4 Seahawks who cannot be relied on for success in 2022
By Lee Vowell
Carlos Dunlap
The Seahawks pass rush was so inconsistent and poor this year that Carlos Dunlap led Seattle in sacks this year with 8.5 but did nothing for most of the year. Dunlap has been a good player for a long time but this year’s numbers are very misleading.
In weeks 15 and 16 and 18, Dunlap had 7 sacks combined. This means 82.4 percent of Dunlap’s sacks came in three games late in the year. This even though Dunlap hasn’t missed any games this year. He played a career-low 38 percent of all defensive snaps so some of his inconsistency has been induced by bad coaching and improper use. Dunlap dropped into coverage more than ever this year.
Still, the fact that Dunlap didn’t do much of anything except in three games in 2021 doesn’t bode well for him being very good in 2022. Besides just the majority of his sacks coming in two games, Dunlap didn’t have a tackle for loss until Week 13 and now has 8. Dunlap had 14 quarterback hits but 9 of them came between weeks 15, 16 and 18. He had four games where he didn’t even record any kind of statistic.
Dunlap is under contract next year and is due to make $6.5 million. If Seattle were to release him they would only save $900,000 so Dunlap is probably going to be on the team next year. But after his 2021 season, 12s shouldn’t expect sustained productivity from Dunlap.