Why Seahawks Will Generate More Sacks in 2020
The Achilles' heel of the 2019 Seahawks squad was the inconsistency of their pass rush. Despite acquiring one of the best defensive ends in the NFL in Jadeveon Clowney, Seattle ranked next-to-last with 28 sacks during the season.
Even with, for now, losing Clowney, who to this date still remains unsigned, Seattle should increase their sack total in 2020 with the additions they have made and just by better luck.
For one reason or another, the Seahawks just could not take down the opposing quarterback on a consistent basis. Surges occurred in certain games to make the numbers look even better than they could have been. Half of the season's total amount of sacks came in three games against the Bengals, Cardinals. and 49ers.
Coach Pete Carroll certainly was not satisfied with the results last season.
"We really did look at the issue of we weren’t happy with the production of our pressure that we put on last year and so we went after it. Every move that we’ve made has addressed that and I think that we have the depth that can really help us keep guys fast and fresh and get a really good rotation going."
Clearly, Carroll feels good about the pass rushing options for 2020 even sans Clowney. With the group the Seahawks have assembled ahead of the 2020 season, the defense should accrue more than 28 sacks.
In 2018, the Seahawks collected 43 sacks without a Pro Bowl pass rusher. Getting rid of Frank Clark via trade and the suspension of Jarran Reed put a damper on that momentum going into the 2019 season.
Reed is now back with a fresh new contract and a full season ahead of him and, assuming he isn't suspended again or gets hurt, one would think he will easily surpass his disappointing 2019 season of just 2.0 sacks.
Despite the absence of Clowney, Reed is not without help. Rasheem Green led the team with 4.0 sacks and is still coming into his own. He will look to progress even further in his third season at just 23 years of age.
Former first round pick L.J. Collier is feeling the heat after a very disappointing rookie campaign that saw him play just 152 defensive snaps all season. He collected 14.5 sacks in three seasons at TCU, thus the potential is there for him to figure things out in his sophomore season.
Seattle brought in two veterans who know a thing or two about bringing down quarterbacks in Benson Mayowa and Bruce Irvin. In fact, both players would have led the Seattle last season as they had 7.0 and 8.5 sacks respectively in 2019. In both instances, it was a career high for each player.
Seattle feels good about its draft class in respect to the pass rush as well. Second round selection Darrell Taylor looks poised to contribute right away after racking up 16.5 sacks in his last two seasons at Tennessee. The Seahawks also used a fifth round pick on Syracuse defensive end Alton Robinson, who collected 14 sacks in his last two years for the Orange.
Another factor in Seattle being much better in the pass rushing department in 2020 is because of sheer luck. 28 sacks is their lowest team total in the Pete Carroll era and lowest since 2009, making it hard to believe they'll be close to that unproductive again.
Plus, Seattle may have not gotten consistent pressure (19.3 percent pressure rate was 28th in the league), but they were able to hurry the quarterback. The squad just struggled to turn the hurries into sacks.
The Seahawks ranked 16th in hurry rate at 9.2 percent in 2019, much higher than their sack and pressure numbers. This suggests they were disruptive enough to alter the quarterback's plans without finishing the job.
This year, Carroll expects to see Seattle's defense improve exponentially at getting the quarterback on his backside, helping the rest of the unit as a result.
"We should be really better than we’ve been. We’re real positive about that. That doesn’t mean we’re done working, either. John’s going to keep going, keep digging around and see if there’s a guy that might spark us in there, like we always do. Pretty fired up about it, really. We’re really pleased with what we’ve done.”
These comments suggests the Seahawks may not even be done bringing in reinforcements. Clowney, Everson Griffen, Markus Golden, among many other edge rushers, remain unsigned in the post-draft wave of free agency.
Who knows? Clowney may still find his way back to Seattle, making this group not only much improved from last year, but perhaps one of the most feared pass rushing units in the NFC.
