Wyman & Bump break down what makes Ryan Neal so good for Seahawks

The Seahawks’ defense has been among the NFL’s best during their four-game winning streak.

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There are a lot of reasons why that’s the case, including that Ryan Neal has started at strong safety during Seattle’s last five games after starting the season backing up both Jamal Adams and Josh Jones.

But Adams suffered a season-ending injury in Week 1 and Jones struggled as a starter.

Neal, meanwhile, has been incredibly consistent for the Seahawks since entering the starting lineup, recording 31 tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack, one interception, one forced fumble and six pass breakups over the last five weeks.

So why is Neal such a good player for the Seahawks? Former NFL players Dave Wyman and Michael Bumpus discussed Neal’s play during Friday’s Bump and Stacy on Seattle Sports 710 AM, which aired live from Munich, Germany ahead of Seattle’s European matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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Right before Wyman and Bumpus had this conversation, they interviewed Neal, who told them that the game has really slowed down for him this season, which is his fifth year in the NFL and fourth with the Seahawks.

“He’s just that utility player,” Wyman said. “I thought when when they lost Jamal Adams, I go man there goes all the — as (head coach Pete Carroll) would say — ‘cool stuff’ that they can do with Jamal where he’s up in the box, he’s blitzing, he’s making all kinds of plays all over the field. And (Neal is) starting to do that now. I think he’s just one of those guys that can do a little bit of everything.”

In addition to being around the football regularly and doing a bit of everything for the Seahawks, Neal has especially shined on third down, which is where he’s made many of his tackles this year.

“I think it’s finally coming around for him. And it’s cool to see because that was a huge loss, Jamal Adams was. That was big,” Wyman said. “… I thought he was gonna have one of those great years this year. But you see the way that Ryan Neal is playing, that’s kind of what Jamal would be doing. So and I think Ryan’s picked it up, man. We’ve found out this year that it clicks for different players at different times.”

“I like Ryan Neal because he can do a little bit of everything. He can cover, he can play in the box, he can tackle, you can blitz them. Whatever you need Ryan Neal to do, that’s what he’s going to do,” Bumpus added. “… I love Ryan Neal’s game. He has been the piece to allow this defense to continue to do the things they wanted to do when they had Jamal Adams.”

Listen to the full second hour of Friday’s show at this link or in the player below.

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