Enjoying Freedom Off Edge, Uchenna Nwosu Unlocking Full Potential With Seahawks

When the Seattle Seahawks signed Uchenna Nwosu this spring, the organization expected him to be an immediate impact performer in their 3-4 defense. However, he has been even better than anyone could have hoped through six games thanks in large part to the coaching staff cutting him loose as a disruptive edge defender.

RENTON, Wash. - When Uchenna Nwosu opted to sign with the Seahawks as a free agent in March, he had numerous reasons for choosing to make the transition to the Pacific Northwest.

Born and raised in Carson, California, Nwosu played high school football at Narbonne High School, starred collegiately at USC, and then entered the NFL as a second-round draft pick with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2018. After spending his entire life in Southern California, he yearned to experience something different and the green, lush, rainy Emerald City certainly is a 180 degree changeup from the deserts and palm trees found in the city of angels.

But most importantly, Nwosu wanted the opportunity to play for an organization with a winning track record and a familiar scheme where he could take his game to the next level. Transitioning to a 3-4 defense under new coordinator Clint Hurtt, the Seahawks checked off every box for the athletic outside linebacker and after aggressively pursuing him in free agency, he couldn't pass up on signing a two-year, $20 million contract offer to bolt the only place he had ever known.

Now six games into his tenure as a Seahawk and set to return to his old stomping grounds to face his former team at SoFi Stadium on Sunday, everything has gone exactly as Nwosu envisioned when he signed the dotted line seven months ago.

"I feel like I've definitely been making a lot more plays here than I did there," Nwosu told reporters on Wednesday. "I mean, I'm doing better, I'm playing better. My production is just continuously getting better. And I'm happy to be here."

Playing in a scheme that caters well to his strengths and offers the desired familiarity to previous systems he excelled in, Nwosu wasted little time emerging as a difference maker for Seattle rushing the passer and setting the edge against the run. In a splashy debut against Denver in Week 1, he amassed seven tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss, and five quarterback pressures along with forcing a key forced fumble at the goal line, earning himself NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors.

While his play hasn't been perfect - he took the blame for failing to maintain contain against a cutback in Week 3 that allowed Atlanta running back Cordarrelle Patterson to rip off a 48-yard run in the second half - Nwosu already has cemented his status as one of the best free agent signings made by general manager John Schneider in his 13 years at the helm. Starting all six games, he has shown himself to be a proficient pass rusher beating blockers with speed as well as power, leading Seattle with 19 quarterback pressures, 3.0 sacks, and two batted passes.

“He has much more obvious leadership through his play, effort, work habits, and just the person that he is. It’s not what he says, it’s what he does," coach Pete Carroll said of what Nwosu has brought to the table. "He has been an obvious leader and a real tough guy in all situations. The guys love him, and they respect the heck out of him. Immediately, he’s one of those guys that we had to see to see if he is for real, and he is. Then you go, ‘We are lucky to have him on our side, we love competing with him.’”

Aside from the aforementioned mishap against the Falcons, even as the rest of the defense around him struggled defending the run, Nwosu has also excelled in that department, registering 20 tackles and three tackles for loss while receiving a respectable 69.8 run defense grade from Pro Football Focus.

Though Carroll had high expectations for Nwosu playing in Hurtt's scheme after a breakout year with the Chargers a year ago, the well-rounded defender proved to be even better than he anticipated. Impressed by his physicality, athleticism, leadership, and football savvy, he figured out during training camp after the pads came out that the player was worthy of a rare green light to freelance off the edge as he sees fit to wreak havoc on opposing offenses.

"Guys take chances at times. They play with risk involved with the choices that they make, whether they come underneath a block or whether they did take a shot to kind of lay a guy on a rush, how they feel the the off tempo plays like screens and reverses and boots and stuff like that. All of that shows up," Carroll explained. "He has a really good sense for the gaming. He's a ballplayer and so the thing I've tried to do with him from this, as soon as you start to realize that is free him up, you have the liberties to go and that's not everybody that we've coached like that. Some guys you do, some guys you don't. You're gonna hold him back if you don't. And so that's what I felt."

Expanding on Carroll's comments, Hurtt indicated outside linebackers need to be able to freelance and play with an aggressive mindset to "make the scheme go." At the same time, doing so presents challenges, particularly for the wide defender on the weak side, and can leave teammates hanging out to dry if gambles slipping underneath a block or slanting hard to a gap inside don't pay off with a tackle or a disrupted play.

Grateful to be granted such expanded freedoms from Carroll and Hurtt, Nwosu immediately reaped the benefits as a hybrid outside linebacker starring in Hurtt's scheme. While he had some liberties with the Chargers, the light switch was truly turned on once he joined the Seahawks and they cut him loose, which has helped him take the next step in his growth and play the best football of his career to this point.

"Game one I was going in, I was going out, I was dropping [into coverage], I was doing anything, honestly," Nwosu remarked. "So when I came here, that first game, I felt like 'Okay, this is how it's supposed to feel. This how it's supposed to be.'"

Only 25 years old, Carroll thinks Nwosu's best football remains in front of him as he continues to evolve within the confines of Seattle's scheme and young players around him continue to improve. Though far from an elder statesman, the five-year veteran has quietly emerged as a leader in the locker room and on the field, further bolstering his value in the present and future for the organization.

Amped up for the chance to play in front of family and friends against his former teammates this weekend and help the Seahawks win a second straight game, Nwosu loves where he's at with his new team and couldn't be happier in his new surroundings. Eager to pay it forward as a franchise cornerstone and build off his fast start, he hopes to keep rewarding Carroll for his vote of confidence and make the most of the responsibility bestowed upon him.

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