Seattle Seahawks Snap Counts: Tyrice Knight Earns Stripes in OT Win at New England

Though he was far from perfect and made his share of rookie mistakes, Tyrice Knight stepped up when called upon to help the Seahawks pick up an OT win.

Sep 15, 2024; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; Seattle Seahawks linebacker Tyrice Knight makes a tackle in the second quarter at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images / David Butler II-Imagn Images

Rolling into Sunday's road opener in Foxboro, the Seattle Seahawks weren't sure about the availability of veteran linebackers Tyrel Dodson and Jerome Baker, who each received questionable injury designations on Friday's final injury report.

Though both Dodson and Baker ended up starting for the Seahawks at Gillette Stadium, with neither at 100 percent health, rookie Tyrice Knight needed to be ready to play after preparing to start during the practice week. As it turned out, those extra reps on the practice field wound up being incredibly important in a 23-20 overtime win with Baker tweaking his hamstring in the first half and ultimately exiting with the rookie replacing him at the weakside linebacker spot alongside Dodson.

Logging 44 total defensive snaps in his first NFL regular season action, Knight finished with eight combined tackles and five of those stops netted two or fewer yards. He had his share of rookie mistakes, of course, including getting gobbled up by a pair of blockers on a tight end screen in the second quarter that led to a 35-yard play for Hunter Henry.

"Tyrice Knight is a rookie and getting his first time in there, I'm not sure how many plays he made," coach Mike Macdonald said after the game. "There's a couple of that are on the top of my head that we want to play a little bit better, but again, a guy we have a lot of confidence in. He has a ton of reps under his belt, so I thought this was a solid start for him. I'm sure he'll go back and watch the tape. Easy fixes. The game will start to slow down for him as he gets more experience out there in the regular season."

With Knight playing more than 65 percent of Seattle's defensive snaps, Macdonald acknowledged the only real issue with having to play him was the lack of depth at linebacker for the rest of the game. The team only had Drake Thomas available behind Knight and Dodson for the final three quarters after not elevating Patrick O'Connell from the practice squad.

Luckily for the Seahawks, Dodson made it through the game without any hiccups after missing practice time during the week with a shoulder injury, and Knight made enough plays to mitigate Baker's absence, helping the defense come up with a key three-and-out in overtime to lead to a victory in a tough road environment.

Looking at snap counts from the Seahawks thrilling road triumph in Foxboro, what else jumped out? Week 2 observations linked to statistics courtesy of PFF and film study:

• Filling in for an injured Ken Walker III, Zach Charbonnet played nearly every single offensive snap for the Seahawks on Sunday, logging a 96 percent snap share. While he finished with under three yards per carry and struggled to find room to operate all afternoon long as a runner, he did score a touchdown at the goal line and snagged five passes for 31 yards, making a key catch on the game-winning drive in overtime. Kenny McIntosh played only two offensive snaps, while rookie George Holani exclusively played special teams.

• After easing Tyler Lockett back into game action in Week 1, the veteran wideout played 81 percent of Seattle's offensive snaps in Week 2 along with DK Metcalf (87 percent) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (83 percent) also playing the majority of offensive snaps. Leaning heavily on their stars, Metcalf and Smith-Njigba combined for 22 receptions and 246 yards, becoming the first duo of players in team history to surpass 10 receptions and 100 yards apiece in the same game. Though he didn't have near as impressive numbers, Lockett created two defensive pass interference penalties and caught a 16-yard pass to set up Jason Myers' game-winning field goal, coming through in the clutch as he has done so many times in his career.

• Unlike Week 1 where the Seahawks only rotated offensive linemen due to injuries, Scott Huff opened up the competition a bit at right guard with rookie Christian Haynes subbing in for starter Anthony Bradford for 15 snaps. Though Haynes did allow a quick pressure that resulted in a Jabrill Peppers pass breakup, he had a few encouraging blocks in the run game in limited action, playing well enough that Macdonald hinted on his Monday radio show on Seattle Sports 710 that the third-round pick could see more action in Week 3. Otherwise, all four of Seattle's other starters played every single snap with Charles Cross once again not allowing any pressures in pass protection at left tackle and center Connor Williams and guard Laken Tomlinson each allowing a sack on Geno Smith in the interior.

• Ryan Grubb continues to lean heavily on one tight end personnel groups, as Noah Fant played north of 80 percent of Seattle's offensive snaps and rookie AJ Barner played just 25 snaps. Reserve Brady Russell played only six snaps, and three of those came in the backfield as a fullback, including as a lead blocker on Charbonnet's touchdown.

• Sticking with status quo in the trenches on defense, the Seahawks relied on their veteran stars to play extensive snaps, starting with Leonard Williams logging 52 plays at a 76 percent snap share and leading the team with four quarterback hits and 1.5 sacks. Similar to the opener, Jarran Reed played 56 percent of the defensive snaps and rookie Byron Murphy II played 58 percent, a slight uptick from his NFL debut. Reed produced six tackles and a pressure, while Murphy registered a tackle for loss, four pressures, and his first partial sack teaming up with Williams.

• At the edge positions minus Uchenna Nwosu for a second straight game, before exiting late with a knee contusion, Boye Mafe played more than 70 percent of the defensive snaps for a second straight week, contributing six pressures and a sack. Even with him leaving briefly for concussion evaluation, Derick Hall picked up a lot of the slack, seeing his snap share jump from 44 percent in Week 1 to 66 percent on Sunday, chipping in with two pressures. Dre'Mont Jones continues to be eased back into action coming off a hamstring injury, as he played 51 percent of defensive snaps with a pressure and one tackle.

• In terms of rotating in sub-package groups, the Seahawks mixed in three safety looks at nearly the same rate as Week 1 with K'Von Wallace playing 19 percent of the snaps against the Patriots. Julian Love and Rayshawn Jenkins never left the field, playing every single snap at the free and strong safety spots while contributing 16 combined tackles and a pass breakup. At the cornerback spots, Riq Woolen and Devon Witherspoon played all but two snaps and Tre Brown played 57 percent of the snaps when the team deployed nickel sets with three cornerbacks on the field. None of those three corners allowed more than 14 yards in coverage, though Witherspoon did commit two penalties to aid a New England scoring drive and missed a sack on a blitz.