Which Seahawks will master the pass rush against the Vikings?

The Seahawks are undermanned when it comes to pass rushers. That situation will improve, but who will answer the call versus the Vikings?

I’m not sure if you heard the news, but the Seahawks are a little short-handed when it comes to the pass rush. Frank Clark will be crushing quarterbacks in the AFC. Jarran Reed will miss the first six games of the season because the NFL occasionally worries about their image. The Hawks hope to have Ezekiel Ansah ready for the season opener, although he just suffered a “minor” setback with a groin injury. So who will be bringing the heat to the Vikings in the second preseason tilt?

One problem with this question is the Seahawks have a lot of answers, but none of them are terrifically impressive. I liked the signing of Cassius Marsh, and still do, but his career-high is only 5.5 sacks. Jacob Martin looked good against the Broncos, but still needs to prove himself. He just had three sacks as a rookie, but considering that was in 225 snaps, it was actually pretty good.

Marsh had 550 snaps, in case you were wondering. That’s exactly one sack per 100 snaps, while Martin had one per every 75 snaps. So maybe Martin is closer to ready than I thought. Frank Clark averaged one sack for every 52 snaps. I know you were wondering about that, too. That would put Martin squarely between Marsh and Clark, which seems pretty reasonable. Martin has added almost 20 pounds, without losing any

Rasheem Green will likely be used both inside and at end, much like the Seahawks are expected to use rookie L.J. Collier when he’s finally ready to take the field. Green looked good in preseason last year, but didn’t show much in the regular season. He accounted for one sack, one quarterback hit, and nine total tackles in 201 snaps. He’ll have to play better than that, and soon. Luckily, there are more teammates ready to step up.

More likely than not, that teammate could be a linebacker or defensive back. K.J. Wright certainly expects to see more blitzes. He didn’t record any sacks last year, but he had four in 2017. His counterpart on the strong side, Mychal Kendricks, had two sacks in just 183 snaps. Defensive back DeShawn Shead sacked Broncos quarterback Drew Lock in the Hawks preseason win last week.

In short, there may be no Clark or Reed. There may not be any single player that will hit double digits in sacks this season. That’s especially likely if Ansah doesn’t get on the field in the first game. But the Seahawks do have a lot of potential sack artists. We should get an even better picture of who will come through tonight against the Vikings.