36) of his career; that comprehensive passing stat accounts for scoring plays as well as sacks and turnovers, and it’s much better than what Winston (5.07) has posted. Andy Dalton has him beat, for now (8.23), but I’m concerned that number will plummet once teams get a longer look at him. Maybe Smith regresses as the season draws on, too, but he’d have to fall pretty far to be worse than who the Saints already have at quarterback. — John Sigler