Wyman: How Seahawks’ new LB Jones is making an impact

There were plenty of negatives from the Seattle Seahawks’ overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday afternoon, which dropped Seattle to 4-5 with its fifth defeat in six games.

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But there also was one major silver lining: a much-improved showing from the Seahawks’ run defense.

For most of this season, opponents have been able to run almost at will against Seattle. The Seahawks entered Sunday near the bottom of the NFL in run defense, ranking 29th in rushing yards allowed per game (148.4) and 28th in yards allowed per carry (4.9). And they had been gashed for 155-plus rushing yards in each of their previous four games.

But on Sunday, Seattle completely stymied the Rams’ ground attack. The Seahawks surrendered a season-low 2.8 yards per carry, holding Los Angeles to just 68 rushing yards on 24 attempts. After weeks of being gashed for big runs, they didn’t allow a run longer than 9 yards to the Rams.

What was the difference this week? During Monday’s edition of Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob, former NFL linebacker Dave Wyman heaped praise on new Seahawks inside linebacker Ernest Jones IV, who was playing his second game with Seattle since coming over from Tennessee in an Oct. 23 trade.

Jones received a team-high 85.7 run-defense grade from Pro Football Focus and made nine tackles, including a pivotal tackle for loss late in the third quarter. With the Rams facing a second-and-goal from the 1-yard line, Jones shot through a gap and stonewalled running back Kyren Williams for a 2-yard loss.

“You’re seeing the attacking of the the line of scrimmage from the linebackers, but especially Jones,” Wyman said. “There was a blitz that he had where he just entirely blew up the running back and it was one of those during the broadcast that I was like, ‘Ooh, yes, love that.’ So that’s the thing that I think was probably the best takeaway.”

The Seahawks acquired Jones in an inside linebacker swap that sent season-opening starter Jerome Baker to the Titans. Baker received a 62.6 PFF run-defense grade in his five games with Seattle, including a dismal 35.6 grade against Atlanta in Week 7 before being traded.

Jones, who spent his first three seasons with the Rams being being traded to Tennessee in August, appears to be an upgrade against the run. The fourth-year pro received a 90.0 run defense grade with Los Angeles last season, which ranked fifth among all linebackers in the league.

“He is a throwback,” Wyman said. “I mean, you look at how he takes on guards and everything, it’s like a lot of times you just see guys trying to run around blocks and he is right down the middle of them. So I loved seeing that. That was really good news there.”

The previous week, Buffalo gashed the Seahawks for 164 rushing yards in Jones’ first game with Seattle. But with the trade taking place on a Wednesday, Jones only got two days of practice before making his Seahawks debut.

Head coach Mike Macdonald said having Jones for a full week of practice made a difference against the Rams. He also pointed to the defense having more continuity over the past few weeks after being decimated by injuries between Weeks 3 and 6.

“I do feel like having some consistency in who’s aligning next to who on our defense helped,” Macdonald said. “… It’s good when you got the same crew out there and you’re able to stack a lot of reps next to each other.”

Listen to the full conversation on Wyman and Bob at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Wyman and Bob weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

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