3 Seahawks who need to thrive in Week 7 versus the Atlanta Falcons

After winning their first three games of the 2024 season and then dropping the next three, The Seattle Seahawks will look for improved play against a conference opponent. They go on the road to take on Kirk Cousins and a Raheem Morris coaching staff that is familiar to Seattle from his time with the Rams. Seattle's head coach, Mike Macdonald will need to rally the troops after getting some of the front seven defenders healthy, but this is just in time for a wave of injuries to the defensive backfield.

This week, starting safety Rayshawn Jenkins was placed on IR after playing with a cast on one hand since Week 4. Artie Burns also joined him on injured reserve this week. These developments, along with the uncertain status of corners Tre Brown and Riq Woolen, put young rookie Nehemiah Pritchett in the spotlight. Pritchett earned a team-low 27.8 PFF grade in Week 6, so let's hope that the jitters from his first real extended action are out. Time to roll, bud, this is a big opportunity.

The Atlanta Falcons lead the NFC South division with a 4-2 record. Kirk Cousins seems to be getting more and more into the groove, and Darnell Mooney has proven to be a good secondary target behind Drake London. This team will not lay down at home for the Seahawks.

Seahawks players who need to ball out versus the "dirty birds"

Injuries are the name of the game for the Seahawks on both sides of the ball at this point. They are not just waiting for the starters to come back but preparing the young backups (and not so young, if Jason Peters plays) for battle in the state of Georgia.

Coby Bryant - Seahawks safety

Whereas Nehemiah Pritchett can get coverage cheated his way by Julian Love, he can also be replaced with a PS call-up, like Josh Jobe. In order for this defense to be effective, Bryant and/or K’Von Wallace have to step up with all of the injuries in the secondary. Wallace has played well in spots and could be a good strong safety to allow Love to play free (deep coverage) in single-high coverage looks.

Seattle may have to keep Devon Witherspoon on the outside to play the Riq Woolen role, and Nehemiah Pritchett would play opposite in the Tre Brown role. It's easy to envision K’Von Wallace in the Rayshawn Jenkins role and Coby Bryant in the Witherspoon slot role.

Names like Dee Williams, Ty Okada, and Josh Jobe could see the field in coverage rotations. Bryant was the highest-graded Seahawk against Santa Clara (his 82.9 PFF grade just edged Charles Cross’ 82.7). Remember when Bryant led the league in forced fumbles as a rookie? Are they sleeping on my guy here?! Seattle could surprise if Coby can dunk in the slot/star role close to the line of scrimmage.

Jerome Baker - Seahawks inside linebacker

There is currently a discrepancy between Pro Football Focus (paywall alert) grades and Coach Macdonald’s opinion of the ILB play. Both Jerome Baker and Tyrel Dodson have higher than a 67 PFF grade on the season and both scored higher than a 64 against SF. Despite this, after the Week 5 loss, Macdonald told reporters: “We’re not leveraging the ball well on the second level as well as we need to be … the second level run fits are falling short”.

After that game against the Giants, Jerome Baker said that the defense “just didn’t play together, simple as that." He also said that “it was hard … I didn’t really catch my wind until the 2nd half”. This is in reference to the Week 5 game after he missed a couple of games previously.

Again, Baker scored well against the Niners… but that good grade from PFF comes after allowing 228 rushing yards. He absolutely must step up as the veteran and obviously prove these grades, and pass the eye test… does he look like a factor against the run? Can he be dynamic enough to help hunt down a dynamic back in Bijan Robinson?

Anthony Bradford - Seahawks offensive guard

Right tackle Stone Forsythe is allowing a ghastly amount of pressures (leading the NFL) on the right edge. Right guard Anthony Bradford has to be there to help. Unfortunately, the massive second-year guard out of LSU has allowed a bottom-three-most pressures (some sites have him first, and some have him third) of any OG in the league. Third-round rookie Christian Haynes is breathing down his neck for playing time.

Bradford is the run-blocking bully, while Haynes is the pass-protecting specialist. Bradford may not have much time until CH claims a starting role… it’s time to wield that superpower: that nastiness and that raw power, baby! He’ll have a shot to do it against a trio of guys who bring gravitas to the defensive interior: Grady Jarrett (who some have offered as a potential archetype for rookie DT Byron Murphy III), Eddie Goldman, and David Onyemata. That’s with a trio of young rookies on the bench behind them who were all drafted between rounds 2-4.

The Seahawks seem to want to be a passing team but can’t offer the protection necessary for efficiency. Meanwhile, Kenneth Walker III is rated as PFF’s most efficient running back in the league. AB will want to take some type of credit for that. Especially now, with injuries piling up in the secondary: it’s time to run the dang ball.

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