What a Seahawks trade for DE Ryan Kerrigan could look like

Seattle desperately needs production from the defensive line. This is especially true after Bruce Irvin’s injury. Ryan Kerrigan would absolutely be able to provide just that.

Ryan Kerrigan is a former first-round pick out of Purdue. He has spent his entire 9-year career with the Washington Football Team. During that time, he has been one of the most underrated stars in the NFL.

Here are his last 5 seasons stats:

Year              TFL     Sacks     Pressure rate
2016            18          11             12.90%
2017            15          13             15.40%
2018            11          13             17.40%
2019               6          5.5           11.50%
2020               2            2            13.80%

You will notice his production took a dip in 2019. That year was the first time in his career he suffered an injury and was held out of the game (4 total). The other games he attempted to play through it similar to Clowney last season. As you can see, despite the injury, he was still massively successful in creating QB pressure.

Throughout his career, Kerrigan has played in a 3-4 defensive scheme as the LEO role. However, this year under new head coach Ron Rivera the team has moved to a 4-3 scheme. This made his position change to a 5-tech defensive end (LJ Collier position).

Kerrigan has openly said that he is really excited about moving from a linebacker to defensive lineman because he can just focus on rushing the passer. it is easy to understand why, he is very, very good at it.

Honestly, it is baffling to me how few people even know who Kerrigan is. Did you know Kerrigan has the 46th most sacks of all time (since the stat started being recorded in 1982)? Did you also know that he has only 6 fewer sacks than JJ Watt despite being drafted in the same year? Yet, somehow he is under the radar.

All I can tell you is that Kerrigan is a monster when given the opportunity. The problem for him now is that he isn’t getting much of an opportunity. This season he is averaging by far the lowest percentage of snaps of his career at just 31%. Yet, he still has 2 sacks and 2 tackles for a loss.

Again, he isn’t doing anything wrong. Simply the team has spent heavily on new defensive linemen and they are all paying off. Chase Young is an absolute monster. Montez Sweat is a phenomenal speed rusher.

On the interior the combination of Da’Ron Payne, Matthew Ioannidis and Jonathan Allen is ridiculous. It’s a big part of the reason I had originally written an article about how Seattle could trade for Allen. The team is busting at the seams with talent.

Seattle could provide the opportunity he needs to shine in his newly found defensive scheme.