Ahead of Schedule, Rylie Mills ‘Pumped Up’ to Join Seahawks’ Star-Studded Defensive Line
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Notre Dame defensive end Rylie Mills bears down on USC quarterback Caleb Williams during a 2023 regular season game. Mills was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Credit: Rylie Mills/Instagram [/caption]
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - For most NFL hopefuls preparing for the draft, January through April can feel like sprinting through a glorified meat grinder, as prospects participate in All-Star showcases such as the Senior Bowl, sport their athleticism in the annual combine and/or pro day workouts, and conduct the most important interviews of their lives with coaches and personnel members from interested teams.
While the demands that come with draft preparation can be a tedious and exhausting process, however, Notre Dame defensive lineman Rylie Mills would have gladly taken on those tasks instead of dealing with a rigorous rehab coming off surgery to repair a torn ACL suffered in January. From having to travel in an RV to the Fighting Irish’s playoff games due to concerns of developing a blood clot from flying to not being able to show what he could do in Mobile or Indianapolis, his past four months have been far more excruciating than running a 40-yard dash or trying to shed a block in one-on-ones at the Senior Bowl.
Given those limitations and unfortunate missed opportunities, Mills didn’t garner a ton of attention in the pre-draft process, including only taking one official 30 visit. But he maintained a positive attitude as he put work in strengthening his knee behind the scenes, and that one visit wound up being all he needed to land in the perfect spot to continue his football career as the Seattle Seahawks selected him with the 142nd pick in the fifth round.
“It’s a dream come true,” Mills enthusiastically said in his introductory conference call with local media. “Since I was a little kid, I dreamed of being a professional athlete and playing at this level. I think Seattle is where I was meant to be and I know it’s a great fit. I’m pumped up, man. I was excited.”
If not for tearing up his knee in a College Football Playoff victory over Indiana in South Bend and the subsequent season-ending surgery, Mills likely would have received a call much earlier, potentially coming off the board at some point on Friday during the second and third round. Prior to the injury, after opting to return for his final season of eligibility rather than bolt for the NFL early, he had been in the midst of the best season of his collegiate career as an anchor for Notre Dame’s talented defensive front and earned Second-Team All-American honors.
Stout at the point of attack primarily playing 3-tech defensive end last season along with a fair share of snaps at the 5-tech “big end” role, the 291-pound Mills finished with 13 run stops and only one missed tackle, adding a personal best nine tackles for loss as a backfield disruptor. But while his numbers as a run defender were solid, his growth and refinement as a pass rusher stood out as the biggest benefit from staying in school for one more season.
As he did in 2023, Mills surpassed 30 quarterback pressures and had at least one pressure in every game he suited up for, but he made a dramatic improvement turning those pressures into sacks and putting finishing touches on his rush attempts. After only bringing down the quarterback five times in the previous two years combined, he broke out with 7.5 sacks for the Fighting Irish, doubling his prior career-high. Per Pro Football Focus charting, he also finished third among qualified defensive linemen with a 14.3 percent Pass Rush Win Rate and tied for fourth in Pass Rush Productivity rating, illustrating his consistency harassing signal callers.
“I knew I had a good plan, I knew I could rush the passer, but it was about finishing the rush,” Mills stated. “I had an opportunity to leave last year, and I decided I didn’t want to leave without having that confidence and being a complete player. This year it’s about finishing my rush, because I knew I was a high sack number guy, but I needed to put that out there on film. I was able to do that this year, and I’m excited to do that in the NFL.”
Considering Mills didn’t injure his knee until after the calendar flipped to 2025, the poor timing of the setback put his status for at least the start of the 2025 season - if not longer - in question, likely taking him off of the draft board for some teams and precipitating his fall into Day 3.
But the Seahawks weren’t in that group, as they were the only team to meet with the player both at the combine in February and at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center several weeks later, providing head team physician Dr. Ed Khalfayan multiple opportunities to adequately assess the progress of his rehab. At that point, with Khalfayan’s blessing, the organization felt comfortable with his recovery and Mike Macdonald and the coaching staff enjoyed their time with him as well, putting him squarely on their draft board as a desired defensive line target later in the draft.
With Mills still available early in the fifth round after Seattle dealt quarterback Sam Howell to Minnesota as part of a pick swap to acquire pick No. 142, general manager John Schneider decided to pull the trigger, joking following the end of the draft that if he would not have selected the versatile defender, defensive coordinator Aden Durde might have quit on the spot.
“He's doing great with his rehab,” Schneider said of Mills. “We're hopeful that, maybe later [in the] season he's going to be a viable candidate to add to our group. He's a really good player. If we wouldn't have drafted him, I'm not sure if A.D. [Aden Durde] would have showed up for work on Monday.”
Providing his own insight on Durde’s connection with Mills, Macdonald referenced the player’s strong understanding of the game and desire to dig into film as two areas that stood out during his visits with the staff.
“When you talk football with this guy, two people that have a lot of passion about D-line play get together, you see where it goes,” Macdonald added. “Just the spirit of how he approaches the game, his energy, enthusiasm, toughness, competitiveness. When you turn the tape on, the guy just lights up. … You're kind of throwing ideas back and forth. That's the spirit of everything. That's how it's made right there. That's big-time stuff. Those are the people we want in our building, that love that type of thing. When you sharpen each other like that, you’ve got no choice but to get better.”
In the short term, the Seahawks could afford to use a late round pick on Mills with the understanding that he may miss significant time in the 2025 season, as they have a talented defensive line group headlined by Pro Bowler Leonard Williams, veteran Jarran Reed, and 2024 first-round pick Byron Murphy II set to return and still have high hopes for Mike Morris entering his third season. With most of the core from a year ago intact and the possibility of adding another veteran or two post-draft, they won’t have to rush him back into action and can ensure he’s fully healthy before he suits up again.
But while Schneider didn’t share quite the same optimism on Saturday, Mills has ambitious goals for his eventual return to the field. Already walking six miles a day and recently starting to run for the first time since suffering the injury, he indicated he’s “way ahead of schedule” in his rehab and believes he could be partaking in football activities before the start of training camp in late July, which would be less than eight months after surgery.
Though that may seem like an aggressive timetable, former Seahawks linebacker Jordyn Brooks returned to the field in a near-identical situation early in training camp two years ago, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that as long as Mills’ rehab stays on the current trajectory, he could be back in pads sooner than expected and begin pushing for a spot in the defensive line rotation in August rather than the middle of the season. That would be a huge win for both the player and the team, adding another high-motor, position-flexible talent to the mix who could turn a great defensive line into one of the NFL’s best.
For now, Mills will continue to do what he’s done for the past four months, finding the balancing act between attacking his rehab and making sure that he’s patient and follows protocols, including proper nutrition and sleep. But after emerging as an impact catalyst for the Fighting Irish’s run to the national title game last fall, he will do everything in his power to sport a Seahawks helmet and jersey as soon as possible, looking forward to the chance to learn from Williams, Reed, and the coaching staff with sights on helping his new team pursue division titles and the Lombardi Trophy.
“They’re going to get somebody who’s gritty, who’s tough, and comes in with the mindset that ‘I want to get better every day, and be dominant.’ For me, it’s like, ‘How can I go out there and maximize myself every day to give us the best chance to win and win a Super Bowl?’ It’s something I’ve done my whole career. When I was in high school, I approached it that way, and especially in college. I really matured. I just approach the game like a professional, and that’s what I want to continue to do. I want to get in there and earn the respect of my teammates and every day try to better myself.”
