"An opportunity.

That's something Tarvaris Jackson never truly got the past two years in Minnesota, and it's the single biggest reason he's here in Seattle.

"A chance to have a chance," Jackson said.

Jackson is first in line to fill the starting job Matt Hasselbeck held the past 10 years, and in San Diego on Thursday, the Seahawks will get their first look at Jackson's second chance in an exhibition game against the Chargers.

"He'll get out there for just a handful of plays," coach Pete Carroll said of Jackson.

Let the overanalysis commence. There's going to be no avoiding it, and plenty of people have already come to their own conclusions about Jackson's trajectory after the past five years in Minnesota.

He was characterized as a reach when the Vikings chose him in the draft's second round in 2006 out of Division I-AA Alabama State, and he was dubbed a bust when he was benched after two games into his third season. Each of the past two years, Brett Favre's unretirement bumped Jackson down Minnesota's depth chart.

And after all that, the Vikings were 10-10 in games Jackson started, and he has a higher career quarterback rating than Kevin Kolb, the quarterback for whom Arizona gave up a second-round pick, a starting cornerback and a boatload of money.

Instead, the Seahawks turned to Jackson, and Carroll proclaimed him the starter before he practiced. Jackson has a two-year contract and the opportunity to play his way into the Seahawks' future."