Can Seattle’s moves fix the NFL’s worst run defense? Coach Mike Macdonald is optimistic

ORLANDO, Fla. — Mike Macdonald has a few go-to phrases.

“Chasing edges,” for instance, means to relentlessly pursue advantages in a league that strives for parity.

“Giving the quarterback answers” loosely translates to putting the QB in favorable situations.

The Seattle Seahawks‘ first-year coach dropped another one while speaking to reporters at annual league meetings earlier this week. Discussing all the moves that he and general manager John Schneider have made to the middle of their defense over the past month, Macdonald said it’s important to have a “strong spine.”

“If not, they’re just going to gash you right up the middle,” he said. “That’s the quickest distance from point A to point B, which you’re trying to avoid. But in general, we’re trying to build a wall … trying to stay square, trying to set hard edges, make the ball [bounce toward the sideline], make them throw the thing outside. You don’t want to get gashed up the middle of your defense. You’ve got to have the right guys who can play right there so you can get the job done.”

The Seahawks have been one of the NFL’s worst run defenses the past two seasons, ranking last in rushing yards allowed (4,906) and 30th in yards per carry (4.7). They’ve allowed the sixth-most points per game (23.6) in that span, too. Macdonald and Schneider haven’t undertaken a rebuild anything like the one that Schneider and former coach Pete Carroll executed when they arrived together in Seattle in 2010, but what has long been an underperforming defense will look quite a bit different this season, particularly inside the numbers.

Their defensive line will have a full season of Leonard Williams after he arrived in an October trade with the New York Giants and posted 41 tackles and four sacks over 10 games. After parting with a second-round pick for Williams, Schneider said the Seahawks’ top priority in free agency was to re-sign him, which they did via a three-year, $64.5 million deal that made him the highest-paid defensive player in franchise history. The deal came together late on the first day of the negotiating window.

That move was bookended by their most recent move up front, the addition of 31-year-old defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins on a one-year, $2.05 million deal. Hankins came with a strong recommendation from new defensive coordinator Aden Durde, who was his position coach the past two seasons with the Dallas Cowboys and, according to Schneider, pounded the table for the 12th-year veteran during his first interview for the job.

Hankins replaces Mario Edwards Jr. in the rotation and gives Seattle’s D-line the bulk it didn’t have last season. At 320 pounds, he projects as strictly a nose tackle. Part of Williams’ appeal, on the other hand, is that he can play three-technique and defensive end.

“He’s super talented, 30 years old, likes the area, likes the coaches, likes the new staff, loved Pete, [former defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt], that whole group of guys,” Schneider said of Williams. “And then the new group of guys that came in did a great job recruiting him, making him feel comfortable. And then doing the contract, that was a big deal for us. And I’m glad we got it done as soon as we did because it could have lasted longer and that would’ve held us up from doing other things. And it did to a certain extent with some of our own guys, but he was the priority.”

Schneider’s last comment was in reference to the Seahawks losing linebacker Jordyn Brooks in free agency. They were never expected to bring back Bobby Wagner once Carroll was fired, but they were interested in re-signing Brooks — their 2020 first-round pick — at the right price. The hang up, as Schneider explained, was that they didn’t feel they could make him an offer until Williams made a decision, lest both of them accepted Seattle’s deals and left the Seahawks without enough money to fill their other needs. The Miami Dolphins, willing to move faster on Brooks, gave him a three-year, $26.25 million deal, meaning the Seahawks had to fill both starting spots at inside linebacker.

They first signed Tyrel Dodson away from the Buffalo Bills, getting his one-year, $4.26 million deal done before he could leave for a visit with the division-rival San Francisco 49ers. Two days later, they gave ex-Dolphin Jerome Baker a one-year, $7 million deal.

The 27-year-old Baker has 22.5 sacks and five interceptions over six seasons. He missed four games last December with a knee injury then suffered a dislocated wrist that required surgery, leading to his release. Dodson, 25, was mostly a backup in Buffalo over his first four-plus seasons, but after playing behind Pro Bowlers Matt Milano and Tremaine Edmunds, he became a starter midway through last season after Milano went down.

The Seahawks project Dodson to play Mike linebacker and Baker to play Will linebacker. They’ll determine which of them, if either, calls the defensive signals down the road, but each has done it before.

“There’s position flexibility and both guys have played both spots,” Macdonald said. “Jerome’s played in several different types of defense and then Tyrel’s played both the Mike ‘backer and the weakside ‘backer in Buffalo, and he’s done it at a high level in my opinion.

“Those guys have got to take up a lot of ground, man. They’ve got to play people out of the backfield. They’ve got to play all the choice routes on the weak side, which is hard to do. I think we’ve got the right guys for the job. They’ve got to blitz, play man-to-man. We ask a lot out of our inside ‘backers, so it’ll be a great battle and we’ll see how it comes to life, but I think there’s some opportunity there to have a little bit more position flexibility than I think maybe you saw in Baltimore.”

With Baker and Dodson both on one-year deals and not much experienced depth behind them, the Seahawks will almost certainly add to that position. Macdonald and Schneider confirmed in Orlando at the meetings that they haven’t closed the door on bringing back safety Jamal Adams to play linebacker, but a source said that would be more of a down-the-road consideration.

The releases of Adams and Quandre Diggs earlier this month left the Seahawks without two of their top three safeties. Julian Love will take over one of those starting spots full-time while Rayshawn Jenkins — who had 100 tackles and two interceptions last season — will fill the other. Seattle targeted Jenkins, 30, early on after he was released by the Jacksonville Jaguars. They signed him a two-year, $12 million deal similar to the one they gave Love last March. K’Von Wallace gives them an option to fill the third safety spot, though with only $205,000 guaranteed on his one-year, $1.5 million deal, he may have to compete for that role.

“It comes down to position flexibility, so you’re not just putting guys pigeonholed into roles,” Macdonald said. “We’ll see what they do best at, how they complement one another, see how they work together. But I think it gives us some flexibility to possibly be in some three-safety sets based on how it shakes out at nickel, then we’ll kind of go from there.

“Both guys can play man-to-man, they can play deep area of the field. Rayshawn played deeper more than you’d expect last year. Rayshawn has even moved down into the box in the second level, too. I think we have a lot of different skill sets we’re bringing to the table up the middle. Combined with our corner situation, I think we’re in a good spot.”

The Seahawks return their top three cornerbacks from last season in Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen and Tre Brown. Witherspoon, who made the Pro Bowl as a rookie after Seattle drafted him fifth overall, started on the left side and moved inside in nickel situations, while Woolen stayed on the right side. Macdonald is open to having his corners travel with opponents’ top receivers, something Carroll almost never did.

But the more noticeable differences with Seattle’s defense will be at its core.

“It’s still coming together,” Macdonald said. “But the middle of the defense is really, really important. You need a strong spine and we’re excited about the guys we have. … I think we’ll be really strong up the middle.”