RENTON — A year ago, the collective head of the Seattle Seahawks defense was swimming.
Among myriad changes, most notable was a new head coach (Mike Macdonald) who brought in a staff in which only one defensive assistant from the previous regime returned, as well as a new playbook that didn’t lack for heft.
There was also a number of new players, notably at the middle linebacker spot where future Hall of Famer Bobby Wagner was gone again, this time apparently for good, as well new players at two of the top three safety spots.
As the Seahawks enter the heart of their offseason program with OTAs (organized team activities) in full swing, the defense may be their most stable commodity.
Macdonald and most everyone on the defensive coaching staff is back as well as 10 of 11 defensive starters at the end of the season — all but end Dre’Mont Jones, who was replaced by Dallas veteran Demarcus Lawrence.
It’s a unit that finished 11th in points allowed and 14th in yards allowed, each vast improvements from the final season of the Pete Carroll era in 2023 when the Seahawks were 25th and 30th, respectively.
That improvement was even more pronounced in the final eight games of the 2024 season when the Seahawks ranked fourth in yards allowed (304.8) and fifth in points allowed (18.4) while finishing 6-2.
The second-half surge and offseason continuity has the Seahawks defensive unit thinking big.
“My personal goal, my opinion, which I think everybody will back me on this, is that we want to be number one,” veteran defensive tackle Jarran Reed said. “We want to be number one at 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.”
The continuity gives the Seahawks a good starting point, players say.
Reed says players are definitely “more comfortable” with the defense now than a year ago.
“It’s a big playbook, so being able to just play fast right now I think is the main thing,” Reed said. “I think it’s a thing with everybody, especially the back end.”
Defensive coordinator Aden Durde noted that despite all the experience returning, the Seahawks are using the OTAs to reinstall the defense from the ground up.
He said it’s evident that the players have a much better understanding of it this year.
“You have to go back to square one, you reteach it and build it up again,” Durde said. “We’ve got a stronger foundation this time. Last year we were doing it from just brand new, but now we’re building on the same thing.”
Durde says that allows the coaches to spend more time teaching “some of the whys within the plays.”
He said he can tell players are more comfortable with the system this year when they are called upon to make presnap checks on the field, such as realigning a safety to play closer or farther away from the line based on what they see from the offense.
“There’s a lot more trust built,” Durde said. “The communication is smoother. It’s fun.”
Not that there aren’t some questions facing the defense.
At the top of the list is figuring out how to get more out of 2023 first-round pick cornerback Devon Witherspoon and 2024 first-rounder Byron Murphy II.
Witherspoon has shown star potential, named to the Pro Bowl the past two years and named Monday to the team’s Top 50 Players of all-time list.
But when Witherspoon was taken fifth overall, one hope was he could become a consistently productive blitzer.
Witherspoon had three sacks and four QB hits in 2023 but only one of each in 2024.
“I think I blitzed really well last year, I just think the teams had a good beat on when I was coming to blitz,” Witherspoon said. “It’s a hard thing — once you show something on tape, all these teams are going to catch a beat on and then they’re going to game plan for it. So, that’s just the thing we’re in. This year, I don’t know how Coach (Macdonald) is probably going to use me, but I just know whatever he needs me to do, I’m going to do it.”
Monday, Durde accepted his share of the blame saying: “I think at times we’ve got to bring him more, though. That’s on me putting him in better situations to kind of give him opportunities to blitz, because he is a good blitzer.”
As for Murphy, the hope is that he’ll be more of a factor in the pass rush after he had just half-a-sack and one QB hit as a rookie.
“The next level for him is just consistency,” Durde said. “He had a certain role like a first- and second-down role, some third-down reps. I think he can make a big jump to become an every-down D-tackle, affect the game on all downs and distances. You kind of saw glimpses of that last year.
“It’s just building that conditioning, that mental conditioning, physical conditioning, understanding what type of situations you are in for that position, because it’s lots of different things that can happen.”
The Seahawks need to get key players Ernest Jones IV — who took over at midseason at middle linebacker — and rush end Uchenna Nwosu healthy. Each had offseason knee surgeries and neither was on the field Monday, though the hope is each will be ready for the start of training camp.
There’s also getting more consistency out of cornerback Riq Woolen, who is entering the final season of his rookie contract with no indication for now the team plans to sign him to an extension, and figuring out how to best integrate second-round pick Nick Emmanwori into the defense.
Emmanwori appeared to work mostly as a slot corner and third safety during Monday’s workout.
Reed, who first became a Seahawk in 2016 when most of the key core players from the 2013 Super Bowl winners were still on the roster, says he’s confident any questions about the defense will be answered emphatically.
“I think that everybody on my side of the ball wants the defense to be the reason why (the Seahawks are successful),” Reed said. “Defense wins championships, offense wins games. That just is what it is. We want to put the team on our back, and we want to be the reason why we win games.”