RENTON — The Seattle Seahawks’ offense looks much different than it did this time last year. New quarterback, multiple new starting wide receivers, new play caller and several new assistant coaches. They’re banking on all that newness to deliver a better on-field product.
The defense, on the other hand, is full of familiar faces. And the Seahawks are banking on continuity to deliver an elite unit.
“We want to be No. 1,” veteran defensive tackle Jarran Reed said Monday afternoon in response to a question about where he’d like the defense to rank in yards allowed. “We want to be No. 1 in every category. That’s what we’re striving for. We’re hungry. Every game may not be perfect, but that’s what we’re striving for. That’s what we’re working hard to get to.”
Reed, 32, re-signed this offseason on a three-year deal worth $22 million. His return was one of many moves made by the front office to keep coach Mike Macdonald’s defense together. Seattle also re-signed inside linebacker Ernest Jones IV (three years, $28.5 million), cornerback Josh Jobe (one year, $2 million) and nose tackle Johnathan Hankins (one year, $2.1 million). The most notable member of last year’s rotation to depart was outside linebacker Dre’Mont Jones (released as a cap-saving measure), and he’s been replaced by DeMarcus Lawrence, who signed a three-year, $32.5 million deal.
Second-year defensive coordinator Aden Durde said the high retention rate will be “hugely” beneficial.
“The continuity comes with the understanding of when we’re going through it (and handling) formation adjustments, they’re talking, they’re anticipating them and they’re understanding how to play fast,” said Durde, who helps coordinate the defense that Macdonald calls on game days.
An example of how familiarity translates to better play is the ability to solve problems in real time. Durde said that it is already starting to show up in practice.
“When they might be against a different personnel grouping, some of those problems, they’re solving,” Durde said. “They’re bringing the safety down to the side they want to bring down. They understand what the nickel is. It’s just those little in-game adjustments. Sometimes it’s not 100 percent right, but they make it right together.”
On Monday, Seattle held its fourth day of organized team activity (OTA), though this was the first session open to the media. Jones and outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu are recovering from offseason knee surgeries, but Seattle otherwise has its full starting defense on the field during these practices (I didn’t see Hankins on Monday). Reed said the combination of having everyone present and fine-tuning the details of the scheme rather than building from the ground up, as they were doing last year, is like “reading the same book over and over again.”
“Now we can go out on the field and play fast,” Reed said. “I think that plays a huge part into being successful and to executing the plays.”
Seattle’s defense came out hot in the first three weeks last season and then quickly cooled off and struggled in several areas, most notably stopping the run. After some lineup shuffling — acquiring Jones in a trade for Jermoe Baker, waiving Dodson and inserting Jobe — Seattle settled in and became more disciplined and dominant in the second half of the year.
Despite the midseason lull, Seattle finished last year ranked 11th in opponent points per game (tied with the Buffalo Bills), fifth in opponent points per drive and eighth in defensive expected points added per play (all stats provided by TruMedia unless stated otherwise). They were a top-five defense in all three categories after the Week 10 bye.
The secondary is at full strength and has added second-round rookie Nick Emmanwori, who is essentially replacing Rayshawn Jenkins as the third safety, often deployed on early downs and near the line of scrimmage. Devon Witherspoon, the fifth overall pick in 2023, has made the Pro Bowl in each of his first two seasons. Jobe entered the lineup in Week 7 because of injury and played well enough to take Tre Brown’s job. Riq Woolen had another up-and-down season, but at his best, he’s arguably Seattle’s top coverage defender. Julian Love and Coby Bryant were a dynamic safety combo down the stretch in Bryant’s first full year at the position.
“We can rotate, we can line up anywhere, and we can play any coverage with those guys,” Witherspoon said. “We’re just building on what we did last year. We know the playbook now. So, now we just add our own little flavor to it.”
Monday’s practice was the first opportunity to see that secondary match up against Seattle’s new-look offense, headlined by quarterback Sam Darnold. That unit swapped Geno Smith, DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett for Darnold, Cooper Kupp and Marquez Valdes-Scantling, while also adding second-round rookie tight end Elijah Arroyo.
Klint Kubiak is now calling the plays instead of Ryan Grubb. Kubiak’s offense made plenty of standout plays Monday, but the secondary snuck in a handful of highlights as well.
Darnold was picked off twice during a three-play stretch in a red zone period, first by Love and then by Jobe (Kupp and Jaxon Smith-Njigba were the targets). Sandwiched between those turnovers was a touchdown to Smith-Njigba (with Woolen in coverage). Kupp also caught a touchdown later in the drill.
That’s the type of back-and-forth action Seattle will likely see all summer because of the talent on both sides of the ball. These practices are without pads, and the seven-on-seven drills allow the quarterback to operate without pass-rush problems, which favors the offense. So, barring a complete blunder by the offense, high-level anticipation is required to generate multiple turnovers, particularly against the first-team offense. Seattle’s starting secondary can bring that on any given snap.
Witherspoon’s play is essential to the defense reaching its goal of being the best in the league. Last year, he didn’t have any interceptions and forced just one fumble, which was recovered by the offense. He had six tackles for loss on run plays but just one sack, which didn’t come until Week 17. After recording 16 pass breakups as a rookie, Witherspoon had only nine in Year 2.
Witherspoon was still incredibly impactful despite the drop-off in raw numbers, but the goal in 2025 should be to get him around the ball as often as possible. One way to do that is to send him at the quarterback. As a rookie, Witherspoon had three sacks (two against the Giants in Week 4) and four total quarterback hits. He had just two quarterback hits last year.
Witherspoon attributed the statistical dip to teams having good plans for his rushes. Durde said it’s on him to give Witherspoon more opportunities (he rushed 29 times in 14 games as a rookie and 42 times in 17 games last year).
“I think that will bring him to life more,” Durde said of Witherspoon as a blitzer.
The rest of the defense is full of players who stand to benefit from simply having banked so many reps in the scheme next to the guys they’ll be playing with this season.
Defensive tackle Byron Murphy II, the team’s first-round pick in 2024, should see the field more as a pass rusher. Inside linebacker Tyrice Knight, a 2024 fourth-round pick, played over 500 defensive snaps last year and benefited from the leadership of Jones, who was acquired in Week 8. Bryant’s three interceptions last year were tied with Love and Woolen for the team lead, and the 2022 fourth-round pick is now entering his second full season as a free safety. This will be Jobe’s first full season as a starter in this defense (he played over 400 snaps last year). Woolen is “getting after it” and diligently studying film during this phase of the offseason program, Durde said.
The table appears to be set for a big year on both sides of the ball, but on defense in particular, because of who they’re bringing back from last season.
“We set the standard for ourselves and then we hold everybody to it,” Witherspoon said. “I believe every one of the guys in the locker room knows what we’re trying to do, what we’re trying to build, and I think everyone is buying in.”
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