How big was the Legion of Boom? I don’t mean “big” in terms of any kind of cultural significance. Just how many members were there? Six? In 2011-’12, you had Sherman, Thomas, and Chancellor, along with Thurman, Maxwell, and Browner. I count six members of the Seattle Seahawks’ iconic defensive backfield in the early days of Pete Carroll.
In the early days of Mike Macdonald, the Seahawks appear to have gone one better. This season, seven defensive backs have created a deep and dangerous group that has helped the Seahawks to the best record in the NFL and a first-round bye in the playoffs.
That first-round bye could be important for a lot of reasons. Up toward the top of the list is that it will give starting safety Coby Bryant an extra week to heal. Indications are that the four-year vet out of Cincinnati is on track to play in Seattle’s Divisional Round game the weekend of January 17/18.
Seahawks’ defense could be at full strength for its first playoff game in three years
Under Macdoanld, defensive coordinator Aden Durde, and position coaches Karl Scott and Jeff Howard, Seattle has developed arguably the best secondary in the NFL. Three cornerbacks – Devon Witherspoon, Josh Jobe, and Riq Wollen – three safeties – Julian Love, Coby Bryant, and Ty Okada – and one jack-of-all-trades – Nick Emmanwori. They are big and fast and almost always around the ball.
Care to guess how often all seven have been available at the same time this season? Four games. They were all healthy in Week 1, but then both Witherspoon and Emmanwori were injured. All seven weren’t together again until Weeks 14-16. Then Bryant was lost.
There have been more games for which at least two of those top seven DBs were out (six games) than when they were all healthy (four).
Love, graded as the sixth-best safety according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), missed the most games. He was out for nine weeks in the middle of the season. Witherspoon, PFF’s top-rated cornerback, missed five games. That has allowed Okada to flourish and Woolen to regain his mojo.
And now, Macdonald may have them all at full strength.
As Bumpus pointed out, what this does is put the back end of the defense in its best alignment. Okada has filled in for both Love and Bryant this season, and Emmawori can play anywhere, but things function best when Bryant is playing in the box and Love is playing deep. When Bryant was out during the final two weeks of the regular season, Love played closer to the line while Okada was deep.
Macdonald’s defense is predicated on versatile players confusing offenses by shifting their responsibilities, so none of these positions are constant. But the fact remains that Julian Love is one of the league’s best at patrolling the deep middle of the field. He had about the same number of passes-defended this season as Bryant or Okada, despite playing half as many games.
Bryant is arguably better in run support than Love. Therefore, when Bryant is available, he plays in the box, and Love plays deep. The injuries to both players meant Seattle only used that alignment in five games this year.
Witherspoon and Emmanwori can move all over the field, which makes the Seahawks’ defense very hard to game plan against. That works best when Macdonald can count on the rest of the secondary to lock down their responsibilities.
Jobe and Woolen have become solidly reliable perimeter defenders. Okada provides athleticism and versatile depth. When Seattle can employ its two safeties in their most natural roles, it makes the entire back end of the defense run smoothly.
Seattle was dominant in Week 18 against Brock Purdy and the 49ers, rarely giving receivers room to breathe. With Coby Bryant scheduled to return, they may be even more suffocating in the playoffs.