Part of what makes the Seattle Seahawks defense so good is that the depth is also fantastic at most position groups. In fact, starters can find their way to backups if their own backups push them for playing time. That is what happened to Tyrice Knight in 2025.
Knight was a fourth-round choice in 2024 and was viewed as a bit of a project at the time. That outlook didn't last long, though. Knight needed to start midway through his rookie season after free agent acquisitions Jerome Baker and Tyrel Dodson failed and needed to be let go. Knight proved to be further along than most anticipated.
Yet, last season, after starting a handful of games, his immediate backup, Drake Thomas, outperformed him in practice, creating the kind of disruption to the offense that Knight wasn't. By the end of the season, Knight still got his reps, but Thomas got more and was a fantastic fit in head coach Mike Macdonald's defense.
Tyrice Knight is getting noticed by the Seattle Seahawks coaching staff
In training camp this year, Thomas has been solid, but Knight has been a standout. Macdonald has raved about the linebacker's versatility, which implies that maybe Knight won't strictly be an inside linebacker moving forward. Getting reps at edge rusher might be an option as well.
Macdonald said, according to Aaron Levine of Seattle's FOX 13, "Tyrice Knight has had a great camp. There’s ways to get him out there. You don’t need to be counting who is in front of you on the depth chart; put that pressure on the coaching staff. He’s doing that."
In other words, not only is Tyrice Knight impressing the Seattle Seahawks with his play on the field, but he is mentally approaching the game the right way too. For Seattle's coaching staff, the latter is as much a key to getting a player on the field as physical performance.
As all 12s know, the head coach likes to be creative with his defensive alignments. A player offering positional flexibility is a gift, and one that will be used uniquely. Knight might have been chosen to be an off-ball linebacker, but that doesn't mean he has to stay locked into the spot. If Knight can do other things well, Macdonald will put that to good use.
In 2025, Knight started just four games after doing so nine times in 2024, and his snap count fell from 52 percent of defensive reps in 2024 to only 29 percent last year. That didn't stop him from being productive, however. He had two sacks in the regular season (he had 1.5 in 2024), and six tackles for loss after having three the season before.
Maximizing reps, which is what Knight did last year, will get any coach's attention. The linebacker has certainly gotten Macdonald's attention, and that is going to help Knight as long as he stays in the Pacific Northwest.
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