The following feature is a free preview of our IDP content. If you like it, click here to sign up for access to our Footballguys Subscription, and you'll get all of our content. We're so confident you'll love it that we offer an industry-leading 30-day Money-Back Guarantee, ensuring zero risk.
RELATED: See More Like This here.
An Overview of the Seattle Seahawks Defense
The Seahawks started the rebuilding process after the 2021 season. There were many holes on both sides of the ball, so the turnaround has been slow. Statistically, the defense was not very good in some areas in 2024. They were 22nd against the pass and 31st versus the run. Seattle allowed too many big plays with 57 passes of 20+ yards and 10 of 40+, which was the second most in the league. It was not all bad, though. Their 19 takeaways were mediocre, they got after the passer with 47 sacks, and the Seahawks allowed the 12th fewest points. What the raw numbers fail to show is that the Seahawks have assembled a solid roster with a good mix of dependable veterans and talented youth. They even have decent depth at most positions.
With no gaping holes to fill, the organization felt no need to invest major capital on the defensive side this offseason. They did add two guys who could improve their starting lineup. Free agency brought in former Cowboys' starter DeMarcus Lawrence on the edge, and they took safety Nick Emmanwori in the second round of the draft. This team is headed in the right direction and poised for a strong season.
Seattle Seahawks Defensive Linemen
The defensive line accounted for 38 of the team's 47 sacks last year. The guys who had 32 of them are back, and the team is looking for Lawrence to make up for the other 6.
Last year's Seahawks did not give us much value at the edge positions. This was not due to a lack of talent. The biggest concern here, as in recent years, was snap counts. The target snap total that we like to see for defensive linemen is 750. There are a few fairly productive players who are contributors with less, but it is rare to see fantasy studs who consistently put up good numbers with fewer.
It's not that Seattle used a lot of players in the rotation; it's that they all saw relatively equal playing time. The Seahawks had three edge defenders with over 600 snaps, none of them reached 675. Between the three, there were just six instances of someone reaching 50 snaps in a game. To make things worse, when Uchenna Nwosu became available late in the season, playing time was split four ways.
There is hope, however, in Boye Mafe. The 2022 second-round pick had a quiet rookie campaign, with 41 combined stops and 3 sacks. Year two was somewhat of a breakout. Mafe totaled 35-17-9 with 3 turnovers, and 6 batted passes, to finish 21st in the final rankings. Coincidentally, he played 808 snaps on the season.
Mafe came out of the gate hot in 2024. Playing at least 66% of the snaps in each of the first three games, he went 9-4-3 with a batted pass, reaching double-digit points in each of them. A knee injury in week three kept Mafe out until week six. He nursed the sore knee for the rest of the season, missing practice time and suiting up at less than 100%. Mafe saw more than 60% of the snaps in seven more games, reaching double-digit points just once, while finishing the year at 25-15-6 with a forced fumble.
The knee is healed, and while Mafe is not a sure thing, there is a chance he could reach the targeted snap count. If that happens, he should be at least a solid second starter for us.
Derick Hall led Seattle's edge defenders in playing time and sacks. At 20-17-8 with three takeaways, he did enough to be roster worthy as depth in most leagues. The 2023 second-round pick has the skillset to be a three-down player and the talent to be a good one. The question is, will he have the opportunity?
Hall will compete with Nwosu, the eight-year pro, and Lawrence, the eleven-year veteran, for the starting job opposite Mafe. Nwosu spent his first four years with the Chargers, where he was mostly a third-down specialist. He joined the Seahawks in 2022 and exploded. That year, he was a top-ten fantasy option at 42-24-9.5 with 5 turnovers and 4 batted passes. Then the injuries started. He played the first six games in 2023 and six more at the end of 2024 after recovering from knee surgery. If he can get back to pre-injury form, Nwosu will get serious consideration for the starting role.
At age 33, Lawrence is the elder statesman of the group. He's seen some very good years, including back-to-back top-12 finishes in 2017 and 2018, which included 25 sacks and 11 turnovers between them. And some lean years, often involving injuries. The best output for Lawrence since 2018 came in 2022 when he was 42-22-6 with 4 takeaways. He has missed games in three of the last four seasons, including the last 13 in 2024. The moral of this story is that Lawrence has the potential to put up good numbers if he can stay healthy and get enough playing time, but he is not the player he once was. He will be in the mix to start, but chances are, Lawrence will simply poach enough playing time to hold the others back.
Defensive tackle is arguably the strongest position on this team. Ten-year veteran Leonard Williams, nine-year veteran Jarran Reed, and last year's 16th overall pick, Byron Murphy II, are the starters, with twelve-year vet Johnathan Hankins providing depth at all three spots.
Had anyone predicted last summer that Williams would be the fantasy games' top interior linemen, they would have been laughed at. Making such a claim ahead of this season is not so far-fetched. Leonard has been a quality fantasy option over most of his career. He usually puts up good tackle numbers and a solid contribution in the sack column. He came to Seattle in a trade during the 2023 campaign. In his first full season with the team, Williams exceeded expectations at 37-27-11 with a turnover, 3 batted passes, and a score. It was the second time in his career that he exceeded 6 sacks, and the second time he reached 11.
Williams is an excellent fit as the five-technique in the Seahawks' 3-4 base scheme, and a player who stays on the field in any situation. He hit the 750 snap target exactly last year, despite missing two games with a minor injury. Williams is a safe bet to be a quality starter for us again in 2025. Just don't make the mistake of counting on him to repeat last year's numbers.
Reed has something to offer fantasy managers as well, though not to the extent of Williams. His best production came in his first stint with Seattle. In 2018, Reed racked up 51 tackles and 10 sacks for his only top-ten finish. His next best numbers came in 2023 when 54 tackles, 7 sacks, and a pair of turnovers landed him at fifteen. The rest of Reed's career has been more like his 2024, when he produced 45 combined stops and 4 sacks to rank just inside the top-30. He is not a player we need to target on draft day, though he will end up on a roster in most leagues before the end of the season as at least a decent bye week option.
Murphy packs 306 pounds of muscle and energy into a compact frame that's barely over six feet tall. He is quick and explosive off the ball with a low center of gravity that helps in the battle for leverage. Average physical traits keep him on the sidelines in most passing situations, and mediocre production will keep Murphy from becoming an IDP star. Tenacity and his ability to dig and hold ground against double teams at the point of attack will help those around him to excel.
- Edge DeMarcus Lawrence – Sleeper with limited upside
- Edge Boye Mafe – Target as priority depth or a marginal second starter with upside
- Edge Uchenna Nwosu – Deep sleeper with high potential if the snaps are there
- Edge Derick Hall – High upside depth
- Edge Rylie Mills – Developmental rookie
- DT Leonard Williams – Target as a low-end DT1
- DT Jarran Reed – Depth with marginal upside
- DT Byron Murphy II – No fantasy impact
- DT Johnathan Hankins – No fantasy impact
_(1000_x_500_px)_png)