Seahawks’ Julian Love making case he’s an ‘elite’ safety

Over the course of his NFL career, versatile safety Julian Love has roamed all over the field.

One area he hadn’t spent much time was the sideline – at least, until last year.

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After never missing a game due to injury over his first six NFL seasons, the Seattle Seahawks safety was sidelined by a hamstring injury for nine of the first 12 games of 2025.

Determined not to let that happen again, Love put in extra work this offseason.

“I don’t want to feel like how I felt last year on the sideline watching games,” Love said after Seattle improved to 2-0 with a rout of the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. “That hasn’t been in my past in my career up until last year, so I put in a lot of work starting early this offseason.

“And my body feels great,” he added. “I’m entering the prime of my career, and so I feel physically good, and mentally that’s just kind of what I do. So yeah, everything’s aligning.”

It sure looks that way on the field, where Love is playing some of the best football of his career.

Through the first two games of the season, Love has two interceptions, three passes defensed and two tackles for loss. He is the No. 1 safety in Pro Football Focus grading in a wide margin. He has patrolled the back end of a defense that’s allowed a league-low 3.8 net yards per pass attempt.

And he’s done it all despite fellow starting safety Ty Okada missing the first two games with an injury.

“Julian is an elite safety in our league,” Macdonald said. “He really can do everything. He can play man-to-man. He can play zone. He can disguise. He attacks the ball. He’s a great tackler. He patrols it. I mean, there’s a lot of stuff going on in our secondary. He makes it seem easy in terms of making the calls.”

WAIT FOR THE REPLAY. 😮‍💨 @_jlove20

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— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) September 20, 2026

In Week 1, Love made plays all over the field with an interception, two tackles for loss and a tone-hitting hit in Seattle’s 13-10 comeback win over the New England Patriots.

On Sunday, Love did more of the same against Arizona.

In the second quarter, Love made an impressive third-down pass breakup against star tight end Trey McBride. And in the third quarter, Love ranged over from his deep safety position to make a sliding interception on a third-down pass that Jacoby Brissett floated down the sideline.

“Great play with anticipation on that,” Macdonald said. “I mean, he’s a post safety on that play. To make a play on the sideline as a post safety on a go ball is some high-powered stuff.”

Love now has an interception in three consecutive games, including the Seahawks’ Super Bowl triumph over the Patriots.

“We don’t talk enough about Julian Love,” Mike Salk said on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk. “… Guy is always in the right spot. He is as good a communicator both on and off the field as you’re going to find. He strikes me, from everything we’ve seen, as a top-tier teammate and a top-tier leader. Very versatile, incredibly athletic.

“Great teams usually have great safeties,” Salk added. “And I think the Seahawks might have one.”

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