Breaking down the Seahawks’ defensive position battles

The Seattle Seahawks’ quest to become the third repeat Super Bowl champion this century begins in earnest on Saturday, when the team kicks off 2026 training camp at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center along the shore of Lake Washington.

Camp Preview: Sizing up Seahawks’ offensive position battles

The Seahawks enter camp with a rare level of continuity, having retained nearly 87% of their offensive and defensive snaps from their 2025 championship-winning team, including both the regular season and postseason. That’s the third-highest rate for a reigning Super Bowl champion since 2010.

As a result, there aren’t many starting spots up for grabs. But on the flip side, there figure to be a lot of fierce roster-spot battles – and a lot of difficult decisions to trim the roster down to 53 players by the Aug. 30 deadline.

With camp about to get underway, here’s a position-by-position look at the Seahawks’ defense and how those battles for starting roles and roster spots could shape up.

Interior defensive line

• Locks: Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy II, Jarran Reed, Rylie Mills
• Other top contenders: Mike Morris, Brandon Pili, Uso Seumalo, Deven Eastern

The Seahawks return arguably the NFL’s best defensive tackle duo in Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II. Also back is the steady, tone-setting presence of veteran nose tackle Jarran Reed. And now, enter Rylie Mills.

After spending most of his rookie season recovering from a college ACL tear, Mills delivered a jaw-dropping sack in the Super Bowl that epitomized why some draft experts viewed him as a second-round talent prior to the injury. Now healthy again, Mills is oozing with breakout potential and could elevate an already-elite unit to even greater heights.

Meanwhile, it could be a fierce battle for the backup nose tackle spot. Brandon Pili has the edge in experience, but undrafted rookie Uso Seumalo and rookie seventh-round pick Deven Eastern both have intriguing upside. Eastern’s health could be an issue though, as he was placed on the PUP list over the weekend.

Mike Morris also could be on the roster bubble, especially given some of the skill set overlap between him and Mills. But Morris emerged as one of Seattle’s key special teamers, so that might be his best path to maintaining a roster spot.

Edge rushers

• Locks: DeMarcus Lawrence, Uchenna Nwosu, Derick Hall, Dante Fowler Jr.
• Other top contenders: Jared Ivey, Connor O’Toole, Aidan Hubbard, Jamie Sheriff

Seattle’s primary four-man edge-rushing rotation is set. Five-time Pro Bowler DeMarcus Lawrence, veteran Uchenna Nwosu and recently extended Derick Hall are all back, while veteran addition Dante Fowler Jr. fills the void left by Boye Mafe’s departure.

The Seahawks also appear high on several young, developmental edge rushers – including Jared Ivey, Connor O’Toole and undrafted rookie Aidan Hubbard.

Seattle kept both Ivey and O’Toole on the 53-man roster throughout last season to protect them from waiver claims, despite neither playing meaningful snaps. That says a lot about how the team views their upside. And Hubbard reportedly received $267,500 in guaranteed money from Seattle, far more than any other player in the team’s UDFA class.

Given the longer-term uncertainty at this position group – Lawrence, Nwosu and Fowler each have varying degrees of age and/or contract questions after this season – the Seahawks no doubt hope at least one of their developmental edges start to emerge and earn some rotational snaps.

Linebackers

• Locks: Ernest Jones IV, Drake Thomas, Tyrice Knight
• Other top contenders: Chazz Surratt, Patrick O’Connell, Chris Paul Jr.

Linebacker is suddenly one of the Seahawks’ deeper position groups. Ernest Jones IV is coming off a second-team All-Pro campaign, Drake Thomas is fresh off a surprise 2025 breakout and Tyrice Knight returns to give Seattle the luxury of a starting-caliber backup.

After that, Chazz Surratt and Patrick O’Connell are among those who could battle for a back-end roster spot. O’Connell is probably the better linebacker, but Surratt provides immense special teams value. Surratt finished second on the Seahawks with 11 special teams tackles last season, even despite missing six games due to injury.

Safeties

• Locks: Nick Emmanwori, Julian Love, Bud Clark, Ty Okada
• Other top contenders: Rodney Thomas II, D’Anthony Bell, AJ Finley

With his Swiss Army knife skill set, Nick Emmanwori technically falls under multiple position groups as a hybrid nickelback/linebacker/safety defender. But regardless, the Defensive Rookie of the Year runner-up is back as the ultimate chess piece in Mike Macdonald’s scheme. And at age 22, he may only be scratching the surface of his potential.

Veteran Julian Love returns as the top traditional safety, while second-round pick Bud Clark and Ty Okada are the leading candidates to replace Coby Bryant at the other traditional safety spot.

Clark ultimately projects as the long-term starter there, but if he’s not fully ready to shoulder the load as a rookie in Week 1, Okada proved plenty capable while making 11 fill-in starts last season. The ball-hawking Clark also has a splash of Emmanwori-like positional versatility, so expect him to move around the field a bit too.

Free agent addition Rodney Thomas II, who made 26 starts for Indianapolis over the past four seasons, could be another option to start early on if Clark isn’t ready for full-time snaps just yet.

Cornerbacks

• Locks: Devon Witherspoon, Josh Jobe, Julian Neal
• Other top contenders: Nehemiah Pritchett, Noah Igbinoghene, Andre Fuller, Michael Dansby

Coming off a standout performance in the Super Bowl, three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Devon Witherspoon looks like a budding superstar with his speed, versatility and playmaking ability. And Josh Jobe, who re-signed with Seattle on a three-year deal, is entrenched as the second corner.

That leaves the big question: When Witherspoon slides inside to the nickel spot, who will replace Riq Woolen’s snaps as the third cornerback?

In the long run, third-round pick Julian Neal is the favorite. He has an ideal combination of length and physicality to fill the boundary corner role, while also possessing strong zone coverage skills that could make him a good match for Macdonald’s scheme.

However, there’s no guarantee Neal will be ready to start as a rookie in Week 1. He made just 16 college starts and is still somewhat new to cornerback, having begun his college career at safety before moving to corner in 2023.

If Neal needs more time, Nehemiah Pritchett’s familiarity in Macdonald’s scheme could give him an edge in the third cornerback battle early on. Pritchett may be entering a make-or-break year, with this potentially being his last good shot to carve out a significant role in Seattle.

Noah Igbinoghene is a wild card. With just 17 career starts in six seasons, he hasn’t come close to living up to his status as a former first-round draft pick. But Macdonald has repeatedly shown an ability to maximize talent, so perhaps Seattle is where Igbinoghene finally clicks.

Rookie seventh-round pick Andre Fuller also could push for a roster spot. He shares some similarities with Neal in his physical frame, identical 40-yard dash time and background as a safety-turned-cornerback.

Seattle Seahawks news and more

• Brock: Seattle Seahawks will have a top-10 offensive line in the NFL
• Where Seattle Seahawks landed in ESPN’s annual position rankings
• Khosla-led group seen as good match for Seattle Seahawks’ ‘culture’

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