Pro Football Focus Ranks Seahawks Defensive Standouts Heading Towards 2021 Season
With NFL offseason programs in full swing across the country, Pro Football Focus officially released their annual position-by-position rankings using their play-by-play grading and premium stats.
Where do the Seahawks top defensive players stack up against the rest of the league at their respective positions? Here's a look at eight players who made PFF's lists - and one who somehow didn't - with their final rank, key stats, and an assessment of the ranking.
Poona Ford
PFF Ranking: 19th out of 32
Key Stat: Ford's run defense grade ranks in the 85th percentile since breaking into the league as an undrafted rookie out of Texas in 2018.
During his first two NFL seasons, Ford received stellar grades as a run defender, but he wasn't known for his interior pass rushing ability. In his first 26 career games, he amassed just 0.5 sacks and five quarterback hits. In year No. 3, however, with more extensive reps at the 3-tech role, he found his groove harassing opposing quarterbacks. He produced a career-high 28 quarterback pressures and a pair of sacks, evolving into one of the NFC's best all-around defensive tackles and earning the sixth-best overall grade among qualified players at his position. With Jarran Reed now in Kansas City and Ford rewarded with a new contract, he will have more chances to be featured as a rusher in the 3-tech spot in 2021.
Carlos Dunlap
PFF Ranking: Unranked
Key Stat: Dunlap was credited with 7.0 sacks in his final eight games after being acquired by the Seahawks in October.
From a grade standpoint, Dunlap had a "down" season by his standards, receiving a 60.3 overall mark from Pro Football Focus in 15 games. But while his first half performance was uninspiring in a diminished role with Cincinnati, his presence helped galvanize one of the NFL's worst pass rushes and turned Seattle's defensive line into a unit to reckon with in the second half after he was acquired for a seventh-round pick. Starting with seven sacks in a loss to Buffalo, no team produced more sacks from Week 9 through the conclusion of the regular season. It was a remarkable turnaround that simply wouldn't have happened without a rejuvenated Dunlap playing a starring role and a strong argument can be made his performance down the stretch warranted inclusion on PFF's top-32 list for defensive ends.
Bobby Wagner
PFF Ranking: 1st out of 32
Key Stat: Used more as a blitzer, Wagner accounted for 23 quarterback pressures for Seattle in 2020.
While Wagner may now be entering the tail-end of his illustrious career as he nears his 31st birthday, he remained one of the NFL's premier linebackers in his ninth season and garnered First-Team All-Pro honors for the sixth time. For the ninth straight season, he eclipsed 100 combined tackles and bounced back from a somewhat disappointing 2019 season in coverage, amassing eight passes defensed and allowing just 9.4 yards per completion against him per Pro Football Reference. The future Hall of Famer also played a bigger role in Seattle's pass rush as a blitzer last year than in prior seasons, recording 3.0 sacks and 11 quarterback hits. Other younger backers may be coming soon for his crown as the best in the game, but he's not ready to cede it just yet.
K.J. Wright
PFF Ranking: 14th out of 32
Key Stat: Seeing action at weakside and strongside linebacker, Wright earned the fifth-highest grade (75.3) at the position among qualified players.
It's quite remarkable how Wright continues to fly under the radar in many aspects now 10 seasons into his vastly underrated NFL career. All he did in 2020 was switch to strongside linebacker early in the season to replace an injured Bruce Irvin and start all 16 games, posting a gaudy stat line with 86 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 10 passes defensed, 2.0 sacks, and an interception. He was the only defensive player in the entire league to yield double-digit tackles for loss and passes defensed, proving himself to once again be a lynchpin for Seattle's defense. Yet he once again missed out on making the Pro Bowl and despite his impressive production, he hasn't been re-signed by the Seahawks or joined any other team to this point. Wherever he does wind up in 2021, he looks to have plenty of great football left in him.
Quandre Diggs
PFF Ranking: Unranked
Key Stat: Diggs was charged with allowing just 12 completions on 20 targets, turning the eight incompletions into five interceptions.
As the Seahawks struggled to stop opponents from racking up historic yardage totals in the first two months of the season, Diggs unfairly drew criticism from some fans for his lack of ball production in center field for a porous secondary. But as other players returned from injury around him and the group started to gel, the former Texas standout found his groove at the midway point of the season, recording three interceptions and seven passes defensed over the final seven games to help Seattle capture an NFC West division title. He wrapped up the season with the second-most tackles in his career (64) while setting career-bests in interceptions (5) and passes defensed (10), helping him earn his first Pro Bowl nod. He’s one of only four safeties in the NFL with eight or more interceptions in the past two seasons and for that reason alone, it’s a travesty he isn’t ranked in the top 20 of PFF’s rankings.
Jamal Adams
PFF Ranking: 10th out of 32
Key Stat: Adams finished with 34 quarterback pressures in just 12 games, 15 more than any other safety in the NFL last season.
Adapting to a new defensive scheme and dealing with injuries, Adams underwhelmed in some regards in his first season as a Seahawk. Quarterbacks completed 80 percent of their passes and posted a 121.7 passer rating when targeting him in coverage. Pro Football Focus ranked him 58th out of 67 qualified safeties in that category, handing him a mediocre 53.1 grade for the season. But Adams did seem to improve in this area as the season progressed and his impact on Seattle's second half defensive renaissance cannot be understated. He wound up breaking the single-season sacks record for defensive backs despite missing four games. Being healthy should also bring out the best in the three-time All-Pro selection, who still put up a stat line of 83 tackles, 9.5 sacks, and 11 tackles for loss while playing with a bad shoulder and cracked fingers, so his ranking seems about right and could be higher next year.
