Dancing to Own Tune: Rylie Mills Brings Versatility, Big Personality to Seahawks
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High energy with an aggressive playing style, the Seattle Seahawks hope a healthy Rylie Mills will be able to turn a great defensive line into an elite one. [/caption]
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - In the midst of the best game of his college career with a little under 30 minutes left to play against Florida State, Notre Dame defensive tackle Rylie Mills already had hit the two-sack mark for the first time since 2022, providing ample opportunities to put his celebratory theatrics on display for the home town crowd.
The 291-pound Mills won’t be mistaken for a ballerina, but along with working diligently at improving his craft shedding blocks and hunting down quarterbacks during his five years with the Fighting Irish, he had put plenty of thought into enhancing his post-sack dances. That practice had manifested on the field against the Seminoles with sacks on back-to-back snaps early in the second quarter, having a blast celebrating with his teammates and showing off his flashy new moves for coaches on the sideline.
As it turned out, Mills still may not have spent quite enough time finding new, creative ways to shake a leg or get his boogie on. Early in the third quarter, after rocketing out of his stance, he shot past the left guard with a powerful rip move and gobbled up quarterback Brock Glenn for his third sack. But in the aftermath, all he could come up with? Counting up to three with his fingers.
Seeing the anticlimactic celebration play out on the field, Notre Dame defensive line coach Al Washington couldn’t help but give his rising star a tough time as he approached the sideline, teasing him for coming up empty after setting a new career high.
“I'm like, dude, you don't even know what the - you're out of dance moves right now, man. Usually you got one per game,” Washington laughed while recalling the play in an interview on the Locked On Seahawks podcast. “I said, man, you know you're out of them. He started cracking up and that's Rylie, man. His celebration dances have definitely improved from ‘22, so maybe in the NFL he'll have something even cooler.”
Rehabbing from a torn ACL suffered two months after that remarkable performance at Notre Dame Stadium, it may be a while before Mills can put any new dance moves into practice. But once that time comes, after investing a fifth-round pick to select him in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks hope to see him trip the light fantastic on the regular at Lumen Field.
Prior to the injury, headlined by his one-man wrecking ball outing against Florida State, Mills’ decision to return for the final year of eligibility had proven to be a fruitful one. Though he had registered at least two sacks in each of the previous three seasons for the Fighting Irish, he felt he still had room to grow as a pass rusher before taking the leap to the NFL, particularly improving at finishing pressures with sacks and quarterback hits.
Once Mills had reached the decision to return for his senior season after the conclusion of the 2023 campaign, he devised a plan of action with Washington and strength coach Loren Landow, turning to a unique strategy with the goal of enhancing his flexibility as a means for becoming a better finisher at the end of his pass rushes. Following typical workouts that included weight lifting and conditioning during the offseason program, he took up yoga, “maniacally” training to increase his flexibility and range of motion for his muscles.
This additional work didn’t provide immediate results for Mills, who got off to a somewhat slow start with seven pressures and no sacks in Notre Dame’s first four games last fall. But Washington sensed a breakthrough was coming, as the defender did have three quarterback hits in those contests and had been so close to racking up multiple sacks, coming up just short.
Right on cue, Mills registered his first sack of the season in a win over Louisville, kicking off the most dominant stretch of his college career and coinciding with Notre Dame’s ascent as a national title contender. Over the next four games, he tallied six sacks, including the trio of takedowns in a 52-3 beatdown of Florida State, nearly doubling his previous career high in only a month. Incredibly, he turned 18 pressures into seven sacks during that span, generating a 38 percent sack to pressure ratio, enjoying the fruits of his labor from all the hours in the yoga studio and leading all defensive tackles in sacks.
Having witnessed the motivated, driven Mills attack his goals throughout the three seasons where they worked together in South Bend, and garner the utmost respect from his teammates for his top-tier work ethic that led to him being selected as a team captain last season, Washington wasn’t surprised at all to see his latest efforts manifest onto the field as increased sack production.
“Every goal he had, he had a plan of how he wanted to accomplish it. And it wasn't easy. It wasn't just something that happened instantaneously,” Washington said. “It was something he developed and worked towards. And he allowed me to coach him, thankfully. And so I know that the [Seahawks] coaches, they're going to love working with him because whatever you ask of him, he'll do and he'll take ownership of it and he'll bring it to life.”
With his recovery ongoing, Mills has yet to resume football activities and it remains to be seen whether or not he will have a chance to return during training camp given the late timing of his knee injury, which happened during a College Football Playoff win over Indiana in January. The player himself expressed optimism that he would be back on the field before camp, saying he was “ahead of schedule,” though general manager John Schneider didn’t share quite the same positivity post-draft, suggesting that the Seahawks would be thrilled if he could come back to contribute by midseason.
Regardless of when Mills finally gets to put on a Seahawks helmet for the first time, Washington anticipates his former player’s versatility and positional flexibility will be more than welcomed by coach Mike Macdonald and his staff. After primarily playing defensive end early in his college career at Notre Dame, at the urging of the coaching staff, he bulked up to 290 pounds and slid inside as a defensive tackle in 2022, where he was deployed most often in 3-tech alignment while occasionally moving wider to 4i-tech shading the inside shoulder of the tackle over the past three seasons.
From Washington’s perspective, while he has no doubts Mills could certainly play defensive end at the next level and would be equipped to do so in heavier personnel groupings, he believes playing inside as a defensive tackle best maximizes his skill set and talents. Athletically, as cited after the draft by Seahawks scout Nolan Teasley, who said he was in the 92nd percentile for get off on the snap, his burst and anticipation - which was further magnified by his attention to detail in film study - creates major issues for guards inside and he possesses enough strength to hold his own in one-on-ones or set a firm anchor in the run game.
As long as Mills constantly works on his leverage and playing with a low pad level, Washington believes his strengths and all-around game will mesh quite well with Macdonald’s scheme as an attacking defensive linemen who can move up and down the line.
“He's very effective in the B gap and I thought for us, when we made that move wholesale, I thought he took off. I thought he was comfortable with it,” Washington explained. “And he's unique because most guys that are that body type, they're not athletic enough to be on the outside and vice versa. Most ends aren't strong enough to handle the lifestyle of a big, A/B gap player. He's just unique that way. So I think the best thing for Riley is however Seattle wants to use him. I definitely think his experience being on the outside and being able to go in all those experiences, that will help him and whatever Seattle asks him to do.”
Where Mills may have the most impact as he begins his NFL chapter in Seattle, however, at least as he continues to work his way back to full health, lies in his leadership both by words and actions. With a larger than life, energetic persona that echoes his size and a desire to hold everyone accountable to a lofty standard, teammates gravitated to him at Notre Dame and he became a coach on the field that galvanized the team whenever adversity struck.
Rookies don’t often have to carry such a burden upon arrival into the league with seasoned veterans holding the torch, but Mills has the broad shoulders and mentality to step into such a role early in his time with the Seahawks, especially since he will be in an observer role for the foreseeable future during OTAs. Learning from the likes of Leonard Williams and Jarran Reed in an experienced defensive line room, Washington expects the All-American to be ready to roll once he’s medically cleared, providing another weapon in the trenches for Macdonald’s defense to wreak havoc against opponents and quickly building cred as a key voice in his position group.
And maybe, just maybe, a few exciting new dance moves to dish out to the roar of the 12s this fall.
“He's a huge, huge personality and the guys in the locker room are going to love him. And I know the coaches are going to love him, man. In Seattle, the 12th man are going to love him. I can't wait to watch him out there and I can't wait for him to be a part of that great environment.”
