Jarran Reed gets familiar feeling from Mike Macdonald's mean Seahawks defense

The comparisons between the current Seattle Seahawks defense and the Legion of Boom have been rampant this season, particularly because it's the first good unit the franchise has had since that Super Bowl-winning group.

But now the Seahawks' own players are drawing the comparisons. And one member of the current defense has a unique perspective that nobody else has.

Defensive tackle Jarran Reed was a rookie on the 2016 Seahawks team after being selected in the second round out of Alabama. It was near the end of the LOB era, but that team wa still among the best defenses in the NFL.

“[This is] the best defense I've been on since I got here, besides when I first got here with the guys, pay respect to them though,” Reed told The Tacoma News Tribune's Gregg Bell.

Seattle is currently allowing just 91.2 rush yards per game (4th), 288.2 pass yards per game (6th) and 17.4 points per game (2nd). The defense has 21 takeaways (T-5th), with eight in the last two games, and 41 sacks (4th).

In the locker room here postgame in Atlanta, Jarran Reed, the only current #Seahawks player who played with the Legion of Boom guys as a Seattle rookie in 2016, says he’s starting to get the same vibes from this Seahawks defense.

⁦@thenewstribune⁩ pic.twitter.com/cRqmkqkaEt
— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) December 7, 2025

The confidence of the current Seahawks defense is growing with each game, and they've allowed just nine points over the last two games. Even though those matchups were against flailing Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons squads, it's still impressive.

But it's not just the league-wide ranks that have Reed comparing the current team to his rookie unit.

“The intent, man,” Reed added. “When I first got here with the whole LOB, it was the intent that we had in practice, that we had in games. And I’m feeling that right now.”

The Seahawks are 10-3 and in the race for the NFC's No. 1 seed. While the offense has done enough to keep them in tough games, it's been the defense that is fueling the current Seattle team's wins.

Seattle finished 10-5-1 in the regular season in 2016, earning the No. 3 seed in the NFC. Their season ended in the Divisional Round of the playoffs following a loss to the Atlanta Falcons — the same Falcons team that famously blew a 28-3 lead to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI.

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