Seahawks Need Healthy Quandre Diggs to Make Noise in Postseason

Seattle’s defense has regressed without Diggs at free safety and if he’s not able to return for Week 17 or the first game of the playoffs, the team could be in serious trouble.

Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

As the injuries have mounted on both sides of the football in recent weeks, the Seahawks’ prospects for making a deep playoff run have taken a substantial hit.

Missing multiple starters including tackle Duane Brown, defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, and cornerback Shaquill Griffin heading into Week 16, Seattle’s injury situation further worsened in a loss to Arizona. During the second quarter, running backs Chris Carson and C.J. Prosise both exited with season-ending injuries.

Luckily for Seattle, Marshawn Lynch opted to come out of his unofficial retirement and signed with the team on Monday, bolstering a depleted backfield in time for a Week 17 clash with San Francisco. There’s also a good chance Clowney and Griffin will be able to make it back this week after sitting out the last two games.

While all of these developments are good ones for the Seahawks, however, coach Pete Carroll’s squad won’t be winning many postseason games without safety Quandre Diggs, whose status remains cloudy as he tries to work back from a high ankle sprain.

"It’s going to be slow," Carroll said when asked about Diggs' chances of playing in Week 17. "It’s going to be later in the week before we know anything about him.”

Arriving via trade from the Lions in late October, Diggs has been a revelation at the free safety position for Seattle, drawing comparisons to Earl Thomas and Troy Polamalu from Carroll. With him taking over center field duties, the Seahawks made marked improvements across the board defending the pass and creating turnovers in comparison to the first nine games of the season.

Before Diggs broke into the lineup, Seattle had given up 11 passing touchdowns and produced seven interceptions through Week 9. Opposing passers posted an 89.6 passer rating, 278 passing yards per game, and averaged 7.3 yards per attempt.

In contrast, Diggs made his presence felt in the secondary immediately, as the Seahawks amassed nine interceptions and 16 total turnovers during his five starts. Diggs himself accounted for nearly a third of those turnovers, intercepting three passes, forcing a fumble, and recovering a fumble. Opposing quarterbacks threw for 20 less yards per game, averaged nearly a yard less per attempt, and threw just seven touchdowns.

Specifically, Diggs has been targeted just five times and allowed only two completions for 23 yards and a 55.5 passer rating. His excellent range has taken away explosive pass play opportunities and he’s delivered several bone-jarring tackles in coverage, including delivering a hit stick on Vikings tight end Irv Smith Jr. in Week 13.

Seattle’s pass rush was also slightly more effective once Diggs was inserted into the starting lineup, though the majority of the team’s nine sacks in his five starts came against San Francisco and Philadelphia before production regressed back to the mean.

Since Diggs was escorted to the locker room in the third quarter of a Week 15 win against the Panthers, the Seahawks’ defense has reverted back to their first half form, showing how irreplaceable of an asset he’s become for the team in such quick order.

Capitalizing against an injury-riddled defense, Carolina scored two late touchdowns with ease to turn a 20-point deficit into a one-score game in the fourth quarter. Then last weekend, Seattle allowed Arizona to rush for 253 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown in which running back Kenyan Drake blew past safety Lano Hill, Diggs’ replacement.

No offense to Hill or rookie Marquise Blair, who should have a bright future in Seattle, but neither player offers the diverse skill set and instincts Diggs has brought to the table. Seattle’s entire defense has fed off his energy and he’s made life easier for the rest of the secondary, including safety counterpart Bradley McDougald.

Looking towards a pivotal Week 17 NFC West championship game against the 49ers and the postseason, the return of Clowney and Griffin would help the Seahawks substantially. If there’s anything left in the tank, Lynch will provide a boost to the run game. There’s also a chance Brown could be back from a minor knee surgery in time for the playoffs.

But for the Seahawks to have any chance at surviving and advancing in a loaded NFL playoff bracket featuring quarterbacks such as Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, Diggs must be roaming the back half of their defense. If he can’t make it back healthy, making it past the Divisional Round seems improbable.