Seahawks 90-Man Countdown: DT Bryan Mone - On Comeback Trail?

Recovering from a substantial knee injury, the Seattle Seahawks hope to have Bryan Mone back in the lineup at some point in the 2023 season to help shore up arguably their biggest question mark on either side of the football.

Author:
Corbin K. Smith
Publish date:
Jul 5, 2023 2:50 PM EDT

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Seattle Seahawks

With the calendar flipping to July and offseason activities in the rearview mirror, the Seattle Seahawks will open training camp at the VMAC later this month, officially ushering in the 2023 season.

To celebrate the new incoming season, we'll be detailing every member of the Seahawks 90-man roster over the next several weeks, exploring best and worst case scenarios and what to expect from each player entering the 2023 campaign.

Bryan Mone, Defensive Tackle

Height/Weight: 6-3, 345 pounds

2022 Stats: 25 tackles, two tackles for loss, one pass deflection

One of the latest undrafted success stories for the Seahawks, Bryan Mone managed to make the Seahawks initial 53-man roster as a rookie after not being selected in the 2019 NFL Draft and though he spent most of the season on the practice squad, he recorded four tackles in four games. Injuries limited him to just 10 games in 2020, but he broke out in his third season with the organization, setting career-highs in tackles, sacks, quarterback hits, and forced fumbles while logging 396 snaps as a rotational nose tackle behind veteran stalwart Al Woods. As a reward for his efforts, the team signed him to a multi-year extension last June.

While Mone wasn't as productive as an interior pass rusher with a win rate barely above five percent in 2022, the former Michigan standout looked poised to replicate the rest of his numbers before suffering a torn ACL in a Week 15 loss to San Francisco. Undergoing reconstructive knee surgery in January to repair the injury as well as other damage, his status for the upcoming season remains uncertain.

Best-Case Scenario: Making a rapid recovery beyond Seattle's expectations, Mone returns to action midway through training camp and though he doesn't appear in any preseason games, he demonstrates enough progress to play in the team's opener and winds up re-emerging as the starter at nose tackle, setting new personal bests in tackles and tackles for loss anchoring an improved run defense.

Worst-Case Scenario: Unable to turn the corner in his rehab, Mone begins the 2023 season on the PUP list and in his extended absence, the Seahawks continue to struggle mightily defending the run without a viable pro-ready replacement, contributing to a disappointing 4-5 start before the veteran finally returns to the field after the trade deadline.

What to Expect in 2023: Nobody will mistake Mone as a star, but his status may be one of the most important lingering questions for the Seahawks heading into a season with high expectations. After releasing Woods and Shelby Harris and losing Poona Ford in free agency, the team has few traditional nose tackle types on the roster, as fourth-round pick Cameron Young likely will be the Week 1 starter by default with no other healthy defensive tackles north of 320 pounds on the depth chart.

Considering Seattle's ugly performance ranking 30th in the NFL defending the run a year ago, even if he has to play limited snaps at first, getting Mone back on the field will be imperative to improving in that regard with few options available to replace him. Given his importance to the defense long-term, the team can't afford to rush him too quickly off a severe knee injury and must make sure he has fully recovered before activating him. But if the massive run stuffer isn't able to return until the second half of the season, that would be a major blow to arguably the team's weakest positional group that could ultimately have a negative impact on the win/loss column.

Previous Seahawks 90-Man Profiles