ESPN analyst says Seahawks defense has 'a lot of pieces to play with'

The Seahawks had what was arguably the greatest defense of all time when the Legion of Boom was at their best. While other defenses may have had higher highs in individual seasons, such as the 1985 Bears or the 2000 Ravens, nobody quite dominated this side of the ball the way Seattle did from year to year, a remarkable run that included four straight first-place finishes in defensive DVOA from 2012-2015.

All good things come to an end, and the unfortunate fact is former head coach Pete Carroll was unable to keep the Seahawks competitive defensively in the absence of his all-time great trio in the secondary. Seattle's defense slipped to good, then average, and then finally it was one of the worst in the league when Carroll got fired six months ago.

Looking ahead, this current Seattle defense is not as loaded as the LOB teams, or as star-studded as the division rival 49ers. However, they do have a bunch of solid players who head coach Mike Macdonald should put to good use. Here's what ESPN analyst Jeremy Fowler had to say about this unit on Seattle Sports radio.

“Just based on what Mike Macdonald did in two years in Baltimore, you know the defense is going to be stout... And he’s got a lot of pieces to play with. They might not have those necessarily top-10 names, but they have a lot of athletic pieces to kind of move around. In Baltimore, Macdonald had Kyle Hamilton at safety. He was sort of a do-it-all player, so I’m curious how he uses his chess pieces like that to make it work. So I expect them to be very competitive and in the playoff mix just based on that, and the fact that you know on offense what you’re getting.”

Macdonald didn't have a ton of star-power in Baltimore, either - and those results speak for themselves. The Ravens had several defenders playing the absolute best ball of their careers last season, helping make that the top defensive unit in the NFL by a long shot in 2023.

In Seattle Macdonald will have a few blue-chip pieces, such as cornerback Devon Witherspoon and defensive linemen Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II. Other capable pieces include cornerback Riq Woolen and safety Julian Love, both former Pro Bowlers.

The x-factor may be in the middle of this defense, which will provide the most glaring contrast with what Macdonald had to work with in Baltimore. The centerpiece of the Ravens defense is All-Pro linebacker Roquan Smith, whereas the Seahawks are now without their all-time great Bobby Wagner and will be duct-taping this unit together with unproven players on one-year deals and rookie contracts.

If the inside linebacker unit can perform at least at an average level and not be a total liability in coverage we should see a significant step forward for this defense in 2024, followed by a quantum leap the next season.