Seahawks 90-Man Roster Rundown: Quinton Jefferson

A fifth-round selection in the 2016 NFL Draft by the Seahawks, Jefferson returns to Seattle after two years away. Can he win a starting job on a revamped Seahawks defense?

Tyler Forness | Jul 20, 2022

Seahawks 90-Man Roster Rundown: Quinton Jefferson /

In this story:

Seattle Seahawks

With the calendar flipping to July and offseason programs wrapped up across the country, NFL training camps will begin around the NFL in less than a month's time. To celebrate the new incoming season, the All Seahawks staff will be breaking down the Seahawks 90-man roster over the next several weeks, exploring best and worst case scenarios and what to expect from each player entering the 2022 campaign.

Quinton Jefferson, Defensive Tackle

Height/Weight: Six-foot-four, 291 pounds

2021 Stats: 47 total tackles, five tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks

Jefferson spent his first four seasons with the Seahawks after being the 147th selection out of Maryland in 2016. Over his first two seasons, he made a minimal impact, playing in only nine contests and spending some time on the Rams practice squad in 2017. 2018 saw a small breakout for Jefferson, as he started his first 12 games and accumulated 25 tackles, 3.0 sacks, and five tackles for loss. He matched those totals in near identical fashion in 2019 with 26 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and four tackles for loss. After emerging as a capable starter offering immense positional versatility, Jefferson signed a two-year contract with the Bills worth $13.5 million and appeared in all 16 games in 2020 before being released as a cap casualty after one season. He landed on his feet just nine days later with the Las Vegas Raiders on a one-year, $3.25 million contract and then turned in his best NFL season with 47 tackles, five tackles for loss, and 4.5 sacks.

Best Case Scenario: Thrilled to be back in Seattle playing in a 3-4 defense well-suited for his strengths, Jefferson earns a starting job alongside Poona Ford and Al Woods as a 3-tech/4i-tech defensive tackle and generates north of 30 quarterback pressures for the fifth consecutive season, giving the Seahawks a much-needed boost for their interior pass rush.

Worst Case Scenario: Even with the transition to a 3-4, Jefferson gets lost in the shuffle in a deep defensive tackle room and ends up ceding reps to Shelby Harris and L.J. Collier, creating questions about where he fits beyond 2022.

What To Expect In 2022: Popular in the locker room and beloved by coaches and teammates, Jefferson returned to the Seahawks this offseason with intention of making a difference in his seventh NFL season. While he likely will be coming off the bench in a rotational role with Ford and Harris poised to start at the two defensive tackle spots and Al Woods and Bryan Mone entrenched as the double-team eating nose tackles in the middle, the former Terrapin has the pass-rushing acumen from the interior to thrive all across the line, allowing defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt to utilize him in a variety of ways. Even if he isn't a starter, he should get plenty of run at multiple alignments in odd and base fronts and with that, his production should remain on par with the past four seasons creating pressures and holding serve against the run.

Previous Seahawks 90-Man Roster Profiles

Published Jul 20, 2022

TYLER FORNESS