Grading the 2022 Seattle Seahawks: The future is bright
By Jake Luppino
Grading the Seahawks’ front 7
Pete Carroll made it very obvious in his final presser that the Seattle Seahawks must address the problems on their defensive line. The front 7 of this Seattle team was quite disappointing in the 2022 season. Although, some of it is coaching and schematics of this 3-4 defense. Another factor is that they just don’t have a true playmaker on that defensive line.
Now, there were certainly some bright spots in this group throughout 2022. Rookie Boye Mafe seemed to have earned himself more playing time in this upcoming season. He was pretty consistent in setting the edge in the run game and was able to use his speed in pass pursuit. LB Jordyn Brooks had yet another fantastic season. Cody Barton had a career-high in tackles (136). Both Uchenna Nwosu and Darrell Taylor had career years, each racking up 9.5 sacks.
It was awesome to see Bruce Irvin return and actually be effective. He was one of Seattle’s better pass rushers in the late-season stretch. Unfortunately, this unit had more bad moments than good. Two big issues: (1) they couldn’t consistently stop the run and; (2) gave up too many explosive plays. They finished the regular season ranked 30th in rush defense, allowing about 150 yards per game.
The worst part about this group, in particular, was they regressed during the season. In the second half of the season, there was a 5-week stretch where their run defense was completely non-existent.
- Week 10 against TB: allowed 161 rushing yards & 1 TD
- Week 12 against LV: allowed 283 rushing yards & 2 TDs
- Week 13 against LAR: allowed 171 rushing yards & 2 TDs
- Week 14 against CAR: allowed 223 rushing yards & 2 TDs
- Week 15 against SF: allowed 170 rushing yards & 1 TD
A large reason why Seattle finished 3-5 in their remaining 8 games and why they were eliminated in the Wild Card round. The good news is that the Seahawks do have the capital to address this group in the offseason. Between the 4 picks in the first 2 rounds and some money to spend in free agency, they will have opportunities to acquire guys that can be difference-makers on this defensive line.