Seattle Seahawks Snap Counts: Defensive Line Flexes Depth in 24-3 Win vs. Miami Dolphins

Injuries to Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II loom large moving forward, but the Seahawks overcame their absences to hold the Dolphins to three points.

Sep 22, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins (97) smiles before the start of the play during the second quarter against the Miami Dolphins at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Ng-Imagn Images / Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

SEATTLE, Wash. - Already without two starters in Uchenna Nwosu and Jerome Baker at kickoff on Sunday, the Seattle Seahawks took more hits early in their Week 3 clash with the Miami Dolphins as defensive tackles Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II exited in the first half and did not return.

Suddenly with major depth question marks up front, especially with veteran Myles Adams being a healthy scratch and unavailable to play, Seattle could have cracked in the interior, allowing Miami to find a groove running the ball. But behind the leadership of Johnathan Hankins and Jarran Reed coupled with positive contributions from Dre'Mont Jones and Mike Morris filling in for Williams and Murphy, the defense weathered the storm, holding the Dolphins to 65 rushing yards and a paltry 3.6 yards per carry in a 24-3 victory at Lumen Field.

"I mean, that's the expectation," coach Mike Macdonald said of Seattle's reserves stepping up after Williams and Murphy went down. "You just go down the line. The guys are suited up, you know, that's how we expect our defense to play. It's kind of like, okay, they're down, next guy is rolling. Let's go back to work."

Anchoring the middle as he has throughout his seven seasons in a Seahawks uniform, Reed took on a far bigger role in Williams and Murphy's absence, playing an impressive 80 percent of the team's defensive snaps. Taking advantage of those extra snaps, he tallied five tackles, two quarterback hits, and his first sack of the season - though Macdonald almost took that sack away from the veteran by accepting a penalty before changing his mind after the player's on-field pleas.

Hankins, who played less than 40 percent of Seattle's snaps in the first two games, also stepped up by logging a season-high 33 snaps at nose tackle. Aside from holding serve in the middle and eating up double teams, he pitched in with a quarterback hit on Skylar Thompson, helping keep the front line afloat with two of their best players sidelined.

Seeing more action reduced inside out of necessity, Jones easily had his best game of the season thus far, recording five tackles, two quarterback hits, a sack, and a forced fumble. As for Morris, though he only had one tackle on the stat sheet, he gave the Seahawks a valuable 14 snaps up front and handled his run fit responsibilities without a hitch at multiple alignments.

"I thought our front played incredibly hard getting to the ball with a sense of urgency, which was really fun to watch and be part of," Macdonald said.

Looking at snap counts from the Seahawks third straight win to open the season, what else jumped out? Week 3 observations linked to statistics courtesy of PFF and film study:

• For a second straight week with Ken Walker III out due to an oblique injury, Zach Charbonnet played the majority of the offensive snaps in the backfield. Even with Kenny McIntosh closing the game out with a trio of carries on the final drive before Geno Smith kneeled out the clock, Charbonnet saw the field for 84 percent of Seattle's offensive plays, rarely leaving the field on Sunday. He finished on a strong note by rushing for 42 yards on six carries on a game-sealing 98-yard touchdown drive and posted a career-high 91 yards on 18 carries for the afternoon.

• Reverting back to Week 1 snap distributions, while DK Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba both eclipsed an 80 percent snap share, Tyler Lockett only saw the field for 56 percent of Seattle's offensive plays, catching five passes for 46 yards with those more limited opportunities. The team may still be taking it somewhat cautious with him after he missed most of training camp and the entire preseason with a thigh injury, but it also may have been a case of mixing in reserves more in the second half with the game salted away, as Jake Bobo, Laviska Shenault, and Dareke Young played a combined 32 offensive snaps.

• In a change of the guard at tight end, the return of a healthy Pharaoh Brown substantially altered Seattle's snap distribution at the position compared to the first two games. Making his team debut, Brown led all tight ends playing 30 snaps at a 47 percent clip, while Noah Fant caught a season-high six passes for 60 yards despite seeing a reduction in playing time to a season-low 44 percent snap rate. Rookie AJ Barner played his fewest snaps (18) with Brown taking many of his reps in 11 and 12 personnel groupings, but still caught a pass for six yards, while Brady Russell only played a total of three snaps in the game.

• Earlier in the week, Macdonald hinted that the Seahawks would continue rotating at right guard, but that did not happen on Sunday. Even with Anthony Bradford allowing a sack and committing a pair of penalties, Christian Haynes didn't play a single snap after platooning on a couple of series in Week 2 against the Patriots. Prioritizing continuity and building chemistry, all five of Seattle's starting offensive linemen played all 64 offensive snaps, the first time the team has been able to do that all season.

• Despite both players being listed as questionable on the final injury report on Friday, Derick Hall and Boye Mafe both played 66 percent of Seattle's snaps and looked quite healthy, combining to produce three sacks and six quarterback hits in a disruptive effort battering Skylar Thompson all afternoon. Trevis Gipson logged a season-high 15 snaps, but he has still yet to record his first official statistic as a Seahawk, while Tyus Bowser saw 12 snaps in his first game action in more than a calendar year without any statistics.

• In one of the more surprising developments coming out of Sunday's game, the Seahawks deployed a by-committee sub-package oriented approach at linebacker with Baker out of the lineup. Rather than put everything on rookie Tyrice Knight's shoulders, Macdonald rotated second-year defender Drake Thomas into the lineup in nickel sets for his coverage prowess, and the former North Carolina State standout played well on 19 snaps, contributing two tackles and a pass breakup. Knight held up well on 35 snaps in base packages, racking up six tackles and a tackle for loss, leaving Macdonald quite pleased with linebacker play after the game.

• Up until the final drive, the Seahawks kept to status quo with Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen, Julian Love, and Rayshawn Jenkins playing all of defensive snaps. But as one of the benefits of leading by three scores in the final quarter, Macdonald was able to reward Coby Bryant, K'Von Wallace, and rookie Nehemiah Pritchett for their hard work on the practice field by giving them an extended run down the stretch, as all three players logged at least seven defensive snaps. Of Seattle's starters, only Jenkins played every snap and none of the other players were above 89 percent with Bryant, Wallace, and Pritchett subbing in at the tail end of the game to receive invaluable experience.