The coming season could be a special one for Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman Rylie Mills. He missed most of 2025 after hurting his knee the previous year in his last season at Notre Dame. When he did play for Seattle, he mostly received limited reps.
He only got five snaps in Seattle's Super Bowl victory against the New England Patriots, but it was that game when Mills let the entire NFL world know what he was capable of. His sack of quarterback Drake Maye was impressive as the defensive lineman basically swallowed his would-be blocker and the QB all at once.
But Mills' best skill is that he offers positional flexibility. He isn't just a nose guard, defensive tackle, or defensive end. At 6'5" and 295 pounds, and with immense strength, he can play all three spots. According to what he told Mike Salk and Brock Huard on Seattle Sports 710 AM on Wednesday, Mills is the only Seahawks defensive lineman being asked to play all three positions.
Rylie Mills has found his special niche with the Seattle Seahawks
When asked about what his role was going to be this year, Mills said, "For me, it's anywhere across the defensive line that (the Seahawks) need someone to go in...I can play anything from the shade (nose tackle position) to the nine (defensive end). I'll play anything they put me at, and I just wanna be dominant...We definitely got guys that play D-tackle, nose, or maybe a little bit of 3-technique and end, (but) I think right now it's just kind of me playing kind of all those spots."
That is extremely impressive, not because he can play all along the defensive line, but because he is the only Seattle player doing so. The Seahawks have elite talent along the line in the persons of Byrom Murphy II, Leonard Williams, and Jarren Reed. That Mills is unique makes him highly valuable.
Head coach Mike Macdonald values disguising alignments more than most coaches, and having players whom he can move around helps with that. That is obviously the case with Seattle's secondary, where players like Devon Witherspoon, Nick Emmanwori, and, likely, rookie Bud Clark can line up anywhere from slot corner to safety, and all places in between.
Rylie Mills' ability to line up anywhere on the defensive line will allow Macdonald to rotate players in more, keeping those players fresh, while also not allowing an offense to know who will be where. Even ahalf-second of confusion in the NFL can lead to high-end efficiency and success.
Of course, being able to be moved around also means Mills should see the field a lot more, especially now that he is fully healed from the knee injury in 2024. He will need to be rotated in and out too, obviously, but he should still see a massive increase in reps since he can play so many spots.
If his play against the Patriots is any indication, he is probably headed toward a long and fruitful career with the Seattle Seahawks. 2026 will be just the beginning of that.
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