Jarrod Hewitt: A Solution to Seahawks' Interior Pass Rush Concerns?
No position group on the Seahawks has been addressed more than the defensive line this offseason. From the retention of Carlos Dunlap to the arrival of Kerry Hyder, plenty of time - and resources - have been dumped into the unit, and for good reason. For the first half of the 2020 season, Seattle's defense was on pace to put up historically awful numbers, with one of the biggest contributing factors being its inability to get to the quarterback consistently.
Additions aside, the Seahawks still took a hit to their pass rush upside on the interior with the loss of Jarran Reed. After Reed refused to restructure the final year of his second contract with the team, he was cut as a salary cap casualty and landed with the Chiefs just days later. With that, the Seahawks gained nearly $9 million in cap space but lost a potential high-end pass rushing threat who's put up 6.5 and 10.5 sacks in two of his first five seasons in the NFL.
To say their defensive tackle ranks are completely depleted would be inaccurate. They still have former undrafted free agent Poona Ford, who sits atop their depth chart after signing a two-year extension in March. Immediately following the news of Reed's exit, they agreed to a reunion with veteran run stuffer Al Woods. And they're incredibly high on the potential of Bryan Mone and Cedrick Lattimore.
That said, aside from Ford, depth is a concern—particularly from a pass rushing standpoint. Even including Ford, the highest single-season sack total in their current eight-man group is held by Robert Nkemdiche, who put up 4.5 in 2018. However, that's also Nkemdiche's career total, and he's been out of football for well over a year.
Here are the career pressure totals of all Seahawks defensive tackles, per Pro Football Focus:
Numbers provided by Pro Football Focus
For reference: Jarran Reed would be by and large the No. 1 player on this list, registering 159 total pressures in 72 games played.
While the Seahawks are expecting to see a significant increase in pass rush win-rate on the outside, they're in a rough spot inside. Enter Jarrod Hewitt, one of the Seahawks' 13 undrafted free agent signings out of Virginia Tech.
Over his last two collegiate seasons, Hewitt exploded for 9.5 sacks on 48 pressures in just 17 games. Displaying an explosive get-off, the three-year starter earned praise in the draft process for his stellar gap penetration and eye-catching high motor. But where he gets knocked down a peg is in his size, or lack thereof.
Hewitt is listed at 6'1" and 290 pounds by the Seahawks, but he'll need a bit more substance to handle three-technique duties at the highest level. His ability to gain leverage and shed blocks is a massive concern with his lack of strength, so while he was able to succeed on pure explosiveness in the ACC, he'll need to add more physicality to his game.
Turning "undersized" linemen into legitimate NFL juggernauts is far from new territory for the Seahawks and position coach Clint Hurtt, however. Ford is a prime example of this, quickly becoming one of the league's most underrated interior linemen despite being south of six-feet tall. There's reason to believe Hewitt could be another exception; if he doesn't, it won't be for a lack of effort.
Though many scouts and pundits differ on what his ceiling may be in the NFL, there's one commonality in each report: Hewitt's passion for the game and willingness to adapt. The energy he displays on the field is very much present off of it as well. At Virginia Tech, he became a leader and one of the school's co-captains. There, he worked tirelessly to better himself as an athlete, picking up the school's Lawrence R. White Award for the most outstanding strength and conditioning performance of 2020.
Whether that translates to the NFL for him or not remains to be seen, but in his four years at Virginia Tech, he did nothing but improve. So even with further adjustments needed, it's hard to bet against someone on the roll Hewitt's currently on. And if he can get there physically, his skillset could really help the Seahawks in a spot they're considerably lacking.
