Training camp is finally here and FanHouse breaks down the most important position battles heading into the season, team by team.Hey, I'm not proud of the nicknamed headline, okay? But, to me, the battle between Julius Jones and Maurice Morris will define the Seahawks season. Or at least where we think they're going. Morris was the guy that filled in more than admirably while Shaun Alexander was nursing boo-boos (and a 3.5 YPC! Zing!). But Jones could be a back with purpose after essentially being discarded by the Cowboys.
You could argue -- especially with Deion Branch hurt -- that the flanker spot in Seattle is the most important position to watch. But we're talking about a West Coast offensive team here and Matt Hasselback -- he's going to distribute the ball regardless of who's catching it.
It could be Nate Burleson, Bobby Engram (if Branch comes back soon enough) or any of the youngsters -- Logan Payne, Ben Obomanu and Courtney Taylor -- and it doesn't particularly matter.
What will matter is who ends up toting the rock for Mike Holmgren in his final season. Jones and Morris will be the chief competitors, but T.J. Duckett will be there to steal short yardage and further muck up the "starting" situation.
Morris started five games last year and despite objections that he needed to replace Alexander as the starting back, he wasn't really that effective, failing to crack 100 yards once and only finding the end zone three times despite getting 90 carries in that span.
The other thing 90 carries in six starts says is that Holmgren doesn't trust Morris. Of course, signing Jones doesn't do much for faith in Mo-Mo either.
What it does do is make a reasonably spicy battle heading into training camp. My guess is that Mo's backup status throughout the Alexander ordeal sticks with him throughout training camp and into the beginning of the regular season. Which would make Julius your obvious winner in Seattle.
The only problem is that in the end, I also see everyone ending up as a relative loser. Morris and Jones are going to split carries. And Duckett is going to end taking goal line work as well, meaning regardless of who is actually starting, this might be the biggest RBBC in the league.
