When he ran the Baltimore Ravens defense in 2023, Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald employed an astonishing rotation of very large men up front. Five different players were on the field for at least one quarter of the club’s defensive snaps that year. The smallest of them was second-team All-Pro Nnamdi Madubuike. He checked in at 6’3”, 305 pounds.
That’s right. He was the runt of the litter. Broderick Washington, Brent Urban, Travis Jones, and Michael Pierce joined him as part of a defensive line rotation. The average size of those players was 6’3”, 325 pounds. Classic nose tackle Pierce pulled the height number down and the weight number up, but suffice to say, they were all enormous men.
This does not take into account the Ravens’ contingent of quality edge rushers, speedy linebackers, and versatile defensive backs. These are just the guys who manned the trenches. The Ravens surrendered the fewest points in the NFL that season.
The biggest key for the Seattle Seahawks defense in 2025
Clearly, Mike Macdonald recognizes the value of very big, disruptive players on his defensive front. The other positions on Seattle’s defense during their Super Bowl run in 2025 look a lot like that Ravens unit from 2023. But the defensive line, as good as it is, is built differently.
Most notably, they do not have a Michael Pierce. Even in a league of physical wonders, Pierce was an anomaly. 6’0” tall. 355 pounds, with astonishing lateral agility. He was a textbook nose tackle.
I’ve wondered if Macdonald would like to find a similar player for the Seahawks line. Right now, the closest thing they have is Brandon Pili. He contributes some valuable snaps, but is not anywhere near what Pierce did in Baltimore.
The fact that Seattle currently has six players (including Pili) on their 90-man roster who are listed as nose tackles suggests that this is an area Macdonald would still like to address.
Of course, the cupboard is far from bare on Seattle defensive line. In Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II, the Seahawks have two interior linemen who are better and more athletically versatile than anyone Macdonald had in Baltimore, including Madubuike.
Williams has been among the league’s best for a long time, and Murphy is rapidly approaching that level. With Jarran Reed providing veteran support behind them, Seattle boasts a formidable defensive front.
But they are playing a dangerous game with age and depth. That’s why second-year interior lineman Rylie Mills may prove to be the key to Seattle’s continued defensive dominance in 2025.
Mills is a tall, rangy, athletic tackle out of Notre Dame. John Schneider snagged him in the 5th round of the 2025 draft. He would have gone higher – most scouts had a third or fourth round grade on him – if not for a serious ACL injury late in the 2024 college season. That slowed his development quite a bit. Fortunately, with their wealth of defensive riches, Seattle could afford to wait for him to recover.
That wait is over now. Mills returned to the field in Week 15 of his rookie season. He played sparingly – just 28 snaps over the final four games, and the rust was evident. But he offered a tantalizing glimpse of why Schneider drafted him in the Super Bowl, when he blew up fellow rookie Jared Wilson, playing guard for New England, on his way to his first NFL sack.
That is the Rylie Mills Seattle expects to see going forward. And if that is indeed the player they get, it will address one potentially major issue on a very sound defense.
Jarran Reed is 33. He is still a quality player, but his snaps in 2025 were seriously down. Leonard Williams is 32. He is still elite, but his effectiveness late last year dipped from where it had been early in the season.
According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), three of his worst games came in the final five weeks of the season. Except for the showdown with the Rams in Week 16, those final games also saw a noticeable reduction in his snaps.
I am not terribly concerned about Williams or Reed. But it is becoming clear that both could benefit from greater depth. That is exactly why Rylie Mills is on this roster. If he can step into a major supporting role behind Williams and Murphy, perhaps logging 40-45 percent of the team’s snaps, that leaves Seattle’s defense in great shape.
If he falters, things get less secure. Injury and age could conspire to weaken one of Seattle’s greatest strengths – its dominant defensive front.
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