Seahawks News: Devon Witherspoon, Frank Clark, Leonard Williams and power rankings

  • Seattle's rookie corner wins an award
  • Frank Clark cramps up
  • Leonard Williams is ready
  • Where is Seattle in latest power rankings?
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The Seattle Seahawks face another tough AFC North team in Week 9. This will mark the second straight week they've been challenged by very good defenses from that division. The difference in Week 9 compared to Week 8, though, is that the Baltimore Ravens have a very good starting quarterback and he will be playing on Sunday.

Seattle managed to squeak by in Week 8, but if the same situation occurs against Baltimore, Seattle will be unlikely to win. Lamar Jackson, for instance, is probably not going to throw passes that deflect off the helmet of Jamal Adams like Browns QB P.J. Walker's late fourth quarter throw did. Another big difference, of course, is that Seattle won't be at home as they will travel to Baltimore.

Still, in their last 19 10 am PT kickoff games, the Seahawks are 16-3. That's a pretty incredible record for any team. Head coach Pete Carroll clearly knows how to prepare his team for early kickoffs, and most importantly, the team believes Carroll knows what he is doing. Here is some other news for your Friday.

The Seattle Seahawks defense line is different than two weeks ago and that is OK

First, Seattle added Frank Clark to help replace the injured Uchenna Nwosu. Nwosu is more of a pure edge rusher while Clark is more of a defensive end, but the ultimate goal of what they need to accomplish is the same: Chase down opposing quarterbacks. Clark was better with the Kansas City Chiefs in the postseason in the two previous years than he was in the regular season, but Seattle needs him to be great now.

In Clark's first game back with Seattle after signing as a free agent before Week 8, he played only 22 defensive snaps (28 percent of Seattle's total). Clark said he wanted to play more but started to cramp up. He at least was credited with an assist on a tackle, though. Hopefully moving forward he will be more productive.

Seattle's other recent defensive line addition, Leonard Williams, should be ready to go for Week 9. He should only be limited in reps by getting acclimated to Seattle's system. In a press conference on Wednesday, Williams said the move to Seattle was "going to be a fun change" for him. He also liked how the first thing asked of him was to play basketball and not speak to the team.

Williams is 6'5" and 300 pounds of muscle so hopefully he can make it even easier for guys such as Jarran Reed and Dre'Mont Jones to get interior pressure and stuff the run. Seattle's defensive line wasn't bad to begin with, but with Williams it might be among the better units in the league.