Seahawks Defensive Line Ranked Among Worst in NFL

Pro Football Focus believes the Seattle Seahawks' defensive line will be one of the NFL's worst in 2023 despite some notable offseason additions.

The Seattle Seahawks have quite a few strong position groups on their roster. In some cases such as their receiver room and secondary, they can even compete with the best of the league. 

On the other hand, the Seahawks also have a few position groups that are on the weaker side. One of these is the defensive line, which was a big problem for them last season.

Knowing that, Seattle has made some notable improvements to its defensive line this offseason. The Seahawks acquired Dre'Mont Jones and re-acquired Jarran Reed through free agency before selecting Derick Hall in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft. By most metrics, it seems the defensive line improved substantially compared to last season.

However, not everyone sees it that way. One major dissenter is Pro Football Focus, which ranked Seattle's defensive line at No. 30 league-wide.

Much of PFF's criticism surrounds a decision the Seahawks made at the draft, when instead of shoring up their weakness up front, they doubled down on a strength.

During the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, the Seahawks had a chance to bolster their defensive line but elected to pick cornerback Devon Witherspoon instead. While that represents an improvement for the Seattle secondary, the defensive line remains in a relatively poor position. Although the Seahawks have seven defensive linemen who played at least 250 snaps last season, only one of them ranked in the top 60 at his position in PFF grade. "Edge defender Uchenna Nwosu was easily the best player on the Seattle defensive line, as he picked up a PFF grade of 72.6 last season.

This isn't the first time PFF has slammed a Seahawks position group this offseason. The outlet also ranked Seattle's offensive line at No. 30, as it isn't high on the team's other side of the trenches either.

The Seahawks pass-rush wasn't bad last season as they had 45 sacks, tied with the New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers for seventh-most in the league. What killed them was their abysmal run defense, which ranked No. 30 in the league and allowed over 150 yards per game.

The only teams ranked lower than Seattle on this list are the Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals, two of the NFL's bottom three teams last season.

The good news for the Seahawks is that these are just predictions, and they have an entire season to prove the doubters wrong ... again.

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You can find Jonathan Alfano on Twitter @JonAlfano_News

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