3 Seahawks that need to be more aggressive in 2022 than Will Smith’s slap of Chris Rock
By Lee Vowell
The defensive scheme
Gone is Ken Norton, Jr. and his idea of playing edge rushers in pass coverage and linebackers not deep enough to cover crossing patterns and cornerbacks who play 12 yards off on third-and-short situations. If a coach could have the yips it would seem Norton, Jr. did.
But Seattle now has a new defensive coordinator – Clint Hurtt – and an associate head coach who will focus on the defense – Sean Desai – who have promised to bring back an attacking mentality. And they both have histories of having defenses that are like this so we should believe them.
The Seahawks also seem to have players who are suited to be more aggressive as well. Linebacker Jordyn Brooks is capable of flying around the field making impact tackles and needs to be given more opportunity to attack quarterbacks. Darrell Taylor is a very promising edge rusher. Uchenna Nwosu should be well-fitted for Seattle’s use of a 3-4 base.
Plus, whatever Norton, Jr. instructed Jamal Adams to do in 2021 was awful. Adams went from 9.5 sacks and 12 quarterback hits in 2020 to zero in each category in 2021. That isn’t the player being suddenly bad, that is the coaching being awful.
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If Seattle grabs a cornerback early in the 2022 NFL draft then the secondary should be much better at creating turnovers as well. Safety Quandre Diggs already does this. CB Sidney Jones played better as 2021 wore on and will be coached to be more aggressive by DB coach Kris Scott. Overall, this defense can be and should be more aggressive and create more victories than expected for Seattle in 2022.