Analysis: 3 Defensive Tackles Who Meet Seahawks' Athletic Thresholds

Following Jarran Reed's offseason departure, the Seahawks have a hole at defensive tackle. Rather than watching the tape, Matty F. Brown uses Sports Info Solutions metrics and pro day results to find Seahawk-y interior defenders in this year's 2021 draft class.

In his pre-draft press conference, Seahawks general manager John Schneider described the departure of Jarran Reed as a “cap casualty” situation. Reports suggested that Reed refused an extension that would have made his 2021 hit friendlier in the abnormal reduced cap year. The defensive tackle ended up being cut and signed for less money with the Chiefs. Schneider was left wishing “he would’ve worked with us a little more.”

Seattle quickly moved to add 34-year old veteran defensive tackle Al Woods. Woods opted out last year after signing with the Jaguars. His 2019 season on the Seahawks was impressive, as he provided a stout presence versus the run. When he got suspended for PEDs late in the season, Seattle missed him. The best part to Woods’ game is his 36-inch long arms but the defensive tackle also managed an incredible 37-inch combine vertical jump at 6-foot-4, 309 pounds. He can play the 3-technique spot and the nose tackle spot.

Woods’ age and year out from football remain unavoidable truths, however. Like Woods, 25-year old Poona Ford has nose and 3-tech versatility. Ford signed a deserved mini extension and was unblockable for a lot of 2020 versus the run, utilizing his natural pad level to ruin combination blocks.

Though Ford flashed glimpses of pass rush ability, we have yet to see this emerge into a complete performance or sack production. He will be hoping that by the time his deal expires in 2022, he has the numbers rushing the passer to get paid a bigger amount. That’s an unknown for now.

Behind Woods and Ford is Bryan Mone, who played fantastic at nose tackle in 2020 but is not a pass rusher, Cedrick Lattimore, an unknown, inexperienced 3-technique who the coaching staff values but looked lost in limited 2020 action, and Myles Adams, who we don’t know anything about and he might be a big defensive end.

Pete Carroll’s defensive system is largely based around the early down defensive tackles occupying the offensive line blocks, demanding combo blocks and letting the linebackers behind make all of the tackles. It's pure 'gap control defense.’

Reed's departure leaves Seattle without a pure 3-technique, excellent run defender, and locker-room glue guy. But, as the above names show, the Seahawks also lack interior rushing options. They will presumably continue their high bear front usage on early downs, putting big ends on the interior of the defensive line too. Then, in rush situations where they move into a four-down look, we are likely to see multiple big end types attempt to fill Reed’s hole by moving to the 3-tech alignment.

Reed was unable to fully rekindle his 2018-high of 10.5 sacks in terms of production. Yet he was superb as the set up man on pass rush games, picking and rubbing for the ‘2’ in the game to get home. Just ask Frank Clark how much his 2018 season benefited from Reed. Reed also had 6.5 sacks in 2020, which isn’t shabby given his 2019 was heavily impacted by a suspension.

The hole created by cutting Reed is about more than sacks. Since 2018, defensive line coach Clint Hurtt entrusted Reed with hand-signaling the game-planned pass rush games. The coordinating of these movements, largely designed to beat half-slide pass protection schemes, requires a football intelligent, true alpha presence that is on the field for the majority of snaps. Hurtt needs to find that guy for 2021.

The Reed stuff is old news though, with it all going down in late March. The point is that this is important context with the 2021 NFL Draft now upon us. Seattle needs to upgrade their true defensive tackle options, facing both the pass and the run. It’s one of the few holes on the roster. There are still unsigned free agents out there like Jurrell Casey and Geno Atkins. But it’s draft season right now.

We know the Seahawks have testing and size thresholds by looking at who they have previously draft. When it comes to incorporating analytics, Pete Carroll has continually mentioned the importance of “activity” when evaluating pass rush ability.

• “We’ve been trying to get more activity inside for our pass rush...we need more activity inside to elevate our pass rush.” (After drafting Jordan Hill in 2013)
• "Activity that he brings.” Talking about Jadeveon Clowney’s 2019 impact
• “[Snacks has] allowed Poona [Ford] to get his activity going at the three-technique.” (Talking about Snacks Harrison’s impact on the defensive line in December 2020) 

Activity can apply to tape study too. Numbers-wise, Carroll’s most revealing comments came in March 2019 when he was asked by 710 ESPN Seattle’s John Clayton about Jacob Martin.

“We’re just looking for activity and problem-makers,” Carroll said. “Usually you can look to that pressure percentage; how many times when they rush do they affect the quarterback? What percentage of a player’s pass rushes resulted in a pressure?"

Some of the best published work this time of year is the SIS Rookie Football Handbook. It’s full of scouting reports and Sports Info Solutions’ charting data. It’s these numbers that, when combined with Pro Day testing data and traditional statistics such as sacks and tackles for loss (TFL), can help us identify potential Seahawks defensive line fits. For the athletic thresholds, I referenced Alistair Corp’s 2020 Seahawks Big Board—I miss Alistair a lot. The prospects excluded are those nailed on to be picked in the second round, if not higher. The metrics glossary is at the end of this article.

Daviyon Nixon, Iowa

Nixon’s profile clears all of Seattle’s nose tackle marks, apart from the fact he chose not to do the bench press. The bench press has been important for the Seahawks, with them liking their nose tackles to put up 24 reps. In a draft that is poor for defensive tackles and defensive linemen in general, Nixon will land in the mid rounds or higher. His length and 10-yard-split are big time appealing. In terms of more 3-technique consideration, Nixon’s short shuttle was slower than the 4.5 seconds and under time Seattle looks for and his broad jump was under the 9-foot target.

• 3.4 Total Points Per Game, Third Among Defensive Tackles (Manocherian, M., ed.SIS Football Rookie Handbook 2021 (ACTA Sports, 2021) p.413)
• 87 Total Points Rating Per Play, Tied Sixth Among Defensive Tackles
• 0.9 Pass Rush Total Points Per Game, Eighth Among Defensive Tackles
• 73 Total Points Rating Per Pass Rush, 10^th Among Defensive Tackles
• 1.6 Run Defense Total Points Per Game, Tied Third Among Defensive Tackles
• 91 Total Points Rating Per Run Snap, Sixth Among Defensive Tackles
• 6 Percent True Pressure Rate, Tied Ninth Among Defensive Tackles (Manocherian, M., ed.SIS Football Rookie Handbook 2021 (ACTA Sports, 2021) p.414
• 1.6 Pressures Per Game, 10^th Among Defensive Tackles
• 11 Percent Pressure Share, Tied Ninth Among Defensive Tackles
• 0.3 Passes Deflected Per Game, Second Among Defensive Tackles
• 2 Holds Drawn Tied, Fourth Among Defensive Tackles
• 0.6 Sacks Per Game, Tied Third Among Defensive Tackles (Manocherian, M., ed.SIS Football Rookie Handbook 2021 (ACTA Sports, 2021) p.415
• -1.2 Sack EPA Added Per Game, Second Among Defensive Tackles
• 1.3 TFL Per Game, First Among Defensive Tackles
• -1.4 TFL EPA Per Game, First Among Defensive Tackles
• 157 Adjusted Tackle Depth Plus, Fourth Among Defensive Tackles

Marlon Tuipulotu, USC 

Tuipulotu is a mid-rounder who meets nearly all of Seattle’s nose tackle marks. He could go earlier than expected given Ian Rapoport's report that teams view this as a weak class. However, there are also medical concerns with the defensive tackle missing time in 2017, 2018 spring, and 2019 with a left knee injury and a back injury. Medical evaluations have been tougher to obtain and an even bigger deal for NFL teams this year. The Seahawks would like him to be a bit taller (6-foot-3) and he only jumped 8-foot-8-inches in the broad. Because Tuipulotu tweaked his hamstring in the 40-yard dash, the Seahawks are also left with a 1.82-second 10-yard split that isn’t a complete profile - they favor a 1.8-seconds or quicker 10-yard split. 

• 2.7 Total Points Per Game, Eighth Among Defensive Tackles (Manocherian, M., ed.SIS Football Rookie Handbook 2021 (ACTA Sports, 2021) p.413
• 87 Total Points Rating Per Play, Tied Sixth Among Defensive Tackles
• 1.5 Pass Rush Total Points Per Game, Tied Third Among Defensive Tackles
• 95 Total Points Rating Per Pass Rush, Third Among Defensive Tackles
• 1.2 Total Points Per Game, Tied Eighth Among Defensive Tackles
• 8 Percent Pressure Rate, Tied Fifth Among Defensive Tackles (Manocherian, M., ed.SIS Football Rookie Handbook 2021 (ACTA Sports, 2021) p.414
• 11 Percent True Pressure Rate, Tied Fifth Among Defensive Tackles
• 1.8 Pressures Per Game, Tied Eighth Among Defensive Tackles
• 2 Holds Drawn, Tied Fourth Among Defensive Tackles
• 0.3 Sacks Per Game, Tied Eighth Among Defensive Tackles (Manocherian, M., ed.SIS Football Rookie Handbook 2021 (ACTA Sports, 2021) p.415
• -1.4 Sack EPA Per Game, First Among Defensive Tackles
• 0.6 TFL Per Game, Eighth Among Defensive Tackles
• -0.4 TFL EPA Per Game, Tied Fifth Among Defensive Tackles
• 42% Forced Bounce Rate, Tied Second Among Defensive Tackles
• 106 Adjusted Tackle Depth Plus, Seventh Among Defensive Tackles

Marvin Wilson, Florida State

A former five star recruit, Wilson’s vertical jump, short shuttle, and broad jump are short of the numbers Seattle would like for their 3-technique spot. His bench press plus vertical jump is below the nose tackle profile. As a later round option though, Wilson still intrigues.

• 78 Total Points Rating Per Play, 10^th Among Defensive Tackles (Manocherian, M., ed.SIS Football Rookie Handbook 2021 (ACTA Sports, 2021) p.413
• 76 Total Points Rating Per Pass Rush, Ninth Among Defensive Tackles
• 82 Total Points Rating Per Run Snap 10^th Among Defensive Tackles
• 7 Percent Pressure Rate, Tied Seventh Among Defensive Tackles (Manocherian, M., ed.SIS Football Rookie Handbook 2021 (ACTA Sports, 2021) p.414
• 7 Percent True Pressure Rate, Tied Seventh Among Defensive Tackles
• 0.5 TFL Per Game, Ninth Among Defensive Tackles (Manocherian, M., ed.SIS Football Rookie Handbook 2021 (ACTA Sports, 2021) p.415
• -0.4 EPA Per Game, Tied Fifth Among Defensive Tackles
• 36 Percent Forced Bounce Rate, Fifth Among Defensive Tackles

All three of these defensive tackles attended the 2021 Senior Bowl. The Seahawks brain trust of Schneider and Carroll spoke about the importance of the event when they drafted Jordyn Brooks in the first round of last year’s draft. The 2021 edition will have given the team a closer look at these prospects.

Glossary

(Manocherian, M., ed.SIS Football Rookie Handbook 2021 (ACTA Sports, 2021) p.412

• Total Points: Sports Info Solutions' proprietary player value metric that uses an Expected Points framework and distributes the value gained or lost on a play to the players involved based on their impact on the play.
• Total Points Rating: Total Points per play compared to averaged, scaled so that 50 is poor and 99 is excellent
• Pressure Rate: The percentage of pass rushes that resulted in a quarterback hurry, hit, knockdown, or sack.
• True Pressure Rate: Pressure rate that isolates straight drop backs which are more likely to be similar across situations
• Forced Bounce Rate: The percentage of runs that didn't go through the designed gap
• Adjusted Tackle Depth Plus: (When run at split) ATD+ compares actual tackle depth to the expected tackle depth based on personnel, intended run gap, and the defender's pre-snap alignment. The figure is then scaled so that 100 is average. A figure of 110 indicates a player who is 10 percent better than average; a figure of 90 indicates a player who is 10 percent worse than average."

Permission to use the Sports Info Solutions data was granted by the SIS Vice President of Football & Research and Rookie Handbook Editor Matt Manocherian on April 23^rd 2021. You can purchase “The SIS Football Rookie Handbook 2021” here. It’s a fantastic read full of data, articles and NFL-level scouting reports. Follow SIS on Twitter here and Matt here.