Pete Carroll: Personnel Will Dictate How Much Base Defense Seahawks Play in 2020
Bucking a league-wide trend, the Seahawks played more than 50 percent of their defensive snaps out of their base 4-3 defense, more than 20 percent higher than any other team in the NFL last season.
Heading into a new season, coach Pete Carroll remained non-committal about how much base defense Seattle would play in 2020. However, he admitted data indicated the defense didn't play as well as expected, which means changes could be on the horizon.
"We'll see on that one. We have real good stats on it, so we know what we got out of what we did," Carroll remarked on a Zoom press conference with local media. "Overall, we weren't as effective as we've been, so when we get back on the field, we'll see how things fit together."
As he stated numerous times during the course of last season, Carroll again pointed out the Seahawks decision to rely so heavily on their base look stemmed from their personnel. In particular, he wanted to have linebackers Bobby Wagner, K.J. Wright, and Mychal Kendricks on the field together as much as possible.
All three players played at least 60 percent of Seattle's defensive snaps last season. Even when Kendricks went down with a torn ACL in the season finale, then-rookie Cody Barton played 102 snaps in the team's two playoff games in his absence.
With those four linebackers on the field for the majority of plays, the Seahawks rarely deployed a fifth defensive back. Veteran Jamar Taylor logged more than 30 defensive snaps in just three games before being released on November 20, while rookie Ugo Amadi played just 76 total defensive snaps in the regular season.
"We've always tried to draw from the strengths of our players," Carroll elaborated. "And that's one of the reasons we did that last year. We'll see how that goes."
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, none of the 32 NFL teams have been able to take the field for offseason workouts. Though Carroll believes his players will be ahead of the curve learning-wise after conducting online meetings over the past eight weeks, that has prevented him and his staff from seeing what they have to this point.
On one hand, the Seahawks used their first-round pick on linebacker Jordyn Brooks, a player Carroll believes will be an "extraordinary football player for us." The team will want to get him on the field as soon as possible and with Wagner, Wright, and Barton still on the roster, that may lead to another season of playing extensive snaps in 4-3 looks to cater to a position with great talent and depth.
On the flip side, however, Kendricks continues to recover from a torn ACL and it's unlikely he will return. The additions of several pass rushers, including Bruce Irvin and second-round pick Darrell Taylor, along with the trade for cornerback Quinton Dunbar, suggest personnel may be better equipped for nickel defense than a year ago.
Along with Amadi returning as the likely frontrunner to win the nickel cornerback role, Carroll also hinted second-year safety Marquise Blair could have a role in certain nickel packages. If Seattle wants to get the former second-round pick on the field more, it could be at the expense of a third linebacker such as Wright, Brooks, or Barton.
"He's a guy we're very interested in finding a role for him," Carroll said in regard to Blair. "We've already mapped that out. He's got some real special talents and we want to find a spot for him... In the nickel package, he's going to get a lot of consideration to contribute in additional ways because he's unique."
When looking at how the Seahawks stack up with last year's group, Carroll is "pumped up" about the additions that have been made, specifically citing the versatility of Irvin, who can rush off the edge in nickel situations and also play strongside linebacker. He also cited Brooks' game-changing speed as well as the "juice" Taylor and fifth-round pick Alton Robinson will add to the pass rush.
Figuring out where all those new pieces fit in, however, remains to be seen. Personnel changes suggest there could be a shift back to more nickel, but the talent and depth at linebacker could also force Carroll's hands if the Seahawks want to have the best 11 players on the field.
Once teams are given clearance to return to the practice field - which could be as early as mid-July - those pieces of the puzzle will start coming together from a schematic standpoint. Until then, Carroll likes the added flexibility now at his disposal and he's eager to see how things play out as Seattle looks to return to form defensively.
