Tyrice Knight and Coby Bryant could be two peas in the same pod for the Seattle Seahawks. The only difference is that now Bryant plays for the Chicago Bears after earning (and that is a key word) a huge new deal in free agency this past offseason. The same happy fate might await Knight one day.
They play different positions, of course. Bryant was a defensive back while Knight is an inside linebacker, but their paths to success might turn out to be the same.
Bryant was a full-time starter for nearly half of his rookie season in 2022 as a slot corner. He then took a backseat to nearly everyone else in his second season, somewhat due to injuries. He started just two games and wasn't overly effective.
Seattle Seahawks' Tyrice Knight could be trending toward the same career path as Coby Bryant
In his third season, however, he became a starter at safety and remained one through 2025. He was a versatile performer who could take the ball away from opposing offenses and was fundamentally sound at everything he did. He priced himself out of Seattle by doing so well, and the best of luck to him with the Bears. He earned his pay raise.
As for Knight, he became a starter midway through his rookie year, too, but in year two, even though he didn't change position, he lost reps to Drake Thomas. Thomas was simply a tick better in almost all aspects of the position, including pass coverage, where Knight struggled. An inside linebacker doesn't get reps in a Mike Macdonald scheme unless he can do well in pass coverage.
Also like Coby Bryant, though, Tyrice Knight appears to be making a name for himself in training camp, at least in 2026. Instead of bemoaning his depth chart position, the inside linebacker has shown up to camp and performed even better than he had previously. Macdonald has noticed.
Speaking to the media after practice on Thursday, the head coach said of Knight, "He has been having a great camp. There are ways to get him out there. He is definitely applying pressure right now, which is great."
The second sentence above is telling. Maybe the Seattle Seahawks have a different path forward for Knight. Instead of simply being an off-ball linebacker next to Ernest Jones IV, Knight, who is entering his third season with the team, is looking at some reps at a different position, just as Bryant did, going from slot corner to safety.
Could Knight be used as an edge rusher, for instance? He hasn't yet played the position in the NFL, but Mike Macdonald loves positional flexibility in players. Someone who can play more than one spot and do so at a high level is exceedingly valuable.
Knight is too small to play on the defensive line, and he doesn't have the coverage skills, and is too big to be a defensive back. If he can rotate in as an edge rusher, that would make sense to get him on the field. He had 3.5 sacks in the regular season in 2025, after all. Maybe he can be the secret weapon that even Seattle wasn't sure it had, just as Coby Bryant turned out to be, too.
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