Seahawks 90-Man Rundown: Brandon Pili Hoping Experience Leads to Reserve Role
With their offseason program all wrapped up, the Seattle Seahawks will open training camp at the VMAC on July 23, meaning the start of the upcoming season will be here before fans have a chance to blink.
In preparation for year number two under coach Mike Macdonald, I’ll be detailing every member of the Seahawks 90-man roster over the next several weeks, dishing out fun facts, exploring best and worst case scenarios, and predicting what to expect from each player entering the 2025 campaign.
Looking to take the next step in his career after seeing regular season snaps in Miami the past two years, will Brandon Pili make a push to land a spot in Seattle’s defensive line rotation?
Brandon Pili
Height/Weight: 6-3, 334 pounds
2024 Stats: Two tackles
Growing up in Anchorage, Alaska, Pili played his first three high school seasons at Dimond High School before his family relocated to Portland, Oregon, where he used a strong senior season as a defensive end to earn a scholarship offer from USC. Playing in nine games as a true freshman for the Trojans, he contributed 14 tackles and a blocked field goal, garnering All-Pac 12 Honorable Mention recognition. In the ensuing season, he contributed 12 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss, following up with 18 tackles and five tackles for loss as a junior in 2019.
Due to a shortened COVID season, Pili only played in four games in 2020, giving him another year of eligibility. Unfortunately, he suffered a torn Achilles, causing him to miss the entire 2021 season. He returned to health in 2021 and pitched in a career-best 25 tackles to go with a sack and 3.5 tackles for loss, ending his college career in Los Angeles on a solid note. Though he went undrafted, Pili played in four games as a rookie for the Dolphins and appeared in eight games with the team in 2024 before being cut and claimed off waivers by the Seahawks, where he spent the rest of the year on the practice squad before being re-signed to the 53-man roster in January.
Fun Fact: Enjoying a stellar preseason with Miami in 2024, Pili tied for sixth among defensive tackles with six quarterback pressures last August and added a sack in three games, per Pro Football Focus.
Best Case Scenario: Providing some juice as an interior pass rusher rotating during exhibition games, Pili’s athleticism at north of 330 pounds propels him to a roster spot behind Johnathan Hankins, beating out Quinton Bohanna as the primary backup nose tackle for Seattle.
Worst Case Scenario: Continuing to struggle with getting off blocks and missing tackles, two areas that have plagued him in the first two years of his career, Pili loses out on snaps to Bohanna as well as undrafted rookies Bubba Thomas and Anthony Campbell, receiving a pink slip after two preseason games.
What to Expect in 2025: After releasing Cameron Young in April, the Seahawks have an obvious need on the depth chart at nose tackle behind Hankins, likely pitting Pili and Bohanna against one another for one spot on the roster. In preseason play, Pili has been the more effective pass rusher among the two veterans, benefiting from his prior experience as a defensive end at USC. If he’s able to continue generating pressure consistently in the preseason, that could give him a major edge over the rest of the competition vying for that reserve role.
But for Pili to make Seattle’s roster and not be stashed on the practice squad as an insurance policy again, the Anchorage native will have to show marked improvements working off of blocks and finishing tackles. At USC, he posted a 20 percent career missed tackle rate, and in limited regular season snaps with the Dolphins in the NFL, he also has a 20 percent miss rate. To justify a spot on the 53, he will need to be significantly more reliable holding up against the run and getting ball carriers to the ground. Without that progression, it’s hard to envision him grabbing a rotational role and sticking around on the practice squad may be his ceiling at this stage.
