Why Seahawks’ Leonard Williams likes how he’ll be used in new D

Leonard Williams is gearing up for his first full year with the Seattle Seahawks after re-signing with the team this offseason, and he’s encouraged by the changes the team has made.

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Under new head coach Mike Macdonald, the architect of the dominant Ravens defense of the past two season as Baltimore’s defensive coordinator, Seattle is implementing a system that the 6-foot-5, 300-pound lineman thinks he fits well in.

“I’m really excited about playing in this defense,” Williams told Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Tuesday, “just because I feel like that’s when I’m best utilized, being multiple and not just playing one position.”

Williams has the size to play on the interior of the defensive line and feels he has the ability to rush the quarterback from the edge, and Seattle’s defense under Macdonald and new defensive coordinator Aden Durde will make use of that. In fact, it will rely on a lot of defenders being able to play more than one spot.

“I think I’m strong enough to play on the interior, and I’m quick enough and understand the game enough to play on the edge as well,” Williams said. “I think our D-coordinator and head coach are both doing a great job of moving us all around, making sure we know multiple positions. It’s going to keep the offense guessing.”

The Williams-Murphy connection

The re-signing of Williams was a big story this year for the Seahawks, as was the addition of another defensive lineman: rookie Byron Murphy II, who the Seahawks made the first defensive player taken off the board in the 2024 NFL Draft when they selected him at No. 16 overall out of Texas. Unlike Williams, who is tall and has long arms, Murphy is built like a wrecking ball at 6-feet even, 306 pounds and with thick legs that have received a lot of attention this offseason in Seattle.

When the topic turned to the contrast of Williams and Murphy, the 10th-year veteran was happy to talk about it.

“I’m glad that you pointed out that we’re so different. He’s a very stout guy,” Williams said to hosts Brock Huard and Mike Salk. “He’s one of those type of guys where he just has natural leverage. Like you said about his legs, this man has like tree-trunk legs. When I first met him, I was like, ‘Dude, I’ve never seen legs like that before.’ His advantage is he has natural leverage, so on the line, it seems like it’s very hard for them to move him because he has that natural leverage, and his move selections in the pass rush and stuff like that are all like trying to get underneath guys.”

What’s different about how Williams rushes compared to Murphy?

“I try to play with my length a lot more,” Williams said. “I try to get extension on guys, I try to play with my length and a lot of times when I do moves, I do more like arm overs where I’m going over the top of guys where he uses his leverage to get underneath guys.”

Listen to the full Brock and Salk conversation with Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman Leonard Williams in the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post. Catch Brock and Salk live from 6-10 a.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports.

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