The decision to release Jamal Adams, Quandre Diggs, Jordyn Brooks, and other contributors in 2023 has left a number of unanswered problems for the Seattle Seahawks defense. When he spoke to reporters yesterday at the NFL’s annual convention (at the Ritz-Carlton, no less), head coach Mike Macdonald addressed some of these issues. He emphasized the need of “versatility” in his defense, particularly among linebackers and safeties. He highlighted certain former players as well as recent additions, and explained some of the reasoning behind their summer decisions.
Both guys [free agency linebackers Tyrel Dodson and Jerome Baker] have played both positions,” Macdonald stated. “Two guys who can run.” Two intelligent footballers. Tough. I think they were both effective tacklers. They are both good space players. That is what we are asking of our inside supporters. Those men gotta cover a lot of ground, man. They must play people out of the backfield and all available routes on the weakside, which is difficult to execute.
“I believe we have the appropriate personnel for the job. They have to blitz and play man-to-man. We have high expectations for our inside ‘backers. It will be a huge battle, and we’ll see how it comes to life, but I believe there is some opportunity there.
Macdonald went on to explain on what to anticipate from the safeties now that Rayshawn Jenkins and K’Von Wallace have joined Julian Love, who occasionally handled the “big nickel” role, as Dugar writes in another line.
“It comes down to position flexibility, so you’re not just putting guys pigeonholed into roles,” he said. “We’ll examine what they excel at, how they compliment one another, and how well they collaborate. But I believe it offers us some flexibility to maybe be in some three-safety sets depending on how things break out at nickel, and then we’ll take it from there. Both players can play man-to-man and far in the field.”
However, Macdonald did not rule out the possibility of a reunion with
You look at all of his work that he’s done over the course of his career and it’s close to the line of scrimmage,” Macdonald said.” Not all of it, but 9.5 sacks, double-digit sack type of guy, great blitzer, can play man-to-man, things like that. It’s the linebacker skill set. If that opportunity comes around, then we’ll revisit then.”
Going along with this notion, Macdonald discussed his affinity for blitzing, even though the Ravens did not have a high blitz rate while he was DC.
“If you want to play defense for us, you’ve got to be able to blitz, man,” Macdonald said. “Whatever your one-on-one is, we expect you to win. We carry a team pass rush mentality. It’s not going to be built around one guy. It’s prudent to let everyone have a chance to win on any given play. But if you’re going to blitz from off the ball, we expect you to win one-on-one. Those guys are going to hone their craft and figure out what moves work best for them, and when the matchups are in our favor, hopefully we’re going to take advantage of those things.”
Not stopping there, he went on to praise the defensive line, while also describing what he envisions from the big guys up front.
“We’re trying to build a wall up the middle,” Macdonald said. “We’re trying to stay square, we’re trying to set hard edges, make the ball (go outside), make them throw the thing outside. You don’t want to get gashed up the middle of your defense. You’ve got to have the right guys who can play right there so you can get the job done.’’
We still have a lot to find out about Mike Macdonald as a head coach, but he is at least saying a lot of the right things early on. Dugar mentions that the Seahawks have a razor thin cap margin right now, so any further big-name additions are most likely going to come via the draft (Jamal Adams notwithstanding). Whatever the result, it is certainly going to be interesting to watch this defense take shape in 2024.
