How Seahawks' 2022 Defense Disguise And Multiplicity Can Fool Best NFL Quarterbacks

Much has been made about the new scheme coaches Sean Desai and Karl Scott will help bring to the 2022 Seahawks defense under the recently promoted Clint Hurtt. We can expect two-high defenses, disguise, and multiplicity. However, as Matty F. Brown highlights in his latest video, Seattle and Ken Norton Jr.'s '21 unit already set these schematic foundations.

With the coaching arrivals of Sean Desai and Karl Scott, plus the in-house promotion of Clint Hurtt to defensive coordinator, the 2022 Seahawks defense is expected to feature lots of two-high looks, disguise, and multiplicity.

This, contrary to popular narrative, is not new for Seattle's defense. After their slow start to the 2021 season, the Seahawks' unit finished from Week 6 to Week 18 as the sixth-best defense in EPA per play. They did this building upon their 3-4-appearing bear fronts as their base and creating a new coverage while running more middle field open concepts in general.

Plenty of two-high presentation, defensive disguise, and concept multiplicity was on display too. Seattle subsequently fooled the best NFL quarterbacks. This included their Week 10 defeat to the Green Bay Packers. The first drive of the game featured all of the good stuff and it's therefore what this video looks at. 

Not only does the video illustrate and teach what exactly defensive disguise and multiplicity looks like. The piece also acts as a look towards the future of the Seahawks defense under Hurtt and new company.

Free safety Quandre Diggs described in great detail the appearance of Seattle's 2022 scheme during his minicamp press conference.

“It’s multiple in the different coverages you can run, make it all look alike," Diggs said of the multiplicity. 

"You can do single-high shell and run different coverages. You can do a two-high shell and run different deals. And I just think you know you can’t tell which safety’s in the box, which safety’s not in the box. So I think it’s gonna be dope. You guys will see. You know I’m not gonna give everything away but you know I think you guys will see real soon.”

In the Packers matchup used in the video, you see the coverages looking alike and the multiple shells. There is also Diggs rotating down, although not him playing in the box.

“I mean I think it’s gonna help both of us, you know?" Diggs responded to a question on how the scheme would help Adams. 

"I think guys can’t automatically tag him and, you know, say he’s in the box and he’s blitzing, you know, and slide his way. So, you know I’ve always learned from the different quarterbacks that I’ve played with, they always watch the backside safety. Now with the backside safety just showing something different, or you know kinda sitting there, or the backside safety is me this time. It’s not just Jamal. I think that’s gonna help a lot, because, you know, you don’t know the coverage if you don’t know what we’re in, you don’t know you know what checks we have. So I think that’s gonna be dope.”

The importance of Adams, often the backside safety, being unpredictable is also shown in the video, with Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense paused by the effect. Seeing more 2022 variation with Diggs carrying out some of that deal too will be interesting.

“I don’t think pre-snap we need to move as much as people think," Diggs answered on the possibility of moving around before the play. 

"That’s why I don’t like the whole disguise deal. You know you can disguise yourself right out of a play. So, you know, everything just has to look alike and it’s not just the DBs moving around. It’s the linebackers lining up and showing something different. So I think we can all help each other.”

The video is proof of Diggs' statement. Very little of the Seahawks' disguise at the Packers was achieved via pre-snap movement. Instead, it was through making things look the same and springing a post-snap surprise for Green Bay's attack.