The Seahawks gave each of their three quarterbacks one day with the first-string offense during this week’s three-day minicamp, but head coach Pete Carroll didn’t get any closer to deciding which of the three will be with the first-string offense when the season starts.
Carroll said at the conclusion of minicamp that he plans to take his time choosing a starter among Matt Flynn, Tarvaris Jackson and Russell Wilson, and he may not make a final decision until close to the start of the regular season.
“It’s going to take us until we start playing games, we’ll see something happening,” Carroll said, via the Seattle Times. “At this point, they’re doing everything they can do with the opportunities, and they look good. I can’t tell you that there’s anything that has happened then we’ll stay with the same format going into camp. T-Jack will go first and away we’ll go. Other than that, let the games begin. It will be really exciting to see what happens.”
Most people assume that Flynn was signed as a free agent because the Seahawks expect him to start, that Wilson was drafted as a project who might be the Seahawks’ starter some day, and that Jackson’s status as last year’s starter means nothing for him this year. But Carroll insists that he’s giving all three of them “an even shot,” and that he and his staff will only make their decision after they’ve seen all three quarterbacks compete for the job.
Still, the reality is that Flynn is the heavy favorite. Carroll believes competition makes a training camp better, but at the end of that competition, it would be a major surprise if the Seahawks’ starting quarterback is not Matt Flynn.