Pete Carroll Excited About Seahawks Young Nucleus at Defensive Tackle
RENTON, WA - Last Friday, the Seahawks received their first injury scares of the 2020 season, as projected starting defensive tackles Jarran Reed and Poona Ford each exited practice and did not return.
Luckily, coach Pete Carroll indicated in a virtual Zoom press conference on Monday that neither Reed or Ford's injury was serious and both players would be back in action soon. Despite dodging two bullets, however, their absence from Sunday's practice illustrated the Mount Everest-sized crevacce between the starters and the rest of the team's defensive tackles in terms of experience.
Behind Reed and Ford, the largely untested trio of Bryan Mone, Demarcus Christmas, and undrafted rookie Cedrick Lattimore have suited up for a combined four NFL regular season games. In fact, Christmas and Lattimore haven't even dressed for a preseason game.
But rather than view the lack of snaps as a detriment, Carroll offered a different take assessing the state of Seattle's defensive tackle group.
"Isn't that awesome?" Carroll smiled. "Think how young - all these guys have all their games ahead of them."
While Carroll has been known to occasionally throw a sarcastic zinger into his responses speaking with the media, it's evident he has plenty of confidence in Seattle's current cast of characters at defensive tackle.
In particular, Carroll offered a glowing assessment of Mone, a second-year nose tackle out of Michigan who played in five games as a rookie. He produced four tackles on just 89 defensive snaps in the regular season and then pitched in with two tackles in a Divisional Round loss to the Packers.
After re-watching many of Mone's snaps on film earlier in the summer, Carroll believes the big-bodied run stuffer will be ready to take on a bigger role for the Seahawks in 2020.
"I'm really, really excited about Bryan Mone," Carroll said. "He played really well in the plays he played last year. He plays really stout, strong and he's willing to run like crazy and chase the football."
One of the shining stars of Seattle's training camp thus far, Mone produced two highlight plays in pre-practice on Sunday exhibiting the outstanding effort Carroll demands from his players. Using these examples as teaching tape, Carroll showed both plays to the rest of the team during a meeting on Monday morning.
Carroll also noted that Mone, who weighed in at over 350 pounds last year, reported to training camp at a leaner 340 pounds. In better physical shape and with a year in the Seahawks system under his belt, he "definitely" envisions him as a key component of the defensive line rotation behind Reed and Ford.
"I think he gives us - because he's been with us in his second season - he feels like he's been around. He knows our stuff and he's a real bright player too... We know that he can play football."
Away from Mone, Carroll and his staff are getting their first extensive look at Christmas. The 2019 sixth-round pick missed his entire rookie season on the PUP list with a back injury and has been seeing snaps on the practice field at both at nose tackle and the 3-tech position.
"Christmas is important to us, how he develops," Carroll commented. "This is the first time really we've seen him. He's really like a rookie right now because last year didn't amount to much of anything for him unfortunately. He's had a good offseason and he's right in the mix of it too."
For those concerned about overall depth at the position, Carroll also made sure to name-drop defensive ends Rasheem Green and L.J. Collier, who will reduce inside during nickel packages to the 3-tech role to add speed to Seattle's interior pass rush.
While Green has been spending the majority of his time with the first-team defense at base defensive end, Collier has played extensive snaps rotating in at defensive tackle over the first week of camp. Coming off a disappointing rookie year, Carroll has seen "a different guy" on the practice field thus far.
"He's quicker, he's explosive, he's in great shape, and he's battling," Carroll said. "He's off to a terrific start."
Over the past couple of months, the Seahawks have been consistently linked to several veteran defensive tackles on the free agent market to reinforce the position. Among those who reportedly have been on the team's radar, Damon Harrison and Marcell Dareus still remain unsigned and it's possible they could still be added at some point.
Nonetheless, Carroll's overall outlook about the young nucleus at the position suggests Seattle may not feel such a move is necessary. For now, he seems content continuing to develop players such as Mone and Collier into pivotal contributors in the trenches.
"It looks a little different when you start to mix our guys and we do have some depth and we have some guys that can play and give us some real good athleticism. It can be a really fast defense and it'll start with those guys ability to run up front."
