Seahawks Final Report Card: Inconsistency Plagues DTs in New Scheme
With the 2022 season officially in the books, the Seattle Seahawks will head into the offseason with plenty of momentum after a surprising 9-8 season that resulted in an unexpected return to the playoffs.
Despite being the most experienced positional group on Seattle's roster rolling into a new season, a defensive tackle group headlined by veterans Poona Ford and Al Woods didn't perform near as well as anticipated, playing a key role in the team's dreadful 31st-ranked run defense and hit-and-miss pass rush. Looking back at a season that didn't play out at all as planned, how did the interior defensive line perform in 2022?
What Went Right
A natural fit for Seattle's new defense after playing multiple seasons for coach Vic Fangio in Denver, Shelby Harris enjoyed a strong first season with his new team after being included as part of the Russell Wilson trade. Starting in 16 of 17 games, he finished third on the team with 30 quarterback pressures and finished with 40 tackles against the run, earning the highest run defense grade from Pro Football Focus. Away from his statistics, the popular veteran provided another galvanizing presence in the trenches for a defense featuring plenty of new faces.
Continuing to fight off Father Time at nose tackle, Woods held serve in the middle as one of the Seahawks few bright spots defending the run. Per PFF, the 35-year old registered 36 tackles and 19 stops characterized as failed plays for the offense on run defense snaps last season. He also added 13 pressures and a pair of sacks in limited pass rushing opportunities. If not for an Achilles injury that cost him a pair of games and hindered his performance to an extent down the stretch, he would have equaled his outstanding 2021 season production-wise.
Providing pass rushing juice in his return to Seattle after a two-year hiatus, Quinton Jefferson recorded a career-high 5.5 sacks and finished 14th among defensive tackles with 43 quarterback pressures. Utilized in a rotational role behind Harris and Ford, he was especially effective harassing opposing passers in the final month of the season, producing a 21 percent pressure rate that ranked higher than All-Pro Chris Jones, Jeffery Simmons, and Cam Heyward during that span.
What Went Wrong
Carrying Seattle's largest cap hit on the entire roster, Ford didn't have an awful season by any means. But logging a whopping 676 snaps primarily playing as a 3-tech or 4i-tech defensive tackle, the veteran didn't fit well as a puzzle piece in a new scheme and wasn't as disruptive as his first four NFL seasons, failing to make the impact expected of a player with his contract. Struggling with two-gap responsibilities and run fits early in the season, he received a career-worst 52.9 run defense grade from PFF, recorded 19 fewer tackles than 2021, and generated 10 fewer quarterback pressures, putting his future with the franchise up in the air.
In Ford's defense, he wasn't the only defensive tackle who seemed like a square peg being placed into a round hole at times. While Jefferson excelled as a pass rusher, he often got bullied in the run game, struggling to hold up at the point of attack with his 290-pound frame against more powerful offensive linemen. His 39.0 run defense grade was second worst on the team ahead of only L.J. Collier, who capped off a disappointing four-year run with the franchise with another lackluster season.
Adding insult to injury, literally, Seattle also dealt with attrition at defensive tackle throughout the season. Woods missed a pair of games and ultimately wasn't close to 100 percent when he played in the final two regular season games and wild card loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Further depleting depth at nose tackle, Bryan Mone tore his ACL and suffered other knee damage in a Week 15 loss to the 49ers, putting him up against the clock when it comes to being ready to return early in the 2023 campaign.
Final Grade: C-
Entering a perceived rebuilding season without Wilson and Bobby Wagner, Seattle expected its seasoned defensive line to be a clear area of strength. However, growing pains in a new scheme were apparent early in training camp and while a midseason surge that coincided with a four-game winning streak illustrated major progress, that stretch wound up being nothing more than fool's gold. While there were positive flashes, the group as a whole regressed in the second half, often getting beat up physically off the snap and failing to secure gaps against the run, allowing opponents to rack up yardage on the ground in bunches.
After greatly underachieving, though some of that disappointing performance can be attributed to questionable personnel fits more than talent or effort, the Seahawks will need to embark on a massive retooling of their interior defensive line this offseason. Ford will be a free agent, while Woods, Jefferson, and Harris all will be entering the final year of their respective contracts and at least one of those players could be released as a cap casualty. With four picks in the top 52 in April's draft, expect at least one of those picks to go towards infusing talent into a unit that must improve quickly for the team to keep pace with the 49ers and the rest of the NFC's elite.
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