Trevone Boykin--Is He Seahawks Back-up QB? poll & discussion

Do you think that Trevone Boykin will be the backup QB for the Seahawks this year? (and by that I'm meaning for the entire 2016-2017 season)

Explain your reasons why, why not, or why you're unsure.

Here are my overall thoughts ...

After watching the tape from the Chiefs Game in its entirety, I don't think there is any question in my mind that the answer is emphatically -- YES. Jake Heaps did some nice things in this game (moving around/stepping up in the pocket, making some throws on the run, etc.) ... but Boykin to me just looked like he belongs in that role. From a 1000 foot view standpoint, you have to love a young QB who in many ways is a carbon copy of Russell Wilson. He has an excellent arm, has great mobility and scrambling ability, throws well on the run, and just flat out has poise.

That poise showed up in Game 1, as he did a lot of good things with the football. Coming from TCU and their fast paced offense, he looked like a natural not only on the final drive of the game ... but also in the 2 minute drill at the end of the 1st Half that ultimately stalled as well. He made some great throws. A lot of people have obviously talked about that last game winning throw to McEvoy ... but to me, the play that really stood out was the 32 yard sideline throw that he made to McEvoy earlier in that drive. That was a heck of a throw. On the previous possession, he made another really nice long throw to Nwachukwu and had that great long scramble that nearly resulted in a 1st Down.

Now, does he still have things to work on? Absolutely. That intentional grounding play -- blatant rookie mistake there. BUT, we saw similar mistakes from Russell Wilson early on in his career.

I know that (ideally) most of us would love to see this team go out and somehow pick up a veteran QB to be this team's back-up. In a perfect world, that would be nice. However, as you look throughout the league, who exactly would potentially be that guy? There are honestly so few competent back-up QB's out there. Sports Illustrated did a piece on the top back-up QB's last September and the situation out there in terms of back-ups throughout the NFL isn't pretty. Here was their ranking of the top back-up QB's out there ...

Kellen Clemens
Jimmy Garoppolo, Patriots
Brock Osweiler, Broncos
Luke McCown, Saints
Scott Tolzien, Packers
Ryan Nassib, Giants
Tarvaris Jackson, Seahawks
Sean Renfree, Falcons

I don't see much to get me excited there and frankly outside of Tavaris, I can't think of another potential back-up anywhere who would fit what the Seahawks do. Unless Schneider decides Tavaris deserves another shot ... or suffers some sort of complete mental breakdown, momentary loss of reason, etc. and decides to make a trade for Mark Sanchez ... I don't see another viable veteran option out there.

To me, I believe the Seahawks coaching staff and front office really like Trevone Boykin. Given his skillset, overall experience, and how he's looked thus far ... I don't see any way at this point how he's not this team's back-up QB this year. Comments? Thoughts?

Yes. It's his job to lose at this point imo.

If he can continue to move the ball without making critical mistakes, he should earn the coaching staff's trust to be the backup. He has a lot going for him, everything that you listed. Can't wait to see what he shows us in these three remaining pre season games

At this point, I honestly don't see us having any quarterback that I'd have faith in running the offense as a starter, so I am more than willing to give him some time to build up his confidence and abilities as the backup. We still have 3 games left, and although he had a great finish, his earlier play looked a bit rough around the edges. I'm hopeful for him, but am more hopeful that Wilson continues to stay healthy


*knocks on wood*

Saw a headline yesterday that he was competing for the starting job. Of course the actual article simply talked about his performance but the headline was clearly done to grab clicks and I obliged.

Obviously it's his to lose if Christian Ponder actually has shot at the same job in San Francisco with all the same options Seattle has.

No offense but one preseason game is not enough to even offer a speculative answer to that question.

dogorama":1fgummkb said:

No offense but one preseason game is not enough to even offer a speculative answer to that question.

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There's a piece of me that really agrees with what you're saying here ... but I'm just looking at him in context of the overall landscape of the NFL. Honestly, who else do you think would be a viable option and actually be available? Like it or not, I just don't see many other true options out there.

Hawkscanner":8ieyrx7d said:

dogorama":8ieyrx7d said:

No offense but one preseason game is not enough to even offer a speculative answer to that question.

Click to expand...

There's a piece of me that really agrees with what you're saying here ... but I'm just looking at him in context of the overall landscape of the NFL. Honestly, who else do you think would be a viable option and actually be available? Like it or not, I just don't see many other true options out there.

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What did they give Heaps for playing time? I would like him to be the lead guy this game.

kidhawk":3hyoift7 said:

At this point, I honestly don't see us having any quarterback that I'd have faith in running the offense as a starter, so I am more than willing to give him some time to build up his confidence and abilities as the backup. We still have 3 games left, and although he had a great finish, his earlier play looked a bit rough around the edges. I'm hopeful for him, but am more hopeful that Wilson continues to stay healthy


*knocks on wood*

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That's pretty much encapsulates how I feel about him as well. He looked nice in places, but there are certainly things he needs to work on. And there should be because at the end of the day, he's still a rookie. For all the excitement that he's garnered for that final TD pass to McEvoy, let's be honest here. Go back to the tape and watch that again. It was a nice throw, but not an excellent all pro throw by any means. Part of what made that successful is who he was throwing against. A veteran, more savvy CB knocks that away.

In the end, I'm hoping that we never have a chance to find out just how good (or not) Boykin truly is once the live fire begins. Keep knocking on wood that Russell Wilson stays upright for the entire year ... and that (outside of blow-out win situations in which he gets the Steve Scheffler treatment) Boykin is relegated to clip-board duty and watching and learning this season.

dogorama":2jz40m82 said:

Hawkscanner":2jz40m82 said:

dogorama":2jz40m82 said:

No offense but one preseason game is not enough to even offer a speculative answer to that question.

Click to expand...

There's a piece of me that really agrees with what you're saying here ... but I'm just looking at him in context of the overall landscape of the NFL. Honestly, who else do you think would be a viable option and actually be available? Like it or not, I just don't see many other true options out there.

Click to expand...

What did they give Heaps for playing time? I would like him to be the lead guy this game.

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Yeah, and I believe that Carroll and the coaching staff probably WILL give Heaps more playing time on Thursday -- just to see what it is that they have in him. Heaps did some good things in this game -- he showed some good mobility, stepped up in the pocket well a couple of times, and even made a good throw on the run.

The facts of the matter are though that he was only 3 for 10 passing in this game. Not good -- especially when you consider the level of competition he was going up against. On the flip side, Boykin was 16 for 26 (a 61.5% completion rate). That basically dovetails with what we saw out of him in college. He was a fairly accurate passer during his time at TCU -- completing 61.2% of all his passes. Across the board, Boykin's numbers in college were just flat out better. Heck, he was seriously in the discussion for the Heisman Trophy at one point. He's just flat out better than Heaps IMO.

That said, I do believe we probably will see Heaps get more reps in this game. This game will be an interesting one for both QB's, as this Vikings defense is going to offer them some challenges. I'd personally love to see Boykin get some PT against their #1 unit. We'll see how it all goes.

Small sample size, of course, but as of right now, yes Boykin is the man. That may change, but somehow I doubt it.

dogorama":rxbqe1gh said:

No offense but one preseason game is not enough to even offer a speculative answer to that question.

Click to expand...

It isn't just one pre season game. He has been a seahawk since the draft. It is all of the off season programs, and 1 pre season game. So from what was reported all off season, and watching the first pre season game, it seems the job is his. I just cannot believe how worked up people are over his early game woes. He is a rookie starting his first pre season game, not to mention on the road in the second loudest stadium in the nfl. He came from a shotgun offense in college and really never worked from under center. After all of those odds working against him, he still showed growth within one game. He showed poise, grit, and a determination to win. He was going to make mistakes. Hell, Russell made a bigger mistake than he did.

Jimjones0384":q3mhjvip said:

dogorama":q3mhjvip said:

No offense but one preseason game is not enough to even offer a speculative answer to that question.

Click to expand...

It isn't just one pre season game. He has been a seahawk since the draft. It is all of the off season programs, and 1 pre season game. So from what was reported all off season, and watching the first pre season game, it seems the job is his. I just cannot believe how worked up people are over his early game woes. He is a rookie starting his first pre season game, not to mention on the road in the second loudest stadium in the nfl. He came from a shotgun offense in college and really never worked from under center. After all of those odds working against him, he still showed growth within one game. He showed poise, grit, and a determination to win. He was going to make mistakes. Hell, Russell made a bigger mistake than he did.

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Well your condemned to watching the 49ers for a season by the Football Gods now for making that statement

Jimjones0384":15llmrh9 said:

dogorama":15llmrh9 said:

No offense but one preseason game is not enough to even offer a speculative answer to that question.

Click to expand...

It isn't just one pre season game. He has been a seahawk since the draft. It is all of the off season programs, and 1 pre season game. So from what was reported all off season, and watching the first pre season game, it seems the job is his. I just cannot believe how worked up people are over his early game woes. He is a rookie starting his first pre season game, not to mention on the road in the second loudest stadium in the nfl. He came from a shotgun offense in college and really never worked from under center. After all of those odds working against him, he still showed growth within one game. He showed poise, grit, and a determination to win. He was going to make mistakes. Hell, Russell made a bigger mistake than he did.

Click to expand...

Who's worked up? I merely said that one preseason game is not enough information for me to make an evaluation, especially when I didn't get to see enough of the other QB. And, from what I have heard they both have shown some good things in practice. Is that unreasonable?

dogorama":3fq4y9xt said:

Jimjones0384":3fq4y9xt said:

dogorama":3fq4y9xt said:

No offense but one preseason game is not enough to even offer a speculative answer to that question.

Click to expand...

It isn't just one pre season game. He has been a seahawk since the draft. It is all of the off season programs, and 1 pre season game. So from what was reported all off season, and watching the first pre season game, it seems the job is his. I just cannot believe how worked up people are over his early game woes. He is a rookie starting his first pre season game, not to mention on the road in the second loudest stadium in the nfl. He came from a shotgun offense in college and really never worked from under center. After all of those odds working against him, he still showed growth within one game. He showed poise, grit, and a determination to win. He was going to make mistakes. Hell, Russell made a bigger mistake than he did.

Click to expand...

Who's worked up? I merely said that one preseason game is not enough information for me to make an evaluation, especially when I didn't get to see enough of the other QB. And, from what I have heard they both have shown some good things in practice. Is that unreasonable?

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Being reasonable is totally overrated get with the program already.

dogorama":45549al5 said:

No offense but one preseason game is not enough to even offer a speculative answer to that question.

Click to expand...

This is a somewhat incomplete answer, as I see it, the Seahawks don't have much of a deck to draw from, so they are going to have to put up some cash and take a chance on someone to come in and show that they're a better option than Boykin.
He is rough around the edges, but maybe he's open and capable of learning what he needs from RW; he does seem to possess a similar skillset, albeit much more rawness in his play.
I'm thinking that the Seahawks will still be on the hunt for a veteran Quarterback to come in and compete, but as I already stated, there isn't a whole lot of QB's on the market right now...Maybe when the other teams start paring down their rosters?

Yup

Obviously Tjack isn't coming back. But if I could get a Tjack level backup who fits our offense for a late-round pick, I would jump at the chance to make that trade.

That said, even if Seattle made a trade like that, I would want to see them hold onto Boykins with a roster spot. With some time in the offense I could see him becoming a better backup than Tjack was. Boykins already feels like a raw version of Tyrod Taylor, I'd really like to see how he looks down the road after getting in years of practices and training.

More realistically, it looks like Carroll will take a risk and enter the season with Boykins as the #2 QB. This has a slight feel of rushing a prospect, like the Mariners have done in the past with guys like Mike Zunino, but in terms of talent I definitely want him on the final 53 man roster one way or another and I'd settle for 'rushing' him into the #2 role if it came to that.

It just seemed to me that boykin had a lot of stuff to work on and his stats are misleading watching the whole game but making up the ground on two series stats wise
Heaps 3 for 10 rate was not at all helped out by his receivers one bit and I thought he looked sharper and more comfy but we still have very little sample and 3 games to go and last time russ was a rook playin the chiefs he was great ALL game long and looked polished so it's possible to find someone like that but not very likely.
That being said , I really don't think the option of anyone else better coming in and backing up is either warranted required or available so either one of these two will be fine , I would just prefer the best , not necessarily the most russ clone like but the one that gives us the most opportunity to win as I have a feeling the line would be able to support a pocket passer and or a dual threat qb this year so I'm stoked at either possibility that I hope to god we never have to use
Neither one blew me away but that's by far the norm with the new guy coming in thing
I really liked both better than tjacks play
just my 2 cents
I just want to see more
Go Hawks :irishdrinkers:

scutterhawk":2rihvzwz said:

dogorama":2rihvzwz said:

No offense but one preseason game is not enough to even offer a speculative answer to that question.

Click to expand...

This is a somewhat incomplete answer, as I see it, the Seahawks don't have much of a deck to draw from, so they are going to have to put up some cash and take a chance on someone to come in and show that they're a better option than Boykin.
He is rough around the edges, but maybe he's open and capable of learning what he needs from RW; he does seem to possess a similar skillset, albeit much more rawness in his play.
I'm thinking that the Seahawks will still be on the hunt for a veteran Quarterback to come in and compete, but as I already stated, there isn't a whole lot of QB's on the market right now...Maybe when the other teams start paring down their rosters?

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Here's the deal, if the question was put to me: is Boykin leading at this time? I would say yes, but. That isn't the question though, it's, is he our back-up QB? That seems like a poll that would be more appropriate after the third or even fourth preseason game, but I get it, people are bored and are reaching for something to discuss.

Fans are fickle, if Heaps throws for good yardage Thurs and Boykin throws a couple of int's the poll goes exactly the opposite way. Players can look great in practice and not be good at all in games and vice versa, the NFL is full of players like that. I want to see a football player, not a 40 yd-three cone-vertical athletic wonder, AND the only real way to see that is in a game.