Seahawks midseason awards: Defensive Most Valuable Player

The Seahawks arrived at the season’s midpoint with a 6-2 record. Here’s who the 12thManRising staff believes has been the defensive MVP for Seattle.

There’s no denying that the Seahawks defense of 2019 hasn’t been as good as we’ve seen in past seasons. Whether that’s due to personnel or coaching is subject to debate, although I side with those who say Ken Norton Jr. hasn’t done the best job at defensive coordinator we’ve ever seen. The weak overall ranking doesn’t mean the Hawks haven’t had some truly great performers, though. Here are our votes for the most valuable defender in Seattle so far.

Contributor Blake Waldron: Shaquill Griffin came into this season needing to prove that he can be a capable number one cornerback in the league. He’s proved it and then some. Griffin has not only reaffirmed the Seahawks’ hopes in him but he has also become a top 10 corner in the league, with the potential of one day being selected as an All-Pro. Following week 8, Griffin is the 8th ranked corner in the league according to Pro Football Focus. His impact has been so great that opposing quarterbacks have begun to ignore his side of the field entirely. For a team with a severely under-performing pass rush, this is huge. The pass defense is frustrating enough already and it seems that Griffin’s superhero first half is one of the few things keeping the unit from imploding.

His tackling against the run and ability to set the edge has dramatically improved. His shutdown performance on his side of the field has also afforded the Seahawks the ability to continue playing in their traditional one safety high look, which is when this Seattle defense is at their best. Jadeveon Clowney has been Seattle’s best defender, but Shaquill Griffin’s impact has been far more valuable.

Contributor Colby Patnode: This comes down to two players for me and they aren’t the two players I would have immediately thought of a few months ago. The choice comes down to Shaquill Griffin and Jadaveon Clowney. Both have been excellent all season but lack the splashy numbers (sacks for Clowney, interceptions for Griffin) to get much publicity on the national level. Clowney has been disruptive and Griffin has taken major leaps forward off a disappointing 2018. I feel like I’m splitting hairs, but I think the Seahawks new defensive end has been the best defender this season. So Jadeveon Clowney gets my MVP vote.

Contributor Geoff Shull: The safe answer here would be Bobby Wagner. However, I am going to go against the grain and pick the third-year corner out of UCF, Shaquill Griffin. Griffin said in the offseason he spent a lot of time and energy working on his body, in total losing 18 pounds. He said he felt slow and sluggish last season. This season he has been anything but sluggish. According to Pro Football Focus, Griffin has the sixth-highest passing coverage grade out of 113 qualifying corners, and is the eighth-highest graded cornerback overall in the NFL. Griffin has shut down just about anyone put against him this year. He’s allowed just 53% of passes thrown his way to be completed. He also has 10 forced incompletions which is good for second in the league. It’s safe to say we may have our new lockdown corner for the next few years already in our midst.

Co-expert Todd Vandenberg: The defense certainly tells a different story than the offense, doesn’t it? While the offense has its share of standouts like Tyler Lockett and Chris Carson, there was never any doubt that Russell Wilson would be our choice for the Seahawks MVP. The defense has several strong candidates, basically one in each unit. We have Jadeveon Clowney on the line, Bobby Wagner (as always) in the middle, and Shaquill Griffin as the standout defensive back. The fact that Wagner isn’t the usual runaway winner is partly due to a small drop in performance. He’s missed five tackles, which for most mortals would be great, but he only missed one in all of 2018. He hasn’t been great against the pass either, but I chalk that up to poor scheme much more than any deficiency on Wagner’s part. At the halfway point, he hasn’t graded out as the Seahawks best defender, but without him, the defense would probably in the bottom five.

Co-expert Lee Vowell: There are a lot of ways I could go with this. Overall, the defense hasn’t been great. In fact, they are atrocious in yards-per-play allowed. But Shaquill Griffin has been near-great and Quinton Jefferson has been very good. But where would Seattle be without edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney? No, he doesn’t have 10 sacks but he has been double-teamed more than any other edge rusher in the NFL, and has been great against the run. Re-sign this man now, Seahawks!

We have two votes for Shaquill Griffin, two for Jadeveon Clowney, and one for Bobby Wagner. Griffin is forcing opponents to try the other side of the field, while Clowney forces double-teams. [Editor’s note: I’m calling a draw on this one. I know, it’s like kissing your sister, but without the soundtrack of Deliverance in the background]. I’m sure by season’s end we’ll have a clear winner, but for now, we have defensive co-MVPs, Jadeveon Clowney and Shaquill Griffin.