Seahawks 2024 Season Awards: Fourth-Round LB is Defensive Rookie of the Year

Making waves as a starter in his first NFL season, linebacker Tyrice Knight was arguably the Seattle Seahawks' most impressive rookie.

Connor Benintendi | Jan 21, 2025

Nov 24, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks linebacker Tyrice Knight (48) celebrates with linebacker Ernest Jones IV (13) following a sack against the Arizona Cardinals during the first quarter at Lumen Field. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

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Seattle Seahawks

It’s been just over two weeks since the Seattle Seahawks concluded their 2024 season. Even though it missed the playoffs, Seattle had multiple players worthy of recognition on a franchise level.

The Seahawks had just one Pro Bowler (cornerback Devon Witherspoon) and were absent from the Associated Press All-Pro teams despite a few players being worthy of recognition.

Our writing staff voted on season awards for the Seahawks on a team level via a ranked-choice system. A first-place vote is worth 10 points, a second-place vote is worth five points and a third-place vote is worth three points.

The awards mirror that of the NFL’s leaguewide awards, with the addition of a Most Improved Player honor. The other awards are: Most Valuable Player, Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Offensive Rookie of the Year, Defensive Rookie of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year.

Third on the list of awards is the Seahawks’ Defensive Rookie of the Year for the 2024 season. On the final voting tally, the number listed before a player’s name is their total points received and the number in parenthesis is the first-place votes received, if any.

Seahawks Defensive Rookie of the Year: LB Tyrice Knight

Final voting: 1. 50, LB Tyrice Knight (5); 2. 25, DT Byron Murphy II; 3. 15, CB Nehemiah Pritchett

Discussing this award in August or September, nearly every pundit would have had No. 16 overall pick Byron Murphy II at the top of their list to be Seattle’s top rookie overall. With the way Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald, the coaching staff and players talked about him, Murphy was a shoo-in.

Murphy had a good rookie season, but he also missed three games due to injury. Knight, who stepped into the starting lineup following Tyrel Dodson’s release during the Week 10 bye, played in 16 games are started each of Seattle’s final eight games.

A fourth-round pick out of UTEP, Knight totaled 88 tackles (fourth on the team), three tackles for loss, two pass deflections and 1.5 sacks.

He was a key chess piece in turning Seattle’s run defense around, helping the Seahawks allow just 99 yards per game over their final eight games after giving up 139 per game over the first nine.

“He’s doing a great job of preparing, we’ve got a lot of faith in him. But, this is just the beginning for Tyrice Knight,” Macdonald said on Dec. 18 following Seattle’s loss to the Green Bay Packers. “There are things in his game that he knows that we want to work on from play to play, and I know he’s going to get those things fixed and grow from it. But yeah, it’s been quite a journey for him since he walked in the door.”

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) is tackled by Seattle Seahawks linebacker Tyrice Knight (48).

Nov 17, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) is tackled by Seattle Seahawks linebacker Tyrice Knight (48) in the first quarter at Levi's Stadium. / David Gonzales-Imagn Images

Finding a possible long-term starting weakside linebacker in the middle of the draft is rare, and even more so for that player to be a productive Year 1 starter. If the Seahawks lock down Ernest Jones IV this offseason, they will likely have their inside linebacker tandem set for at least the next three seasons.

Knight played at least 70 percent of Seattle’s defensive snaps in each of the team’s final eight games, totaling 550 on the season (12th most on the team). All those defensive snaps came in just 12 games.

Murphy, who finished second in voting but didn’t receive any first-place votes, was a true role player on Seattle’s defensive line. He had 15 run stops — tied for fifth-most on the Seahawks defense — and was the only player not to miss a single tackle on run snaps among players with 50 or more snaps of that variety, per Pro Football Focus.

In 14 games played, Murphy totaled 36 tackles, two tackles for loss and a half-sack. His 21 pressures ranked third among all rookie defensive linemen, per PFF.

Depending on who is retained on Seattle’s defensive line in 2025, Murphy may be thrust into a full-time starting role. Veteran interior defensive linemen Jarran Reed and Johnathan Hankins are unrestricted free agents this offseason.

Cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett was the only other rookie who played significant snaps on defense for the Seahawks. Pritchett played in 10 games (one start), mostly on special teams, but finished with 12 tackles and a pass deflection.

Knight stood out from the crowd as an every-down linebacker, landing him the award. He exceeded all expectations in his first NFL season.