Why EDGE Uchenna Nwosu is Vital to Seattle Seahawks' Run Defense

After Seahawks edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu was sidelined in 2023, the team allowed two more yards per carry to running backs. That can't happen in 2024.

Dec 4, 2022; Inglewood, California, USA; Seattle Seahawks linebacker Uchenna Nwosu (10) and linebacker Cody Barton (57) react against the Los Angeles Rams during the second half at SoFi Stadium. / Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Following his career-high 9.5-sack season in 2022, Seattle Seahawks edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu emerged as the team’s top stand-up outside linebacker, especially from a pass-rush perspective.

But when Nwosu suffered a torn pectoral muscle in Week 7 of the 2023 season, and was ultimately ruled out for the season, a more subtle strength of the now-seventh-year pro bubbled up to the surface: his run defense.

Seattle, for the season, had the second-worst run defense in the NFL from a yardage standpoint, allowing opponents to pile up 2,352 rushing yards — ranking ahead of only Arizona, which gave up 2,434 yards and finished the season with a 4-13 record. The Seahawks’ yards per carry allowed (4.6) tied for fourth worst and they gave up the most first downs via rush in the league (143).

However, it wasn’t that abysmal the entire season. Isolating rushing yards generated by running backs, specifically, Seattle gave up an exceptional 59.5 yards per game on 20.2 average carries (2.95 yards per carry) from weeks 1–7. Opposing running backs cracked 100 yards rushing versus Seattle just once during that span (Week 2 vs. Detroit).

Then the Nwosu injury happened. Nwosu, as a pure edge player, is a quality pass rusher. But one of his most underrated strengths is his ability to set the edge, preventing the interior defensive line from being spread out and, as a result, limiting creases in the Seahawks’ front seven. He is often placed on the strong side of the offensive formation when Seattle is expecting a run and plays with a patience that seldom leaves him out of position to impact the play.

In Seattle’s 2023 Week 1 game against the Rams, Nwosu was Pro Football Focus’ second highest-graded edge defender in run defense at 85.2. He was fourth in Week 2 (81.3), and 10th overall from weeks 1–7 before his injury (76.2).

After Nwosu’s injury, the Seahawks scrambled to repair its run defense on the edge, platooning a hodgepodge of Boye Mafe, Darrell Taylor, Derick Hall and Dre’Mont Jones on the edge — none of whom specialize in run-defense tackling or setting the edge.

Taylor was most frequently opposite Mafe, and opponents preyed upon the gaping creases in Seattle’s defensive line. Jones began to see more snaps on the edge beginning in Week 13, per PFF, but it wasn’t an effective solution. Mafe is rising as a pass-rushing threat, but he still has much to improve on in defending the run.

From weeks 8 to18, Seattle gave up 134.2 rushing yards per game to running backs on an average helping of 26.4 carries (5.08 yards per carry) - 2.13 yards more than before Nwosu was sidelined - every time a running back was handed the ball. Not only did opponents begin to run the ball more against the Seahawks, but they also became wildly more effective while doing it. Running backs gashed Seattle for 100-plus yards in seven of 11 games in that span.

Of course, Seattle’s run defense was also terrible in 2022 despite Nwosu playing all 17 games. It allowed the third-most rushing yards at 2,554 and gave up a league-high seven runs of 40-plus yards. However, it still was better versus designed runs to running backs, giving up 118.8 yards per game on an average of 24.8 carries (4.8 yards per carry).

Nwosu, when isolated next to some of the top run-stopping edge players in the game, stacked up well in 2022. Among players at the position with a minimum of 250 run-defense snaps, Nwosu tied for the 10th highest grade in 2022 (73.8) alongside Dallas’ Micah Parsons. Volume matters and affects grades, and Nwosu played the third-most snaps of all players at the position (404) and was also tied for 8th in the NFL in run-defense tackles with 32.

Seattle’s interior defensive line and linebacker corps were much worse in 2022 than in 2023, and holes were opened between the tackles consistently regardless of whether the edge was held. Once Nwosu went down last season, the edge became the issue — not so much the interior.

If the Seahawks can get a full season from Nwosu, who is supposed to be ready for training camp, they will truly have one of the more formidable defensive fronts in the NFL. The added interior depth with rookie first-round pick Byron Murphy II and veteran Johnathan Hankins will be a huge plus to an already improved unit from last season. Much of Nwosu’s value is in his pass-rushing ability, but he affects the game in many more ways than just box score statistics.