An Injection Of Rylie Mills Could Take The Defense Even Higher

The Seattle Seahawks probably knew what they were getting when they drafted Rylie Mills in the fifth round last year, given he was already several months into a torn ACL he suffered in his final game at Notre Dame. It was a redshirt year for the defensive lineman. The team had enough going on upfront to where they didn’t need him yet, and he needed time.

That ended up coming to pass. Mills didn’t get activated until mid-December, and he played a total of twenty-eight snaps across the final four games of the regular season. He was inactive for the divisional round, played a single snap in the NFC Title game, and then five in the super bowl. He played so little he’ll now be a restricted free agent in 2029.

A Super Bowl Highlight

After Mills's career ended in tragic injury, Seattle knew he wouldn't play much as a rookie. — Notre Dame defensive lineman Rylie Mills (99) is helped off the field during the first round of the College Football Playoff between Notre Dame and Indiana. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

One of those five snaps in the super bowl, however, has drawn a lot of attention. You’ve probably seen it a couple dozen times by now. In a game filled with stars and superstars making plays for the Seattle defense, Mills’s sack of Drake Maye can’t help but stand out. Not just because he punched in his first career sack on the big stage, but how he did it.

10:44 left in the second quarter, 2nd and 7, ball on New England’s 38. Drake Maye in the shotgun, four receivers and one back. Maye drops back, four man rush, looking like a clean pocket. Except Mills takes rookie Jared Wilson, drives him back, and back, and back, and then he’s pushing him right into Maye. Time for Drake to escape, right?

Not this time. Mills reaches out, grabs Maye’s jersey with his left hand, keeps his right on Wilson, then manages to swing his right arm over Wilson and get it on Maye to drag him down. Third and long. It’s not your everyday sack, a rare display of strength and awareness that didn’t just help the team win the game. It made Seahawks fans wonder what else he can do.

Even with the torn ACL, the Seahawks believed in Mills enough to draft him. — Notre Dame defensive lineman Rylie Mills (DL22) during the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Breakout Season Loading

Mills is an undersized defensive tackle. So much so that he was initially a defensive end in college before bulking up and sliding inside. That he has the power and strength to push a 310 pound lineman back like that and finish at the quarterback isn’t necessarily what you would expect. But that’s his game. He attacks, punches hard, and pushes into the backfield.

Snaps will be hard to come across on the Seattle defensive line in 2026. Leonard Williams remains an elite player, Byron Murphy might be ascending to the elite of the elite, and Jarran Reed will be getting on the field on a part-time basis. But Mills fits in there somewhere, if for no other reason than giving the older players a shot to have their legs in January.

Second year breakout loading. — Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Rylie Mills speaks during a news conference after the NFL football team's rookie minicamp. | AP Photo/Ryan Sun

But Mills isn’t just someone to occupy the field for a handful of snaps. He’s someone who can be a genuine, meaningful playmaker. We got a sample of it in the super bowl, but that won’t be the last time Rylie’s making things happen in the backfield for the Seahawks. Of the many things that will keep this defense on top in 2026, Mills’s growth is on the list.

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