There are no shortage of candidates for the Seahawks’ kickoff and punt return jobs.
But as the Seahawks prepared for their second preseason game Friday night against the Kansas City Chiefs, there were also, as of now, few answers.
One reason is injuries to two players who entered camp expected as favorites for the jobs — third-year running back Kenny McIntosh and veteran free agent signee Steven Sims.
McIntosh is out for the year after suffering an ACL injury the first week of camp, while Sims has been dealing with a hamstring injury and sat out again Friday after also missing the preseason opener against the Raiders.
For a moment, it appeared as if Sims might play Friday as he was in pads and went through warmups — the first time he’d been in pads in more than a week.
But when the game began, he was out of pads and again sitting out.
With Sims sidelined, Seattle’s two starting kickoff returners Friday night were second-year running back George Holani and fourth-year receiver Dareke Young.
Those two were back for each of Seattle’s first four kickoff returns, which indicated that maybe the Seahawks are at least narrowing things down some.
Holani appeared to have a good return on the opening kickoff, breaking it for 50 yards, before flags fell and it was called back due to a holding penalty on Drake Thomas.
Holani and Young were also back deep for the second kickoff, and Young returned it from the 5-yard line to the 34, as well as the third kickoff following a safety late in the first half, which Holani returned for 26 yards.
Their usage indicates that those two could well win the kickoff return jobs when the season begins.
Whoever wins the jobs will try to give the Seahawks a more consistent and mistake-free return game than a year ago, when Dee Williams and Laviska Shenault handled most of the duties the first three months of the year before each was released in December following a fumble-filled game against the New York Jets.
Jaelon Darden took over duties for the final month of the season — with McIntosh also getting some kickoff returns — but was not re-signed in the offseason.
Sims had also been expected a favorite for the punt return job as well as kickoffs.
With Sims out, rookie Tory Horton is listed as the starter there and handled the only return Seattle had in its opener against the Raiders — a 5-yard return that could have gone for more — and could well begin the year there.
Cornerback Damarion Williams is listed as Horton’s backup.
But one question is how much Seattle may want to put on the plate of Horton as a rookie as he is also expected to have a major role in the offense. Seattle will undoubtedly want a second player on the roster who can return punts.
Another question is also whether Seattle would want to start the season with an inexperienced return crew — neither Holani nor Young has a return in an NFL game, nor obviously does Horton.
And as second-year special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh noted this week, what will also play a role in all of the kickoff and punt units is how the initial 53-man roster comes together.
Special teams is a key factor in determining many roster decisions. But it isn’t the only factor.
There is, of course, no doubt that Horton will make the roster, and Holani also seems just about a given at this point. Young has been on the roster the last few years and has had a strong camp, but it’s hard to tell how many receivers Seattle will keep after the top four that seem a given.
But Harbaugh said it’s too early to settle yet with more than a week left until the Aug. 26 cutdown date from 90 players to 53.
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“We have a lot of work to do,’’ Harbaugh said earlier this week. “This time of year, there’s a lot in … flux, in terms of who is going to be on the team and everything like that. So you’re trying to build flexibility of, ‘OK, if the roster goes this way or that way,’ you have answers and you’re trying to get guys experience. I would feel differently if it was the first week coming up, but we’re in that process of evaluating and seeing what guys can take it from the practice field into a competitive atmosphere.”
The biggest question mark may revolve around Sims.
Seattle signed the 28-year-old Sims to a one-year deal worth up to $1.117 million, but with no guaranteed money, mostly for his return experience.
Sims has 62 kickoff returns in an NFL career that dates to 2019, with a 25.2-yard average and one touchdown, and 74 punt returns for 462 yards in the regular season, also returning a punt 67 yards for a TD for Houston against Baltimore in a divisional-round playoff game. Macdonald was Baltimore’s defensive coordinator that year.
It hadn’t been expected Sims would factor in much to the receiver equation — he has only three catches in 12 games over the past two seasons.
But the time he’s missed with a hamstring has made it even harder to see how he might fit in the receiving corps, and Seattle may not have the room to fit a player on the roster solely for returning.
Not that there isn’t precedent for that — Seattle kept Dee Williams last year on the roster as a cornerback but almost solely for his return ability.
But the time Sims has missed with a hamstring has made it hard to see how he’ll fit not only with the return units but if he could add anything on a receiving corps that has some pretty stiff competition for the final few spots.
Center Oluwatimi again out, Sundell gets start
Olu Oluwatimi, competing with Jalen Sundell for the starting center spot, again sat out with a back issue he has dealt with for more than a week. Oluwatimi also missed the preseason opener, returned to practice briefly on Saturday before leaving and has not practiced since.
Sundell got the start at center with Federico Maranges working with the second team and rookie Mason Richman with the third team. Richman, listed as a guard, began playing mostly center this week.
Macdonald has indicated Oluwatimi’s injury is not serious. But Oluwatimi missing both games and Macdonald saying the team is narrowing on picking a starting five could point to Sundell beginning the year as the starting center.
The rest of the first-team offensive line featured Abe Lucas at right tackle, Anthony Bradford at right guard, Grey Zabel at left guard and Josh Jones at left tackle in place of starter Charles Cross. Cross is still being held out of contact work after having had finger surgery just over two weeks ago. But he appears on track to return for the regular season.
NOTES
• Seattle’s game captains were running back Zach Charbonnet and defensive lineman Jarran Reed.
• Zach Triner again handled the long snapping with Chris Stoll sidelined with a back issue.
• Former running back Curt Warner, a member of the team’s Ring of Honor, raised the 12 flag.
Bob Condotta: bcondotta@seattletimes.com. Bob Condotta covers the Seahawks for the Seattle Times. He provides daily coverage of the team throughout the year.