There is no argument that when Ernest Jones IV was added to the Seattle Seahawks defense midway through the 2025 season, the defense was greatly improved. It might have taken Jones a game or so to get acclimated to head coach Mike Macdonald's scheme, but that it didn't take long proves Jones's high football IQ.
Throw out the Pro Football Focus (subscription required) grades on Jones. He did not grade horribly, but his impact on the defense was something that could be seen on the field and translated to Seattle, allowing fewer points a game.
In the seven games before the trade that brought Jones to the Seahawks, the defense allowed 23.4 points per game. In the 10 games after, Seattle gave up just 20.4 points per game. Throwing out Jones's first game against the Buffalo Bills, the Seahawks allowed just 19.2 points a game over their last nine.
Ernest Jones IV could elevate the Seahawks' defense to elite status
Jones was one of the biggest differences in the second half of the season compared to the first, and a big reason the team went 6-2 after the team's bye week.
Re-signing the inside linebacker was a priority for the Seahawks this offseason, and they brought back Jones on a three-year deal worth as much as $28.5 million. That is a steal for a player who proved to be so immediately valuable to the team.
Besides simply giving up fewer points, there might be no better evidence of Jones's presence on the Seahawks defense than in rushing yards allowed. Seattle started the season with Jerome Baker and Tyrel Dodson as starting off-ball linebackers. Baker was shipped to the Tennessee Titans as part of the move that brought Jones to Seattle.
With Baker and Dodson, Seattle allowed 146.1 rushing yards per game (28th in the league to that point). After the Bills game in Week 8 and with Jones, Seattle reduced that number to 96.2 (seventh-best in the NFL over the final nine weeks of the 2024 season).
One difference with Jones in 2025 might be how much he is used on blitzes. In 2023, he had 37 total quarterback pressures with the Los Angeles Rams, the team that drafted him in 2021. He is capable of chasing down quarterbacks, as he had six sacks in 2023.
Another year in Macdonald's system will probably make Jones better, but he is also going to make the overall defense better. Possibly good enough for the Seahawks to get back to the postseason, and be a dangerous team once there.