‘Everyone’s Buying’: Devon Witherspoon, Seahawks’ Defense Not Shying Away From Lofty Expectations
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Seattle Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon and safety Julian Love begin warmups prior to the fourth OTA practice at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center. Credit: Corbin Smith/Emerald City Spectrum [/caption]
RENTON, Wash. - Over the final nine weeks of the 2024 season, few defenses stymied opponents more than the Seattle Seahawks, who ranked among the top five in scoring defense to close out a 10-win season under first year coach Mike Macdonald.
But the path to that improvement under Macdonald’s watch wasn’t always a smooth one, as Seattle’s defense underwent plenty of expected growing pains acclimating to a complicated scheme along the way, including getting gashed in three straight losses allowing an average of 35.6 points per game to Detroit, the New York Giants, and San Francisco in September and October. At the center of those woes, stopping the run continued to be a major Achilles heel, as they yielded 173 rushing yards per game and 5.5 yards per carry during that losing streak to quickly erased a 3-0 start.
After spending last spring just trying to keep their heads above the water as they learned a new playbook, however, results started to change following a Week 10 bye, coinciding with the arrival of veteran linebacker Ernest Jones IV in a trade deadline deal. Fast forwarding a year later, though defensive coordinator Aden Durde acknowledged that a new season requires re-teaching the defense from the foundation on up again, understanding of the scheme coupled with personnel continuity have allowed the Seahawks to hit the ground running with improved communication and connectivity in OTAs.
"I just think from a defensive perspective, it allows them to connect more. It allows the coaches to connect more,” Durde told reporters following Monday’s first open OTA session. “No matter what foundation you've built, you have to go back to square one, reteach it, and build it up again. We've got a stronger foundation this time, last year we were doing it brand new. But now, we're building on the same thing. Now, it allows you to [develop] a connection and we can teach some of the whys within the plays."
Between the lines on the practice field, those differences can be seen with the intentionality of a faster tempo compared to a year ago. Everyone seems to be playing at a faster speed, both mentally processing plays a tick faster and physically being a step quicker executing assignments, which only helps accelerate the learning process for veteran newcomers and rookies alike.
Further helping matters, Macdonald doesn’t have to worry at all about players not being bought into his program either. Aside from a handful of players sitting out due to recovery from injury, including veterans Uchenna Nwosu and Jones, nearly every player on the 90-man roster participated in Monday’s session in some way, shape, or form. Among those putting in the work on the field, defensive tackles Jarran Reed and Leonard Williams weren’t about to pass up on any opportunities to do their part helping the defense maintain momentum from last year’s strong finish.
"I think it says a lot about the people that we have in the building,” Durde remarked. “For the defense, they're people that want to improve. They want to grow no matter what type of situation they are in their career. I talk to J. Reed all the time about little things we can do and he teaches me stuff that he sees. I talk to him about stuff. Leo (Leonard Williams) is the same thing. Law [DeMarcus Lawrence] is the same thing. I just think guys want to do it the right way here. If we can keep doing that, we can make those jumps, especially with everyone here."
With the vast majority of their defense from a year ago returning - 13 of the 14 defenders who received the most snaps in 2024 remain on the roster, including Reed and Jones returning on new contracts - the Seahawks aren’t backing away from heightened expectations. In fact, they seem to be fully embracing them, with Reed and cornerback Devon Witherspoon both setting the bar incredibly high following Monday’s practice proclaiming the goal of becoming not only a top-five defense, but the NFL’s best defense in all categories.
Given their outstanding play from front to back over the final two months to close out the 2024 campaign and the rare continuity on the defensive side of the ball with a fun crop of returning sophomores in Byron Murphy II and Tyrice Knight coupled with the arrival of Lawrence and ultra-athletic rookie safety Nick Emmanwori, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Seahawks have sights on far loftier goals in 2025. And if history has any bearing on what may be to come in 2025, Macdonald’s track record speaks for itself.
As a first-time NFL defensive coordinator, Macdonald’s Ravens endured struggles of their own in the first half of the 2022 season, including getting torched for 42 points in a Week 2 loss to the Dolphins. But in a move that mirrored the impact Jones had for Seattle after coming from Tennessee last season, a pre-deadline deal for linebacker Roquan Smith immediately transformed Baltimore’s defense, and over the final nine games, they gave up 16 points or fewer seven times.
Then in 2023, with much of the same personnel returning, the Ravens became the first team in NFL history to finish first in points allowed per game (16.5), first in sacks (60), and first in turnovers (31) in the same season, paving the way for Macdonald to become the ninth head coach in Seahawks history.
With Macdonald more comfortable in his first full offseason as coach and the likes of Williams, Reed, Jones, safety Julian Love, and several other key contributors returning from last year’s team, according to Witherspoon, how the defense performed last season has carried over into the spring with newcomers jumping on for the ride and he feels those last nine games were just scratching the surface of the unit’s potential
"Us being together, we set the standard for ourselves and then we hold everybody to it,” Witherspoon stated. “I believe every one of those guys in the locker room knows what we're trying to do and know what we're trying to build and I think everyone's buying that."
As Reed and Witherspoon both acknowledged, the work must be put in for Seattle to reach its ceiling as a football team, and not just on defense. Unlike the other side of the ball, the franchise underwent dramatic changes on offense, including switching from Geno Smith to Sam Darnold at quarterback, trading DK Metcalf and cutting Tyler Lockett, and signing Cooper Kupp and Marquez Valdes-Scantling among other moves, and it will take time for that group to mesh learning a new offensive under coordinator Klint Kubiak.
But while Darnold, Kupp, Valdes-Scantling, and others adapt to their new surroundings and develop chemistry much in the same way Macdonald’s defense had to this time a year ago, a talented, deep defense welcomes carrying the burden for the Seahawks while the offense plays catchup. With no shortage of confidence or swagger, Reed and company aren’t afraid of the pressure to live up to the standards of the 2023 Ravens or the “Legion of Boom” squad from an earlier era, using OTAs as another step towards building that dominant of a unit with eyes on winning championships.
"I think that everybody on my side of the ball wants the defense to be the reason why. Defense wins championships, offense wins games. That just is what it is. We want to put the team on our back, and we want to be the reason why we win games."
