Bump: Don’t sleep on Seattle Seahawks’ depth on the edge

After the Seattle Seahawks used the fifth overall pick on a cornerback – Illinois’ Devon Witherspoon – the team’s secondary has become the headliners of the defense throughout training camp. But for Seattle Sports’ Michael Bumpus, the Seahawks’ deepest position might be the plethora of edge rushers at the coaching staff’s disposal.

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“We’ve been talking about that secondary all season and it’s going to be great, but it’s time we start paying more attention to the edges,” said Bumpus, a former NFL wide receiver and current analyst for the Pac-12 Network and Seahawks Radio Network. “Maybe some people are, but I’m not reading a lot about what’s going on at the edge.”

A season removed from recording 45 sacks as a team, which tied for seventh-most in the league, free-agent acquisitions Dre’Mont Jones and Mario Edwards Jr. join the likes of Uchenna Nwosu, Darrell Taylor and Boye Mafe in Seattle. Nwosu and Taylor led the Seahawks with 9.5 sacks last season, while Mafe chipped in three sacks, three tackles for loss, four quarterback hits and 41 tackles across 17 games (three starts).

“Uchenna Nwosu, who is a solid, he’s going to be the starter. But you got Darrell Taylor, who is best at getting after the quarterback,” Bumpus said. “He’s not really great against the run but he can get better at that and I assume he will. Now you got Boye Mafe, whose name has been coming up a lot. He’s good at both getting after the quarterback, stopping the run and dropping back into coverage. You got (fifth-round rookie) Mike Morris, who’s been making some noise, and you got (second-round rookie) Derrick Hall, who’s been making some noise.”

Alongside the defensive line additions is the hiring of BT Jordan, a pass rush specialist at Michigan State who lasted with the program for just one year before being poached by the pros. Von Miller, T.J. Watt, Chandler Jones, Jadeveon Clowney and Cameron Heyward are some of the NFL stars who have trained under Jordan.

“There’s going to be a nice little rotation getting in there, and guys are going to get opportunities to make plays,” Bumpus continued. “The only person who should feel completely secure and comfortable at their spot at the edge is Uchenna Nwosu. You look at the depth that these guys have on the edge and you say, ‘Look, some guys aren’t going to be getting the time that they think they deserve.’ And that’s probably a good thing. That means you got four or five guys who can get after the quarterback.”

The third and final preseason Seattle Seahawks game is against the Green Bay Packers at 10 a.m. Saturday. Full coverage will be carried on Seattle Sports 710 AM and the Seattle Sports app starting at 8 a.m. with Bumpus on the pregame show. For details on how to stream Seahawks radio broadcasts, click here.

Listen to the full Four-Down Territory segment from Tuesday’s Bump and Stacy in the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post.

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