Despite Losing Jadeveon Clowney, Pete Carroll Encouraged by Seahawks' Pass Rush Options

Critics will argue the Seahawks didn't do near enough to offset the departure of Clowney during free agency and the NFL draft. But as he's been all offseason long, coach Pete Carroll remains bullish on the team's pass rush despite the lack of star power off the edge.

From the beginning of the new league year in March all the way up until this past weekend as teams finalized their 53-man rosters, the Seahawks stayed in the mix trying to re-sign star defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, who was widely viewed as their top priority free agent to re-sign this offseason.

Having stayed in contact with Clowney throughout the process, coach Pete Carroll admitted the franchise had moved on for the most part earlier in the offseason, focusing attention and cap space on addressing other needs. But as the former No. 1 overall pick continued to take his time making a decision without desired offers coming in from teams, including Seattle, the door for a potential return remained open.

"He had his sights set really high to start with and it just put him in a situation where he had to wait it out. And he didn’t get near the amount that he wanted as it turned out," Carroll told reporters on Monday. "Our offers and stuff early on didn’t look attractive to him because he had his mindset elsewhere. I don’t know. It was just a pretty normal process but he just wasn’t ready to make a call early on.”

Once the dust settled and Clowney finally made a decision nearly six months after hitting the market, he couldn't pass up on the opportunity to play for coach Mike Vrabel and the Titans, spurning his former team to head to Nashville. With his departure, concerns about the state of the Seahawks pass rush have only been magnified, as the team finished second-to-last in the NFL in sacks with him on the roster in 2019.

But while Carroll obviously would have loved to see Clowney come back, he remains encouraged about the potential of Seattle's pass rush thanks in large part to the additions of veterans Benson Mayowa and Bruce Irvin as well as the selections of Alton Robinson and Darrell Taylor in the 2020 NFL Draft.

"I sure like our speed on the outside," Carroll said. "All of our guys have had numbers, they've got number to bring with them. To bring 16 sacks to us just in Benson [Mayowa] and in Bruce [Irvin], that's a real positive. Our guys last year didn't add up anywhere near that, so that's a positive, and hopefully we can enhance their play."

Rather than splurge on one of the top-tier pass rushers available in free agency, the Seahawks went bargain hunting bringing back Irvin and Mayowa, who both began their NFL careers with the franchise. The two veterans were signed to one-year deals worth $5.5 million and $3.05 million respectively.

In his lone season with the Panthers a year ago, Irvin established a new career-high with 8.5 sacks and posted a pressure rate of 11.1, which was higher than former Seahawks star Frank Clark. As for Mayowa, he also set a career-high with 7.0 sacks while playing less than 30 percent of the Raiders defensive snaps, proving to be one of the most efficient rushers in the league.

Heading into Week 1, Irvin is expected to start at SAM linebacker, where Carroll has called him the best player he's ever had at the position. Mayowa should also be slated to start at the LEO defensive end spot, bringing speed and quickness the Seahawks lacked at the position last season.

Meanwhile, though Taylor will open the season on the Non-Football Injury List and has yet to practice, Robinson emerged as one of Seattle's biggest surprises in training camp. Reporting 10 pounds heavier than his college playing weight at Syracuse, the fifth-round pick impressed Carroll with his speed and increased power at the point of attack, as he made his presence felt both as a pass rusher and run defender.

"He’s a powerful rusher. He already has good finesse and good moves and understands how to play on the edge and all," Carroll assessed. "But you can see him break the edge down some because he’s stronger than some of the faster, sleeker guys that are weighing in the 250s. He’s run in the 4.6s. You put the whole package together and he’s done well. He’s done real well."

If there's another reason why Carroll remains optimistic Seattle will field a far more productive pass rush even without Clowney, it's the return of fifth-year defensive tackle Jarran Reed, who was re-signed to a two-year, $23 million deal in March.

Suspended for the first six games of the 2019 season, Reed struggled to find a rhythm upon his return to the field. Admitting he was pressing and tried too hard to make things happen on the field, he finished with just 2.0 sacks in 10 games after a dominant 10.5 sack performance the season prior.

As Carroll said numerous times during the offseason, he believes last year's performance was an aberration and without a suspension to worry about this time around, he's hopeful Reed will be able to approach his outstanding numbers from two years ago.

"We really would like to see J-Reed come back to his number somewhere near what he did a couple years ago," Carroll commented. "He had kind of a stilted beginning last season. Now that he's back and he's in great shape and ready to go, if he can get his numbers anywhere near where he was to add to it, we can be in good shape."

There's no question the Seahawks will open the season with question marks galore when it comes to their pass rush. Will Irvin and Mayowa be able to replicate their 2019 production? Can Reed rediscover his 2018 form? Could an X-factor such as Rasheem Green or L.J. Collier emerge as a surprise contributor? How much does Jamal Adams factor in with his blitzing ability?

To answer that last question, Carroll made it clear on Monday that Seattle doesn't intend to send Adams with high frequency and wants to be able to disrupt quarterbacks with a four-man rush as much as possible. Whether they will improve in that regard with all of the additions made to the roster remains to be seen.

But as he has done all offseason long, Carroll remains high on the upside of this group, even if it lacks star power with Clowney now joining the Titans. He's anxious to see how Mayowa, Irvin, Robinson, Reed, and others perform in their first real game action on Sunday in Atlanta and hopes for a fast start pressuring quarterback Matt Ryan.

"We want to see a better job done on the play passes and the containment of it and that kind of stuff. We want to give our coverage a chance to make some plays that we missed out on last year, so hopefully we'll see some of that."