Seahawks offseason assessment: Linebackers
By David Stobbe
The Seahawks’ linebackers have two of the best in the NFL at their positions in Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright, but they need to fill this group with more young talent in the offseason.
This position group has quietly become one of the best and most consistent on the Seattle Seahawks. They don’t necessarily do anything flashy, but they always do their job and make big time plays for the defense.
This is part five of our position-by-position look at the current state of the Seahawks 2016 roster. You can find the other positions covered so far below.
Bobby Wagner is one of the top inside linebackers in the league and had an excellent season with 114 total tackles. He took on more of a leadership role last season when he was voted defensive captain by his teammates. Wagner was named 2nd team all-pro and will continue to get better, as he is only 25 years old.
K.J. Wright had his best season yet and led the Seahawks with 116 total tackles. He is extremely versatile and can play every linebacker position. Wright played the weak-side linebacker spot last season and showed that the Seahawks made a great decision last year by signing him to a long term deal.
Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright will be a dynamic linebacker duo on the Seahawks for years to come, but there are still some questions this offseason with Bruce Irvin being an unrestricted free agent.
Irvin has been the starter at strong-side linebacker for three years now and has grown into a key player on the Seahawks defense. There is a good chance, though, that his price on the free agent market will be too high for the Seahawks to match, and he will be suiting up for another team next season.
The other two linebackers that are under contract next year are Kevin Pierre-Louis and Brock Coyle. Both players have made a big impact on special teams and have shown potential in limited playing time.
Pierre-Louis has played solid when he has been inserted into the lineup, but there is still a lot he can work on. He started one game last season against Carolina and struggled in pass coverage. After that game he saw his playing time go down. Pierre-Louis has been a staple on special teams, though, using his speed to his advantage.
Coyle is another backup who has been making big plays on special teams for the past two seasons. He was undrafted coming out of the University of Montana and will be going into his third season with the Seahawks. Coyle is Bobby Wagner’s backup at ILB and is very capable of filling in for Wagner in case of an injury.
The Seahawks don’t have much depth on their roster right now at linebacker with several players being free agents. Mike Morgan joins Bruce Irvin as a UFA, Nick Moody is a RFA, and Eric Pinkins is an ERFA.
Mike Morgan could come back at a fairly cheap price and would make a good push to be the Seahawks’ starter at the open linebacker spot if they can’t bring back Irvin. Morgan has been a consistent player on special teams and has played well when filling in for injured starters. It would be interesting to see him get an opportunity to start for the Hawks.
Nick Moody played in only three games with the Seahawks last season and is a RFA, so he will be back with the Seahawks if they want him. He was on the team’s practice squad for several weeks before working his way up to the 53-man roster in week 6. Moody could be a good backup and special team’s player this coming season.
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Eric Pinkins is an ERFA, so he should be back with the Seahawks as well. He really came on this year, making lots of plays on special teams, in only his first season playing linebacker. The Seahawks converted him from defensive back to outside linebacker last offseason and he picked it up remarkably quickly. Pinkins could make a big impact for the team next season.
Cassius Marsh is one more player to keep an eye on. He has been playing defensive end for the Seahawks the past two season, but saw some time at strong-side linebacker last offseason. He has a similar athletic build to Bruce Irvin and could be a strong candidate to replace him at that spot.
The Seahawks’ priority will be to sign their own free agents before looking at other teams’ available players. I would expect them to look at the draft to add some depth at linebacker in the later rounds and bring in a few undrafted players as well.
Overall, the future looks good for the Seahawks linebacker group with their core locked up in Wagner and Wright. It will be interesting to see if they are able to re-sign Bruce Irvin this offseason, as that would solidify all the starting linebacker positions. The depth will be the main concern going forward, but Pierre-Louis, Coyle and Pinkins should make big strides in their improvement in preparation for the 2016 season.