With Julian Love Working Way Back, Ty Okada Playing ‘Incredible Football’ For Seahawks
When starting safety Julian Love went down with a hamstring injury over a month ago for the Seattle Seahawks, safety Ty Okada was thrust into a starting role for the first time in his three-year NFL career, casting questions about how the team would survive without their Pro Bowl star.
But while he won’t be mistaken as true replacement for Love, Okada has done a masterful job starting in his place, more than ready for his opportunity on the biggest of stages. In the eight games he has started for the Seahawks, the former Montana State standout has recorded a combined 39 tackles. He also has deflected five passes, made a spectacular interception along the sideline in a road win in Landover against the Commanders, and recorded a sack in a win over the Texans, making an impact in a variety of ways.
In coverage, Okada has been a stalwart. Since jumping into the lineup for Love, per Pro Football Focus, Okada was targeted through the air 24 times. He allowed 15 receptions for 176 receiving yards and just one touchdown for a rating of 81.2 when quarterbacks tested him, proving once again how admirable of a job he has done stepping in for one of Seattle’s best players and allowing the defense to not miss a beat.
With Love officially making his long-awaited return this past Sunday after a lengthy stint on injured reserve, Okada had to take a step back with his teammate returning to the starting lineup. However, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald seemed to indicate throughout the week that if Love did come back for Week 14, he would be on a reduced workload, regularly saying the team “had a plan” in place to ensure the veteran wouldn’t have any setbacks after a long layoff.
As it turned out, Seattle played things quite cautiously with Love, who started but only logged 20 snaps against Atlanta on Sunday, equating to 31.3% of the team’s snaps. Playing for the first time since Week 4, the seventh-year veteran produced a nice pass breakup on a deep ball from quarterback Kirk Cousins to tight end Kyle Pitts on the game’s opening drive, looking more than healthy testing his hamstring in coverage. He finished with a single tackle and a pass defensed.
While Love played quite a bit in the early stages of the game, it was Okada who played the majority of the snaps (44) at a 68.8% clip on Sunday, another sign that Macdonald intends to ease Love back into action rather than just throw him back into the fire as an every down starter.
In his press conference after a 37-9 victory over the Falcons, Macdonald expressed excitement about the play of both Love and Okada, acknowledging that the game turning into a four-score blowout in the second half allowed the team to let the latter take the bulk of the snaps in the fourth quarter, impacting final snap percentages that likely diverted from the team’s original plan.
“We had a bit of a pitch count for Julian [Love], and he felt really good. I felt like he executed well,” Macdonald said. “We felt he was confident, and we were fortunate the way the game played out where we could let Ty [Okada] close it out for us.”
After praising Love for his performance in limited action, Macdonald gave Okada his flowers unprompted, crediting the former undrafted signee for his preparation and top-tier execution even while not getting near as many reps during the practice week leading up to Sunday’s game in Atlanta.
“Ty Okada deserves a massive shout-out from the coaches, everybody. This guy has played incredible football for us,” Macdonald remarked. “All he does every day is just prepare his tail off. He’s a phenomenal teammate. He plays so hard. He executes at a high level. Everything matters to him. We’ve played great defense since he had to take over for Julian. I know his production isn’t as high, but, man, this guy. I just love having him. I’m really happy for him. He’s playing really, really well, so shout out to Ty.”
As he has done all season long, Okada made a substantial impact in a multitude of ways on Sunday, recording four total tackles, a tackle for loss, and key fourth down pass breakup late in the fourth quarter to prevent the Falcons from finding the end zone. As noted by fellow safety Nick Emmanwori, that deflection served as a “statement for our defense” when many teams would have been in garbage mode with the game already well within hand at that point.
When asked about Okada’s breakup that locked up a second straight game for the Seahawks without allowing a single touchdown, Macdonald insinuated that the safety made a different check in coverage than anticipated in that situation against the look they saw from Atlanta, but it ended up working out favorably with him swatting away Cousins’ ill-fated throw.
“Yeah, it was funny. I thought he was going to check the coverage to a certain check we had on that call,” Macdonald explained. “And he didn’t see it the same way, obviously, so I’m glad he made that call.”
With four games left to play, the Seahawks undoubtedly will need Love to be playing at his best down the stretch in a tight race in the NFC West, as they remain tied with the Rams atop the division as well as in the battle for the conference’s top seed and coveted bye in the postseason. After getting his feet wet on Sunday with 20 snaps, it wouldn’t be a surprise at all if his playing time doubles against the Colts in Week 15, though a looming rematch with the Rams five days later may have an impact on how much he sees the field.
Either way, with Macdonald in his corner, Okada has more than earned the trust of everyone in the building at the VMAC with his stellar play this season and Seattle will have no hesitation to continue playing him as Love gradually works back into game shape. It’s even possible the two could continue to platoon for the rest of the regular season given the confidence the coaching staff has in both players, a luxury few teams in the league could match in a similar scenario during the heat of a playoff race, a testament to the remarkable depth Macdonald and his staff have built in a short period of time.
