Seahawks Playbook Podcast Episode 661: Seahawks Top 5 Players on Defense

Seahawks Playbook Podcast Episode 661: Seahawks Top 5 Players on Defense

[Music] Seahawks fans, wherever you may be, thanks for listening to the show. Join your host, Bill Alstead and Keith Meyers, as we talk Seahawks [Music] football. Hey, hi Seahawk fans. Welcome back to another episode of the Seahawks Playbook Podcast. I’m your host, Bill Alstead, sitting down with co-host Keith Meyers. Uh here to talk Seahawks football. Another great show for you today. Last show we did the top five rankings of Seahawks players on offense. Um and a little bit of extra content. Today we are doing the top five defensive players on the roster. And again, I brought in probably a little extra uh to talk about extra players. my honorable. Of course you didn’t. Of course you did. You didn’t. So I warned you ahead of time, Keith, that we were going to do the off the honorable mention part of I gave you a warning, didn’t I? Actually, the the thing is with the with the defense here, um, this was a lot harder to do than the offense. the offense. It was like there were there were like three guys you felt like you had to have on there and then there was like four guys that you were deciding amongst the other two spots. Yeah. Um and it really there really wasn’t that much that you were going to do uh as far as moving people around or whatever. defense though, you know, there’s some guys you have to have on there, but then after those top three that I think you have to have on there, there’s like eight guys competing for those last two spots and all have a legit claim to it. Um, and so yeah, there’s a lot a lot to um to think about here and and um I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of uh discussion and your willingness to to go honorable mention I feel like it’s a copout because that means you can feel better about leaving people off the list. Yes, that’s right, Keith. That’s exactly what it is. It’s a copout. [Laughter] Um, I would argue I’m like I said in the in for the offensive side, I’m providing additional content that our listeners want. Um, so I’m actually really just providing a service and you know, you can’t stop talking. So even if I mention a player, you’re going to want to also talk about them and Yeah. True. All right. Right. I went first last time. You start this time. Who is your number five? Well, you said it was hard. It was hard to do the list. I I think it was it is hard because this is a fun list. I mean, this is a fun defense. Mike McDonald comes in, right? We We kind of know what we’re going to get with him. He’s going to be defensive minded coach, but is he going to be successful? I think last year he proved that he’s going to be successful. And and it wasn’t even his players. like he just took a group of players that he inherited and he made them into by, you know, week nine and and on made them into a top five unit. Um, which is extremely impressive and it and they’re running back the entire same defense this year minus one player who we’ve already talked about. Um, that that really didn’t have a huge impact on on this team. and you add Eminem and you add Dex uh Demarcus Lawrence and a few others and it just becomes I think something you can build on. Uh so you’re taking a top five defense and building on it uh in the next season and we can talk about that a little bit, but it’s it’s going to be fun. My number five guy is a guy that’s an older established veteran that returns um again this year. They give him another deal, Don Reed. Um, I think he’s got a super important role in this defense. Kind of an almost an outsized role in a sense in that, um, he works there in in conjunction with Byron Murphy a lot of the times. A lot of times they share the same, you know, uh, three tech role. Uh, so they kind of come in and out and sub for each other. Sometimes they’re on the field together. That’s the nice thing about Mike McDonald is he’s interchangeable and multiple and he can move guys around and those are two guys that are really important and Geron Reed is one of the key cogs in there especially since they don’t have a true nose tackle um other than um I forget his name right sorry Jonathan Henkins Jonathan Henkins that we that we brought back um so without that in there um he’s asked to do a lot he’s asked to be on the the zero tech, the one tech, the three tech, sometimes he even moves out to the five. Um, and so he’s a he’s a really nice chess piece to have, savvy veteran, great locker room guy, um, leader on that defensive line. So that was a pretty easy choice as far as on the difficulty scale because he’s a guy that deserves to be there. Yeah, for him he was a really difficult choice because he was like one of the last guys left off my list. Um, and honestly it was the it had more to do with the fact that I think he’s older and going to, you know, uh, his play is going to start to decline and and he’s not going to be as big of an impact guy as as he has in the past. But that’s going to be okay because you’re going to see my number five um, step up and do more. And that would be Byron Murphy. He was my number my number my first honorable mention number six guy. Yeah. So, and and Reed was my number six guy. So, um I just went with I went with the younger player. I think he’s got um the upside to be a tremendous uh impact player this year. Um and I think you’re going to see a lot more of him uh and a little bit less of of John Reed uh in the rotation simply just because of age. And I’m okay with that cuz I think Murphy’s going to be fantastic this year. Well, I mean, Murphy does have the opportunity to be the better player at this stage. Um, younger, faster, stronger. Um, came came off a terrific uh college career and um he’s he’s he does have that opportunity. I hope you’re right, man. I hope you’re right that he’s going to step up, that he’s going to have this leap in in year two. Um, I was watching him in practice the other day on some um some film that seahawks.com released and gosh, his legs are just tree trunks. I mean, um, who was that? Who is that running back from Houston a long time ago um that just had tree trunks for legs? Uh, big time running back in the NFL. Anyway, um, from a long time ago. From a long time ago. Buzz Phillips used to be his coach. So, we’re talking about the Houston U Oilers days. Yes. Oilers. Yeah. I can’t I’m drawing a blank right now, but one of the best running backs ever in the NFL, right? Yeah. Um and so, uh I think he’s he’s definitely going to have the opportunity. He needs to go get it. Like nothing is going to be handed to him. We’ve already got Jeron Reed. Coach believes in Reed. He likes Reed. He likes his leadership qualities. If I remember, he’s going to have to take that job and I hope he has that attitude. Um, it certainly helps to have a coach like Mike McDonald. I think Mike McDonald, one of his underrated qualities is identifying the way the players need to be communicated to and drawing them out in a way that accentuates their strengths and gives them the best opportunity to be successful. I hope that he can do that with Byron Murphy because um Byron Murphy, and I will say this too, in Byron Murphy’s defense, he plays a position where it’s not going to be a guy that that loads up the stats. He’s going to be a guy that does all the dirty work that allows other guys to to build up all the stats. So, um I think he’s a he’s a great guy, a great player, and he’s right outside my top five only because the strength of this defense is so strong. We have other players that that really deserve to be there, too. Yeah. All right. Your number four. My number four is a player that joined the team halfway through the season last year and made a huge impact on the efficiency of how this defense uh played together and um really enabled them to successfully make that huge leap last year in the middle of the season, Ernest Jones. Um, and I’m glad they resigned him at almost any cost. And it was actually a pretty decent team friendly deal when we did. But he’s the key cog in this defense. Like he’s the he’s the green dot. He’s the guy that calls the plays. He gets everyone organized. He does his job. The team trusts him. Uh, other players trust him to make sure that he’s, you know, in the right spot, right time, all that stuff. He’s solid in almost every area, but not great at any one thing. But he’s the glue guy. He’s the He’s the guy that brings it all together and makes everything else work. Ernest Jones. Yeah. Um I can’t say anything negative about him. He I’ve got him significantly higher on my list. Um and we’ll get to that in a bit. But yeah, just a guy that um showed his importance just by showing up because this defense was awful before he got here and he was they were really damn good after he got here. higher than him from ESPN. ESPN just put out its off the ball linebacker rankings. Mhm. Ernest Jones is like way down, like 18 or 22 or something like that. Tyrell Dodson is number seven. And I’m not kidding. Tyrell Dodson was not good and got straight up just cut um because they traded for Jones and the defense got massively better. Um, so whoever put that together, like that’s just that’s idiotic. Sorry. It just is. Okay. Um, so who was your I’m confused now. Did we talk talk about somebody yet? Um, no. Number four. Um, my but you’re supposed to be going first. Oh. Um, so we did we did Jeron Reed and then Byron Murphy and now it’s your turn. Okay. You did Ernest Jones. That’s right. That’s where we Okay. Yes. So, I can do number three or you can go. I’ll go with my uh my number four. Um and I think this one’s going to be a little bit of a surprise for you, but it’s going to be Reek Woolen. Um quarterback. A little bit of a surprise for me. I did have him on my kind of short list, but didn’t make my top five. um guy who is um I think he’s undervalued by Seahawk fans because he’s been up and down a little bit, but the truth is I think a lot of that is because he was so good as a rookie, so surprising that everyone just expects him to be perfect and he’s not. But he is good and was a major contributor when the defense became really good last year. Was one of the reasons why uh can shut down um half the field, can shut down um you know the big tall fast wide receivers that uh teams have that you know in order to to really put pressure on a defense. Now you just stick Rick on him and you’re fine. And um yeah, we’d like him to be a little more physical and we’d like him to come up and do a little better tackling and stuff in the run game, but while those things are part of his job, his main part of his job is coverage and getting back and um not getting beat. And he does that really well. And I think that when you look at overall in the course of defense, having a guy like him uh on one on one side frees up um Spoon to do a lot more fun things. Um and if you didn’t have Reek over there and you you needed stability at one of the cornerback spots, you’d have to leave Spoon on the outside. Um and I think that would be a waste of all Spoon’s talents. So, um, yeah, Rick will win. So, yes, I agree in part with with most of what you said. Um, but I I would say can cover um big and tall wide receivers at times, can shut down a side of a field at times, can uh be physical at times, can tackle at certain times. I just want him to be more consistent. Like, and if he’s not going to be physical, that’s fine. There’s certain cornerbacks that don’t need to be physical, but he needs to be a good tackler. He needs to wrap up. He needs to be able to increase his um miss tackle rate or or or make it go down, I should say. Um from, you know, where he’s at to half of that, I think. Um and I think the expectation is comes from his size. Like he’s 6’2, 63, uh 215. Um he’s a guy that you expect to be physical. He’s a guy that you expect with his reach to be a guy that shuts down more because if and he’s got that makeup speed. So all the things considered, you kind of want him to use that more often and be more dominant. Um that’s just that’s just me. Maybe it’s not fair. I think he’s a fine player. Had 15 pass defenses last year. He had three interceptions. He’s a guy that you can put on the side of the field and and um but we also talked in the offseason about potentially moving off of Woolen as a trade piece or that maybe we could upgrade that side or you know that sort of talk. That was only if like the the draft fell in a way that a top cornerback um fair someone who you’d have on a rookie deal um for salary cap reasons fell to you. You’re not moving off a guy that has been a pro bowler. Um yeah, and like there’s um and I think when you look at it, he’s a guy that Yeah. at you’re like at times he’s played through a bunch of injuries too. Um and because they didn’t really have anyone else, they didn’t have the luxury of letting him sit. They had to go out there and um and say, “Here, go play hurt.” And uh he stepped up and did it. And you’re right. I think we do we would all like him to be a little bit more physical and tackle better and and those kind of things. But I think that’s also, you know, if you’re looking at like what standard are we holding him to, right? Um, holding him to a Richard Sherman st stand standpoints not fair to most to most quarterbacks. Um, and I think back to the one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time would be Deion Sanders. And he sucked at tackling. He hated tackling. He didn’t want to tackle anything. Um, he wanted to cover. He wanted to go after the ball, but he didn’t want to tackle anything. And he’s still considered one of the greatest of all time. So, I think we need to, you know, possibly just take a step back and reook at how good Woolen has been when we’ve deemed him to be. Everything you said is fair. Um, of course it is. I said it. [Music] I just think that there’s five players that I like a little better in this defense than Woolen. But Woolen’s for me still has a little bit of room to to grow and to be the player. I think, you know, especially on the tackling stuff now, for the coverage stuff, I think I’m okay like where we’re at. I would like to have him give up a few less big plays. I think he gave up like seven touchdowns last year. Technically, he may have not been the the accurate culprit. Um, but he was in the vicinity of of a lot of those and and I want him to clean that up a little bit. Um, and I think and the issue for me is he has that ability and I think you’ve heard it from other people and and also people on the coaching staff even Mike McDonald will say we want to to be to play every down to to be there every for every play and and so on and so forth. So, I think there are a few little lapses now and again and just clean that up and clean up the the tackling thing and you got a great player. Like he’s definitely not, you know, the the the weak spot on the defense by any means. Um, and it’s, you know, and I think it it will really help him this year being in just a top five defense where everybody has their responsibilities. Nicki Muire comes in and helps so that he’s got all he all he has to worry about is his guy. Um, my next guy is in the in the defensive back field as well, Julian Love. I think Julian Love has a very very very big responsibility in this defense. And I think Mike McDonald loves him and his ability to play all over the place and comes up and really does a great job tackling. He’s great in coverage. Uh the other players trust him. Uh he kind of calls the back end of the defense u for the team and um just allound solid borderline Pro Bowl if not Pro Bowl player um at that spot. And I think he is freed up a little bit now with the addition of Nick Manoari to um to really be free on the back end to u to play. Um although he is very good in in the box. I think Nick Monuary is going to get those snaps now and and Julian Love’s going to be able to play back a little bit. Yeah, I mean he is a guy that that’s what was just left off my list. um because I think he is a guy that is going to slowly find that he doesn’t have a position. Um he was the starting uh or he was kind of the he was the free safety. He was the guy that they had in the back end and when things didn’t really work on the defense last year and Kobe Bryant was showing that he could be the guy in the back end, they moved him up and had him play in the box. And he’s a good box safety, but he’s not a great box safety. Um his value is in his versatility and his ability to do just everything. Um but he doesn’t do he doesn’t do either exceptionally well. Um and I think that Enamorei has the ceiling to be exceptional as a box. I agree with that. And Kobe Bryant outplayed him as a free safety. So um while he’s really good and you’re right, borderline pro bowler right at you know kind of at that level. Um, I guess we’re this ranking should have been for this year and not just overall, but I felt like it feels like his time with Seattle might be coming to an end soon because he do they have a position for him? I think they do in that Mike McDonald is so diverse and demands that all his players be able to move around and so forth. And he’s a great player like that. He’s like a sixth man on a basketball team. Um he’s a guy that that comes in and kind of fills a bunch of roles. I think you know the guy that’s gonna lose snaps in in his place would be Josh Job. Um and and except for the outside boundary type stuff. Um, and I was thinking if well if we got a guy like Rul Douglas or even Griffin um that would that would allow even uh better opportunities for Job to kind of move into a fourth corner role. Um but we’ll see. Um but yeah, Julian Love I I don’t know. I mean I could see leaving him off the list in in lie of Byron Murphy, right? Um but yeah, solid player though. No, absolutely solid player. Guy that that deserves consideration for it. I just think that he uh I guess under top five came in at number seven for me. Um and um so yeah, there’s that. Um so uh we’re on number three, right? Yes. That’s I lose track of where we are. Um, my number three, um, is a guy that I think is generally underrated, not just in Seattle, but across the league. And, um, that would be Boy Maf. Um, Boy Maf is a guy that gets after the quarterback well. He covers well, he sets the edge well against the run. He does everything you want from an outside linebacker in a 34 and does all of the things at a high level. Um, and he just doesn’t get the credit for being as good as he is because he doesn’t have that goddy sack total. Um, but he partly doesn’t have that goddy sack total because they don’t bring him um all the time. They have him drop back and do other things. Um, and also because he does a lot of chasing people into sacks that other people get. um he chased quarterbacks into uh they step up into the into the pocket to get crushed by the defensive defensive lineman. Um because Moya Moya Maf pushed them there. Um and so yeah, there’s my um my number three player. Just like I said, a guy that I think is vastly underrated. Well, speaking of underrated, he was my seventh player um wow on this list. And the reason um for that is just the the list is loaded. Um, they’ve got a lot of good players to consider. Um, I had him right behind Byron Murphy. Um, I think that he’s got the potential to to elevate uh on that list. Um, and we’ll we’ll see how it goes this year in in this defense. I wish we had a true nose tackle because I think he could benefit the most from that. Byron Murphy and Duron Reed could can definitely fill that spot, but I’d like I’d like to see that to help those edge guys a little bit more. Um but yeah, he’s a he’s a good player. Seven sacks last year. I think he could get to 10. Uh if he does, he’d probably be higher in my list. Um solid in in all aspects contract year. So, he’s got a lot to play for and uh we’ll we’ll find out. But I I could see him on the list, don’t get me wrong. I just have a couple other players that I like better. Speaking of uh my number two player on this uh defense is Devin Witherspoon. Um he could easily he could easily be number one in a lot of different lists, but he’s my number two. Uh he’s a great chess piece. He moves around a lot. I think last year he had an okay year. Uh I thought especially in the first half of the year when everything was kind of bad, I thought he did not excel in that environment. But the second half of the year, he came around just like everyone else did. Had a really solid back end of the year. Uh Phil’s uh run fits excellent. He can blitz for you around the edge or stun up the middle. He’s a guy in coverage is sticky and physical. Uh makes a lot of tackles behind the line of scrimmage, which shows that he’s got the agility and the instincts uh that you would like out of that position. I think this year he’s changing a little bit um potentially with with the addition of Nick and Monoiri um and the elevation of like Kobe Bryant um enables him to take more snaps on the outside and get Josh job off the field as much and allows him to play opposite of Woolen. And to me that’s a dream scenario if that happens. Now he’s an excellent player around the line of scrimmage. It remains to be seen how he can excel on on the boundary. Um and I think the coach that would that would only be part-time. I mean that’s not like a full-time thing. Coach definitely wants him close to the line of scrimmage somewhere so he can affect you know plays in that area and he does an excellent job at that. Like he’s a Pro Bowl allpro level player close to the line of scrimmage. um can he be that on the outside with everyone else kind of stepping up so we don’t lo we don’t drop off um where he was. So anyway, number two. So I just figured out a problem and this is what happens when you have a ranked list of things and you put a lot of names on there, but you don’t actually number them. You just have them there in the right order. Um is that I started at the wrong spot and I have three I have three names left for my top two. Okay. Um, who was supposed to be six? Um, Byron Murphy was supposed to be six. Yeah, he’s my sixth guy. And then, um, Reek Bolan was supposed to be five. Um, and yeah. Okay. Um, so we got off a little bit. Boy Maf was four. Um, three was supposed to be um, Ernest Jones. Yeah. and he was my four, which we already talked about. Um, and now we’re to two, so screwed up that a little bit, but um, my number two was Leonard Williams. Interesting. Um, the absolutely freaking dominant player up front. Had I don’t even think it’s arguable. Had his best year as a pro and he’s been a really good pro last year. um just straight up dominated in all phases uh last year and was a huge part of the turnaround in Seattle’s defense and showed why they paid him all that money. [Music] Um and at the end of the day, I can’t say anything negative, and you’re going to ask me why that’s why he’s my number two, but you’ve noticed the name that I’ve left off. Uh, I’m sure. Um, and so yeah, Leonard Williams is going to be your number one because he’s the only name that’s pos possible that makes sense that you haven’t said. Um, so yeah, he’s my number two. He’s your number one for all the reasons that you said. Plus, you know, um, just solid player, solid leader, uh, gives you everything you want out of a position. Um he’s, you know, as far as a defensive tackle goes, he’s top three in the NFL as far as advanced stats are concerned. Um and he’s he’s the best player on this defense for me. Um and and I put him there above Deon Witherspoon. Um just because Devin Witherspoon, I think, still has room to grow and um and Leonard Williams is already there. And in fact, he’s probably, you know, he’s on the other side of 30. Um, and I think he deserves his due. He’s been in the league a long time and he’s he’s Seattle’s best player right now. I think Devin Weatherspoon is Seattle’s player in for the future and all of that. But today, Williams is it for me. And I got to give him credit for that 92 yard uh interception return highlight of the year in 2024. Absolutely. He deserves it for that. So, I have um uh I have Spoon, Devin Wither Witherspoon um as my number one player. And the reason um all the things that we you said when you were talking about him, he’s at your number two all there. Um absolutely found found fantastic player. Um does all the little things well. The reason why I have him at number one is because of what he does on the sidelines. I watch him um at practice and in games. He’s firing people up. He’s holding people accountable. He’s going uh if somebody screws something up, he’s going over and talking to him about it, but he’s not just yelling in their face and pissing them off. Like he’s leading and was doing that as a rookie. Rookies don’t do that. But he was he had was over there and he was, you know, talking and he was building guys up and and when they needed it and and just doing all the things that help make everybody better. Um, and I value that so much. So to me, he is the most important person on the defense uh for that because I think if he wasn’t there, they’d lose that and the entire defense would not be as good. I know that one other person on this planet completely agrees with you on everything you just said. Would that be Mike McDonald, his boss, Mike McDonald, because Mike McDonald values all of those things um very much and loves to uh to to give Devin Witherspoon a few digs now and again, jokes with him, um appreciates his work ethic, all the things that make him a special player, that elevate him uh from doing 95% of the things that you want a player to do to 105%. % like he’s a guy that just does all the extra things to make himself better and make players around him better. So, I agree with you that he’s on this list high and deserving to be where you’ve got them for sure. Yeah. Um it’s interesting the guys that we that have not been mentioned though. Yeah, there’s a couple players that I had on my list that I considered but no. And they’re both players that just joined the team this year. One player is a veteran, the other player is a rookie. Okay. Nick and Amari would be one of them. Yeah, we talked about Byron Murphy at six. We talked about Boy Mafia already. We talked about Wallen. Those are the other players I had considered. Nickiary comes in at number what would it be? Nine for me. Um, just on potential alone and the fit in the scheme and the way I know Mike McDonald’s going to use him and how he’s going to affect other players around him. He’s a guy that’s going to end up being twice the player that he is on day one by week 17. Um, and the effect he’s going to have and the importance of his um his ability to affect uh offenses and offenses will need to account for him and all that stuff will drastically change from day one to to week 17 and then next year and so on and so forth. So, he’s a guy that will undoubtedly be on this list next year for me. And then my last guy was Demarcus Lawrence. um just because um he adds an edge setting presence and a and a veteran presence to this roster that um that only uh Leonard Williams has has had prior and and Giron Reed, but he’s another guy there that I think really adds to the room, adds that value can really good at defending the run. Um I think his days affecting the passer and and getting up field While they’ll still show up now and again, maybe hopefully in really important moments, I think more or less he’s now a cleanup guy, which means that he’s going to be hanging around the line of scrimmage. So, anything that kind of comes his way, he’s going to be able to get to and take down. Um, but, uh, his his addition to stopping the run for this defense is, I think, underrated. Yeah. Um, I left him off uh cuz I don’t think he’s going to have a huge role with this team. Um, he is 31 though, right? No, he’s 34. Is he 34? Okay. I thought he was 34. I’m going to look it up. I I don’t know. I just Yeah. Um, yeah, I can I can That’s why he’s off my list. He’s literally number 10, so he’s almost fallen off completely. But um just he’s going to I think he’s going to have a role. He’s 33 right now. So yeah, I he’s going to have a role and and if he stays healthy. Yeah. And it’s going to be an important role. Um but but he’s at a position that is loaded, right? We’ve got a lot of guys at outside linebacker, which is what he’s going to play. Um, and yeah, he’s uh he’s going to have a limited role because of the fact that Boy Maf is there and a guy that we haven’t talked about yet, but is going to start over Demarcus Lawrence. Yes. Um, in um Derek Hall. Oh, okay. Um, and Derek Hall and Boy Maf would kind of be the same guys and Nuasu and Lawrence would be on on one side. I don’t know. Um, when Nasu was healthy at the end of last year, Holl and Maf started opposite each other and Nuasua was the rotational piece. Um, now I know that that’s, you know, he got healthy late in the year and and missed it all and they had already kind of had that rotation going and we’ll see how it works out. But um just going into this year, I kind of started him in that spot because um Nuasu can be great when he’s healthy, but he hasn’t been healthy now for a couple of years and a couple of very injured years. Um and so, uh I’m going to want to limit the snap early on in the year. So the the the one thing to monitor is those two guys Noo and Lawrence are guys that are susceptible to injury. Now Lawrence has had a great career and been a solid workhorse kind of a guy up until last year where he only played in two games. Um prior to that though he’s been in and effective. So we’ll see. But that that alone right there, that edge stuff gives credence to the idea that maybe we’re not completely done there um as far as adding a piece that would make Mike McDonald breathe a little easier down the stretch. So I would for me look for potentially something before the trade deadline that would involve Noah Fant or would involve Ken Walker or Charbanet or another piece that would bring back an an edge player. Yeah, potentially. I mean, if one if one of those two guys um gets hurt, I could see it. Um uh but if ever, you know, if they manage to stay healthy because the team limits their snaps quite a bit and and lets Maf and Hall do the heavy lifting, then yeah, I don’t could see them, you know, going in a different direction if they’re if they are going to make a move. Um, another guy that we have not mentioned and therefore is not even in your top 10, um, is Kobe Bryant. Yeah, I know. And the dude just freaking came on last year and fringy pro bowl level, right? Especially the back nine games. Didn’t he make the Pro Bowl? I guess he was like an injury replacement. Um but that still counts. Um but yeah, like he played at a Pro Bowl those last nine games once he was inserted into the starting lineup. Okay, it’s the same time that Ernest Jones got inserted into the lineup and Tyrese Knight and um you know other guys got healthy but it was he was part of that group that when that when they made changes mid-season the defense went from being very bad to very good and he played at a really high level and he would have been what your 11th player so he’s the last the last he would have been a guy that I would have considered for that yeah or the the last of the starters or Tyrese Knight would have you know. Uh yeah, I mean that that shows you how um nice the roster is coming along. Yeah, the defensive side of the ball is really solid and it’s hard to look at um this is why I said this one was hard because I wanted to give a guy like Kobe Bryant some props when we were doing this because uh there was no expectation for him. He had been a corner and been h not great. Had been a safety and been h couldn’t get on the field. And you could tell the guy’s the kid had just been working his ass off because he came when he came on like he was a different player. He was so confident and so confident in all of his movements and everything that he had to do um and and making the right reads and the right calls. He was really really good. Um and he deserves credit for that. He deserves recognition for that. And the fact that he’s not even in your top 10 players on defense. Like, yeah, this defense is legit. It really is. The offense is a mess, but the defense Well, I mean, he wasn’t on your list. He wasn’t on your list either. He wasn’t on my list either. I know. I know. Um and and that’s a question for you. That’s my point. Yeah. So, I have a question for you. So, um, we’ve done the offense and and the defense top five, but really we’ve mentioned 10 players on each side. Which of of the bottom five players that we mentioned or even a player we didn’t even talk about has the best opportunity to end the season as what we would all consider a top five player on offense or defense? What are a couple players that you would you would put on that list of guys to watch? Um, I would I would go over to the offense. I think there’s a lot of opportunity for movement there. Tory Horton. Um, the wide receiver is probably going to have a very limited role the first five or six games and you’re going to see it become bigger and bigger, especially if there’s an injury. Yeah. I tell you what, if Cooper Cup is injured, that guy’s gonna have a big role. is um maybe Damen Martinez at running back over the other two running backs. Um, if they decide that that running back room is is really loaded and they end up keeping the three on the roster or whatever and they’ve got George Lani uh Hani on the practice squad, I could see the a running back moved or, you know, we talked about Noah Fant already, but um there are some opportunities maybe to to get a player back that that you need more than than a third running back or whatever. So, a um a dark horse for a guy that know that we’re not talking about and absolutely does not deserve um consideration for this list right now, but might push his way onto it would be Christian Haynes. I totally was going to mention that at right guard because he did nothing last year. He couldn’t get he end up starting this this scheme is well suited for him. It is. is very much as well suited for him. And I think that um with an offensive coordinator and offensive line coach that aren’t going to um do their best to ruin him the way they were doing last year. Um now he’s got a scheme that works really well for him and actual competent offensive coaching staff. I could see him becoming the player we thought we were drafting. So last year we had an offensive coordinator in Ryan Grub that had zero years of experience. We had a offensive line coach in Huff that had zero years of experience in the NFL. We’re now going to a an experienced play caller. We’re going to a a offensive line coach in Benton who has 33 years of experience in the in this scheme in an outside zone. uh scheme and Dennis is the run game uh coordinator with 28 years of experience. Yeah. Um that’s why we point to the coaching staff and the scheme as being really good um areas of kind of built-in improvement over last year. It’s like they know what they’re doing. They’ve got experience. There’s no correlation between last year’s scheme and and offensive coaching staff except for Pete’s the past game coordinator. Um to this year um so any expectations like you can say well they were 28th last year blah blah blah blah and they’re going to be whatever. I would argue that you just kind of almost have to separate that completely and just look at this year and this potential with this with these players. And that’s why it’s so easy for me to go to, you know, my baseline for me is 15th. Like we can be the 15th best run blocking team or pass blocking. Um we can be the 15th at least best run um running team. uh yards, uh yards after contact, third down conversions, uh all the all the things that define how you run the ball. I think that we’re we start at that level because historically these guys have been involved in offenses that have had that success. Yeah. And you’re right, Hannes Hannes is going to greatly benefit from a new just a a brand new start with a new coach uh that’s going to look at him with fresh eyes and give him all the opportunity he needs to take that job. Yeah. And build him up rather than tear him down, which is according to the reporting what No, that was huge. Yes. Huff was just uh a mess as far as trying to uh work with Hannes and um yeah, even saw some some former uh Seahawk offensive line players um doing interviews and being like, “What the hell?” Like, as far as what was going on there. So, um yeah, I think that um there’s a lot to say about that. I mean, I I went back and I was looking at at at the the coaching staff and I was amazed at how many uh or you know, those two guys you mentioned there, like how far back they went with in the Kubak coaching tree, right? Which is really the Mike Shanahan um Mike Shanahan, not Kyle Shanahan. Um I remember and yeah um and those guys coached with Alex Gibbs um who I mentioned in the offensive side of the show as the guy who developed the offensive scheme um the running scheme and then um coached with Gary Kubak and uh now they’re coaching with Clint Kubak. Like these guys have been around. They know this stuff. They’ve seen it. There’s nothing that they haven’t seen. and um I think it’s going to pay off in huge ways uh for the Seahawks this year. So, there were two names that I I would consider guys that have the opportunity to reach the top five um on on either side of the ball. One is Elijah Royo. Um he’s a guy, especially if Noah Fant, they play the same spot. They’re going to be used the same way. I know Noah Fant is under contract and he’s a guy if we decided to keep him. I would be fine with that. If they moved off of him, it could be a $9 million ad back into the um into the salary cap. Um or or you could potentially get a flip him for a, you know, fifth round pick potentially to somebody that was had a tight end go down in in training camp. Um so that’s that’s one player I would consider. you’d mentioned like Damen Martinez. I think we already talked about Jaylen Milro as a guy that’s peripheral. He wasn’t on my list, even my honorable mention on offense, but he is a guy that could emerge like that. You could seriously argue that in he he played so well in 2025, especially by the end of the year, that he’s going to get an opportunity to compete for that starting spot in 2026 training camp. Um, you would have to consider Jaylen Milro for that list. And then Nick Manoiri obviously uh is a guy that could elevate. Uh one guy that we’re not talking about at all, didn’t even get mentioned on these uh shows, especially the defense, is Tyrese Knight. Like uh he played well last year as a rookie. I mean, and really only played half a season. He came on as when Ernest Jones came on, like a week later, he entered the starting lineup and things got better. like he’s part of that equation and he’s a guy that could still take that sophomore jump uh in this scheme. He he’ll play faster. He won’t have to think about anything. He’s already knows exactly where he’s supposed to be. Um he can make other players around him better. um he’s going to be a guy that’s going to play with Nick Manwari a lot as far as they’re going to end up playing the same position in a in a way especially on diamond nickel packages where I think uh Mirari is going to take his snaps. Uh, but nonetheless, I think Knight really is kind of one of the veterans on this team now. And I think he’s got an opportunity to to really kind of along with maybe Kobe Bryant has a an opportunity to really have a big bigger role than we’re anticipating right now. Yeah. And u I keep saying like I I brought up Kobe Bryant was like this is a guy that people are sleeping on and I I don’t think that’s wise. Um, as hard as we’ve seen him work for three years to get from where he was to where he is, like nobody works that hard and then suddenly stops. So, you know, he’s still working. You know, he’s putting in the effort. He’s doing all the things. I think he’s going to be he’s going to take another step forward and cuz he knows his role. He finally has a role. It’s defined. He’s coming back to the same role. Like that’s gonna be the first time in his career, right? Yeah. It’s it’s that’s it’s kind of nuts. I’m here for it. I’m here for it. Like I think he’s like I said, I think he’s gonna get you’re gonna see him um take another step. Um and him taking another step puts him in into as a definite Pro Bowl player. So um yeah. Yeah. Smart, instinctive player who who really, you know, makes plays on the ball. I mean, he’s caused fumbles. He’s a great pass defense guy. He plays uh the ball in the air really well. All those things that you love out of that spot. Okay. Um that’s it. It’s quite a list. I mean, by the end of the show, we mentioned all 11 starters essentially. Um both sides of the ball. I mean, that’s to me that’s a great sign. Like that’s a that’s a really nice well-rounded roster that’s ready to compete. Like I I think Seattle’s really being underrated this year. Um not just Homer type stuff. Like I think they should be looked at as a team that’s ready to compete in the division like right now. And then um you know that next goal is to get into the playoffs and then win a playoff game. And I think they’re in play for all of that this year. Mhm. The Rams are going to be tough. Um, and we’ll see how that goes. Um, see how healthy they can stay cuz that’s the problem with that roster. Um, but yeah, I think a lot of people are sleeping on the Seahawks and they shouldn’t and way too many people are in on the 49ers. I just I’m Do you realize Do you realize that the 49ers are favored in 15 games, Keith? 15 out of 17 games right now. I know. Oh, and I went back and and we did that show and we talked about it and I went back and I relooked over everything again and I’m like, “What the hell am I missing? What is what am I missing that everyone else is seeing that I’m not?” And honestly, I don’t get it. They’re favored in the same amount of games that the Kansas City Chiefs are favored. Yeah. There’s only one team favored in all games, and that’s the Buffalo Bills. Mhm. Um and that some somewhat has to do with playing in the AFC East and you know and playing AFC South and and so forth, but um yeah, and and Cox’s favored in seven games like they won games last year. Um and they’ve they’ve improved. They’ve added they’ve added talent. They um whereas the 49ers won six last year and hemorrhaged talent. Did you see also where the latest uh quarterback ranking head Sam Darnold ranked 27th in the NFL? Okay. And that’s why that’s why Seattle’s getting, you know, all the the national kind of attention that they are for the wrong reason is everyone feels like Sanjon is going to fall on his face. We we’re now missing DK Medaf. Tyler Lockett’s no no longer on the team. Seattle’s rebuilding. Um, there’s no nuance to that argument whatsoever. It’s just those guys are missing. The guys we brought in are worse or less than that. So, the whole thing is going to go down. Um, which is they’ve done big enough or they’re missing the coaching staff change and how big that’s going to be and the fact that Gino Smith is not was not good last year. So, the idea that, oh, Darnold’s going to fall on his face. Well, kind of Gino kind of fell on his face all year. Um, and so how’s that different? They still won 10 games last year. Um, and the players that we brought in fit the scheme better. Mhm. In my opinion. All right, that’s it, man. Great shows. Thank you um for having those conversations and letting me talk about all the extra players. You talked about a bunch of extra players, too. So, come on. It’s true. I did. I just um I think you screwed up your list on p on purpose just so you could talk about I could talk about talk about an extra name probably. Yeah, it’s possible. You didn’t even number your players. Come on. Who does that? No one. No, literally because I I ranked I had them ranked in reverse order so that way I could just read down the list and then I just kept putting names up above it and yeah, I stopped at the wrong spot. Um well, oh well. Um you can find Keith on Blue Skyers NFL. You can find me NWC Hawk the show Seahawks Playbook Podcast. Find us on your favorite podcast platform, YouTube, all that good stuff. So, uh, when we come back, our next, uh, episode will start a full series on all the position groups on the team leading up to the training camp in at, I think, the 23rd, 24th of July. So, until then, we’ll have a a full series on that. We’ll start with the quarterback spot. Um, and it’s going to be a fun show. We’ll talk about some, you know, potential camp battles, uh, for each position group and and really kind of sink in and dive in and figure out really where we’re at as far as the strength of this roster and what, you know, if we have what it takes this year to get over the hump, get into the playoffs, make make some noise. Um, because I that’s what we all want and I think we’re we’re there or we’re really really close. And um, so it’ll be it’ll be a fun look for sure. Cool. All right, let’s get out of here. Let’s get out. Talk to you soon, Keith. And uh go Hawks. Go Hawks. Seahawks Playbook podcast listeners, thanks for joining us for another edition of the show. You can find us on Twitter. Bill is at NW Seahawk. Keith is atmyers NFL. And the show is hawksplaybook. You can listen and subscribe to the show at seahawksplaybook.com. [Music]

Seahawks fans, thanks for joining Bill Alvstad and Keith Myers as we each present our top 5 defensive players. In addition, we talk about a group of players that was just outside our top 5.

Go Hawks!

Seahawks Playbook Podcast YouTube Show Notes Links:
Seahawks Playbook Podcast Patreon Account: patreon.com/seahawksplaybookpodcast
Seahawks Playbook Podcast Website: https://www.seahawksplaybook.com
Seahawks Playbook Podcast YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrqT5lY2HBiAybyod6a4d_g
Seahawks Playbook Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4X2LPARUmY7uTD9Pztf1bi
Follow Bill Alvstad on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/NWSeahawk
Follow Keith Myers on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/MyersNFL
Follow the Show on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/HawksPlaybook