JIM MOORE

Moore: Is the Seahawks’ defensive line really the league’s worst?

Jul 21, 2020, 8:55 AM

Seahawks DT Jarran Reed...

The Seahawks are looking for DT Jarran Reed to regain his 2018 form in 2020. (Getty)

(Getty)

Do the Seahawks have the worst defensive line in the league? Pro Football Focus thinks so, ranking it 32nd among 32 NFL teams.

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It seems that PFF drew some of its conclusions based on Jadeveon Clowney not being here anymore, saying that the line wasn’t very good with him and will be worse without him. Worth noting: the Seahawks also lost Quinton Jefferson, one of their best D-linemen, to Buffalo in free agency.

PFF also threw out some metrics that were none too kind to several players.

Although Bruce Irvin is expected to help the pass rush, PFF said he hasn’t had a pass-rush grade over 70 since his second season in Seattle.

Rasheem Green might have led the Seahawks with four sacks last year, but he had only 30 total pressures on 376 pass rushes.

Shaquem Griffin, who toward the end of the season was used more frequently as a pass rusher, had only 10 pressures on 94 pass rushes.

The Seahawks’ D-line came up with only 28 sacks in 2019 and allowed 4.9 yards per carry for the second consecutive season, one of the worst marks in the league.

To help improve the line, the Seahawks acquired Irvin and Benson Mayowa in free agency and Darrell Taylor and Alton Robinson in the draft. They are also hoping that last year’s first-round pick, L.J. Collier, will be more of a factor this year and that Jarran Reed will play like he did in 2018 when he had 10.5 sacks.

“Hoping” is the key word. “Expecting” is something altogether different. Continuing its sad report on the state of the Seahawks’ defensive line, PFF called Taylor an underwhelming prospect. And typically rookie pass rushers aren’t terrific in their first season.

So it’s little wonder that when Brock Huard conducted a Twitter poll, 56 percent of voters, when asked which move they’d like to see the Seahawks make the most, chose re-signing Clowney over trading for Jamal Adams (21%), trading for Yannick Ngakoue (13%) and doing nothing at all to save salary cap money and draft picks (10%).

The Seahawks are also expected to sign a veteran defensive tackle in the coming weeks, but at this point, it looks like GM John Schneider is comfortable with offseason moves to address the pass rush.

Should he be? Pro Football Focus thinks not.

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