It’s rare to see the Seattle Seahawks defensive rankings near the bottom of the pile after seasons of dominating on that side of the ball.
Touchdown Wire editor Doug Farrar recently took a look at all the defenses around the league and ranked each squad from worst to first. Seattle landed at just No. 22 on his list.
“The Seahawks’ Legion of Boom defenses of the early and mid-2010s are now a distant memory,” Farrar writes. “Seattle’s defenses that finished first overall in Football Outsiders’ Defensive DVOA metrics in 2013 and 2014 have finished fourth, fifth, fifth, 13th, 14th, and 18th since. Coaching changes and middling draft results over the last few years have made a formerly formidable unit league-average, and things don’t look to swing up in 2020.”
New on @TheNFLWire: Coming into the 2020 season, some NFL defenses have things figured out pretty well, and others are scrambling to get it right. Based on tape, metrics, and offseason moves, here are my defensive rankings from 32-1. https://t.co/inzHZzUCpz
— Doug Farrar (@NFL_DougFarrar) May 26, 2020
“There’s a noticeable lack of pass rush with the re-signing of Jadeveon Clowney looking unlikely, and while the mid-season trade for safety Quandre Diggs probably saved Seattle’s season, there aren’t the alphas there used to be,” Farrar continues. “Linebacker Bobby Wagner is still one of the best in the business, but he was drafted in 2012, and it’s tough to name a player from that defense of whom this could be said who joined the roster in recent years.”
For a look at how Touchdown Wire ranked the Seahawks’ offense – click here.
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