'Tip of the Spear': Seattle Seahawks Safety Group Makes Splendid First Impression

Anchoring the defense on the back end, Julian Love, Rayshawn Jenkins, and K'Von Wallace provided a major spark in the Seahawks season-opening win.

Sep 8, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks safety Julian Love (20) celebrates after making a tackle against the Denver Broncos during the third quarter at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Making a strong impression on their new coach in the process, Julian Love and his safety brethren left an undeniable mark on the Seattle Seahawks stingy defense in a 26-20 season-opening win at Lumen Field.

Only a month after signing a new three-year extension, Love led the Seahawks with 11 combined tackles, forced a fumble, and intercepted rookie quarterback Bo Nix, turning in a sensational all-around performance. Meanwhile, newcomers Rayshawn Jenkins and K'Von Wallace also made a major impact, with the former producing six tackles and the latter forcing a fumble in the third quarter that was recovered by linebacker Jerome Baker, leading to a Jason Myers field goal.

When Nix targeted Love, Jenkins, and Wallace in coverage, though he completed 10 out of 11 passes, those completions only netted 39 yards and under 3.6 yards per attempt. The rookie quarterback posted a subpar 43.6 passer rating with Love's interception and the paltry yards per completion average, which played a key role in him throwing for under 140 total yards despite dropping back to pass 42 times.

Since early in OTAs, Love hasn't been quiet expressing his excitement about Seattle's safety trio, and he continued to speak glowingly about his teammates and how they set the tone for coach Mike Macdonald's defense.

“I told you guys months ago that I am excited about this room. Selfishly the safety room, but DBs in general," Love said after the game. "I told the guys that we are the tip of the spear. The energy of this team goes with us. We have to stay consistent, stay locked in, and have guys look to us as a beacon of playing Seahawks football. K’Von [Wallace], his production rate is probably sky high with the forced fumble there, whenever he was coming in. And Ray [Rayshawn Jenkins] played a great game too. He was just flying around. That’s just swagger, that’s energy, that’s who we want to be.”

Beyond their statistical production in Sunday's victory, Macdonald lauded the leadership and communication provided by Love, Jenkins, and Wallace, allowing the entire defense to operate smoothly from start to finish.

"They did a tremendous job. I'm just very proud of those guys. We're operating in and out of different personnel groups. Guys are changing some positions and things. Different disguises they're asking to do, different checks, and orchestrated it beautifully. They did a great job. They deserve a lot of credit, and to do it in our environment that we're creating, and things are moving and shaking, and they're running plays that you haven't necessarily seen over the course of the preseason, it was an impressive start by those guys."

On a new episode of Locked On Seahawks, hosts Corbin Smith and Rob Rang examine why Love, Jenkins, and Wallace could be crucial to Seattle's chances of contending in the NFC West and maximizing Macdonald's aggressive defensive scheme, dish out their final thoughts from Week 1 with their first "Tell The Truth Tuesday" of the 2024 season, and take a first look at the Seahawks upcoming Week 2 opponent, the New England Patriots.

Listen to the latest Locked On Seahawks in entirety here or subscribe for free to the podcast platform of your choice here.

---

Follow and Subscribe to Locked On Seahawks on all Podcast platforms 🎧

Follow Corbin Smith on X and Threads, where he'll be sharing the latest news about the Seattle Seahawks and talking with fans.