Defensive MVP: The Dark Side
Sorry, but there’s just no way to pick one MVP on a defense that was defined by unselfish play, depth and talent at all three levels.
Take the Super Bowl, for example. Running back Kenneth Walker III was a deserving MVP, but if you wanted to give it to a defensive player to reward a dominant effort on that side of the ball, who would you give it to? Devon Witherspoon would have been a worthy choice after he had a sack and multiple pressures that led to incomplete passes, as well as a hit on Drake Maye that knocked the ball loose for a Uchenna Nwosu pick-six. You could also make a good case for Derick Hall, who had two sacks and forced fumble, or for Byron Murphy II, who had two sacks and a fumble recovery while also doing the outstanding work he always does to stop the run, or to Ernest Jones IV, who had a team-high 11 tackles and one tackle for loss, or to Leonard Williams, who didn’t jump off the stat sheet, but whose work on the line opened up so many pass rush opportunities for his teammates, or to Nwosu and Julian Love, who both had crucial takeaways, or to… OK, you get the point.
And that’s how the Seahawks were on defense all season long. In addition to all of those players mentioned above, the Seahawks also got great play all season from the likes of DeMarcus Lawrence, another outstanding free-agent addition, Coby Bryant, Drake Thomas, Jarran Reed and so many other players.
All season long, members of the Dark Side defense took pride in how close they were as a group, and in how unselfishly they played, so it’s only fitting that at the end of the season, there is no one individual player awarded, but rather the whole unit.