On paper the Seattle Seahawks have a strong wide receiver corps, running back room and cornerback group. One big factor that’s yet to be determined is how good their interior defensive line unit ends up being after a couple of massive investments this offseason.
First, the team signed Leonard Williams to a massive new contract, worth $64.5 million over the next three years. Later, the Seahawks used their first-round draft pick to take Byron Murphy II out of Texas. Together, these two moves should make Seattle’s iDL group one of the best in the league. At the very least, they’ve got two strong pieces to build around.
According to Pro Football Focus, they’re two of the top 32 iDL in the NFl this year. Williams came in at No. 17 on their list.
“Versatility has always been a hallmark of Williams’ play in the NFL, and that versatility may be highlighted better than ever before in new head coach Mike Macdonald’s defense. Williams amassed 52 quarterback pressures last season across two different teams, and he graded well across all facets.”
And later on Murphy II was No. 25:
“Murphy has the profile to make an immediate impact in the NFL. With a prototypical pass-rushing skill set, he also has the strength that meant he was often lining up at nose tackle in Texas over 360-pound T’Vondre Sweat. Murphy had an elite pass-rush win rate of 19.6% last season and a 91.9 PFF pass-rushing grade against true pass sets.”
Nose tackle Jarran Reed is also coming off a career-best year as a pass rusher and the team also signed Johnathan Hankins, who should make an excellent backup if nothing else. All together, this is a really deep group. ESPN has Seattle’s interior defensive line unit ranked No. 2 in the NFL going into 2024.
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