Seahawks ‘Batman’ Needs ‘Robin’: Who Starts Opposite Uchenna Nwosu?
Competition has always been one of the pillars of coach Pete Carroll's philosophy and among several looming battles set to take place at training camp later this month, the Seattle Seahawks will be looking to unearth another quality starter across from ascending star Uchenna Nwosu at the edge position.
Unlike several other positions groups on defense, Seattle will largely be returning the same band of characters at outside linebacker as last year with Nwosu and former second-round picks Darrell Taylor and Boye Mafe all coming back after being key contributors a year ago. But the group has been further strengthened by the selection of former Auburn star Derick Hall in the second round and the impending return of former fifth round picks Alton Robinson and Tyreke Smith from injury.
Looking towards the 2023 season, after adding Hall to an already crowded stable of young rushers, which player has the inside track to start opposite of Nwosu going into camp and who could be a wild card to watch?
Here's a case for each of the four players in consideration to bust into the starting lineup off the edge and a final verdict on who will win the job:
Darrell Taylor
Since missing his entire rookie season in 2020 recovering from a fractured leg, Taylor has arguably been Seattle's most productive pass rusher, at least in terms of getting the quarterback to the ground. His 16 sacks over the past two seasons rank first on the team and after a torrid stretch in the second half last year, he finished tied with Nwosu for the team lead with 9.5 sacks. Becoming a strip sack artist, he also forced four fumbles, frequently creating turnover opportunities for the defense.
However, Taylor has been extremely streaky, as evidenced by his splits last season. In the first eight games of the season, per Pro Football Focus, he only had 12 quarterback pressures and three sacks, posting a poor seven percent pressure rate and 8.8 percent pass rush win rate in that span. In the final nine games, while he only had 15 pressures, he did get to the quarterback for seven sacks and his pressure rate improved to close to 13 percent in a situational role.
After losing his starting job early in the season, Darrell Taylor came to life in the second half and nearly hit double-digit sacks for the first time in his career.
© Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
Aside from inconsistency in the pass rushing department, Taylor's run defense has largely been missing during his time in the NFL. Whether getting blown off the ball by stronger blockers or playing himself out of position setting the edge, opponents have purposely ran right at him with great success and he has struggled to finish plays, missing 27.3 percent of his tackle attempts against run plays a year ago. This led to him losing his starting job after Week 3 and a significant reduction in snaps as a situational rusher for the rest of the year.
Now entering his fourth season with the organization, Taylor has all of the physical tools to be a starter-caliber outside linebacker and if he puts everything together, the sky seems to be the limit for him as a pass rusher with a quick first step, excellent bend to turn the corner on blockers, and his penchant for punching the ball out. But he has to show stark improvements as a run defender both in terms of mindset and physicality to give himself the opportunity for more snaps as a starter to manufacture more pass rushing opportunities.
Boye Mafe
Drafted in the second round out of Minnesota, Mafe entered the league perceived as a rotational pass rusher who would need time to develop as a run defender before he would be ready for a starter workload in the NFL. Coach Pete Carroll indicated as much during training camp last August, saying the rookie would start off in a situational pass rush role behind Nwosu and Taylor.
But out of nowhere, with Taylor struggling mightily against the run and veteran Darryl Johnson suffering a year-ending foot injury, Mafe surprisingly emerged as a stout run defender for the Seahawks. Among qualified rookie edge defenders, his 14 run stops ranked fifth behind Kayvon Thibodeaux, Aidan Hutchinson, Travon Walker, and Jermaine Johnson, who were all selected in the first round ahead of him. He also tied for fourth among rookie edge defenders in combined tackles and received a stellar 69.6 run defense grade, standing out as one of the team's few bright spots on a 30th ranked rushing defense.
While his pass rushing numbers didn't jump out as a rookie, Boye Mafe surprisingly shined as a run defender for the Seahawks and set a firm edge.
© Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
On the flip side, Mafe didn't offer much as a pass rusher with a mediocre six percent pressure rate and 5.9 percent pass rush win rate, though Seattle didn't give him much of a chance to establish a rhythm in that regard. In eight of his 18 total games played, he received 10 or fewer chances to rush the passer. As a result, he only generated a trio of sacks and 12 total pressures, which tied for 17th among rookie edge defenders with Alex Wright of the Browns.
If Mafe's stellar play as a run defender carries over into 2023, given the Seahawks obvious issues slowing down ball carriers a year ago, he could have a significant advantage competing to start opposite of Nwosu. But to improve his odds of make a second-year leap into the lineup and see a substantial increase in play time, he will have to splash far more often as a pass rusher in camp and the preseason than he did as a rookie.
Derick Hall
One year after drafting Mafe, the Seahawks once again invested a high pick in another high-upside edge defender by snagging Hall with the 37th overall selection acquired from the Broncos as part of the Russell Wilson trade. Given the logjam of young talent expected to be ahead of him on the depth chart, some may think the former Auburn captain has an uphill climb ahead of him to start right away.
While there may be some truth to that, however, Hall comes into the NFL as a more polished all-around player than either Taylor or Mafe were when Seattle drafted them. Few players were more disruptive in the SEC over the past couple of years, as the high-motor rusher racked up 15.5 sacks and 24 tackles for loss in his final two seasons with the Tigers, earning Second-Team All-SEC honors in 2021 and First-Team All-SEC distinction as a senior in 2022.
A team captain with a relentless motor, Derick Hall enjoyed two outstanding seasons to close out his college career at Auburn and will now vie for a starting job early in Seattle.
CollegePressBox.com
A twitchy, yoked-up athlete who plays every snap as if it is his last, Hall offers the physical tools, mindset, and toughness the Seahawks covet. With that said, he isn't coming into the league without flaws that need to be addressed, as he primarily won as a pass rusher with power in college and needs to develop a more refined set of counters. His aggressive play style also left him out of position gap-wise at times against the run, which was an issue for the team's defense as a whole last year.
Like any rookie, Hall will have much to prove in his first training camp if he wants to seriously push Taylor and Mafe for a starting spot. But with a motor that always runs hot and the athleticism to wreak havoc as a rusher and run defender, if his fundamentals catch up to his natural talent quickly, it wouldn't be a surprise at all to see him taking on a major role early in his career in Seattle.
Tyreke Smith
With Hall's arrival and the return of Taylor and Mafe, the Seahawks have a crowded edge rushing group that could be difficult for other players to crack. But if there is a dark horse to watch heading towards camp, after missing his rookie season due to injury in similar fashion to Taylor, Smith could be the prime candidate to keep a close eye on next month.
Selected in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Smith didn't participate much in Seattle's offseason program and after beginning training camp on the PUP list, he practiced twice before a lingering hip injury forced him onto injured reserve. While it was a small sample size, the ex-Ohio State standout made his presence felt in those two practices, winning multiple pass rushing reps during team periods while demonstrating excellent power and better explosiveness than suggested by his NFL combine testing numbers.
Back healthy after a hip injury cost him the entire 2022 season, Tyreke Smith hopes to follow Darrell Taylor's path and become an immediate contributor in his "redshirt" rookie season.
Corbin Smith/All Seahawks
Battling injuries in Columbus and playing behind, he only surpassed 20 tackles once in four collegiate seasons and never registered more than three sacks in a season. But those numbers don't necessarily paint the most accurate picture, as he was far more disruptive harassing quarterbacks than his sack numbers illustrate. Per PFF, he finished second in the nation with a 22.3 percent pressure rate in 2020 and he exceeded 20 percent again in 2021, finishing with 36 quarterback pressures as a senior on just 259 pass rushing snaps in 10 games.
If he can stay healthy as he did during the offseason program this spring and perform well as a run defender to go with his pass rushing potential, while he will be an underdog given the wealth of young talent Seattle has amassed at the position, Smith could be the ultimate wild card to throw his helmet into the ring battling to start across from Nwosu.
Final Verdict
From a snap count perspective, Taylor has the most riding on the upcoming season and Seattle would love nothing more than to see him enjoy a breakout season after a strong finish to the 2022 campaign. Set to be a restricted free agent next March, if he can take a major step forward improving as a run defender and find a bit more consistency chasing after quarterbacks, he still could play his way into a lucrative multi-year deal as a long-term starter in the Pacific Northwest.
But if Taylor doesn't make the jump that the Seahawks hope he will, Mafe and Hall will be well-positioned to steal his snaps and push the veteran back into a situational role, putting themselves in the driver's seat for a second contract down the line. Even Smith and Robinson, whose status coming back from a knee injury remains murky at the moment, have enough talent and potential to jump into the fray in August with a strong camp and exhibition season.
Ultimately, while a player such as Taylor surfacing as a true ace rushing off the edge would be ideal and he will get the first crack at re-winning the job, the Seahawks aren't in a position where they have to name a starter across from Nwosu. With Taylor, Mafe, Hall, and Smith all offering different skill sets and plenty of potential collectively, the team's best bet - and most likely outcome - may be to deploy a by-committee approach based on opponent, mixing and matching all four players in a rotation to keep everyone fresh and thus having different starters week to week.
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