After a huge deal on Monday, the Seattle Seahawks have a new force in the middle of their defense.
K.J. Wright: What the Seattle Seahawks gain from signing Leonard Williams, and who it benefits
When the Seattle Seahawks acquired veteran defensive tackle Leonard Williams from the New York Giants for two draft picks, former NFL receiver Michael Bumpus had this to say:
“Right now, this team’s identity is defense.” So, how do you handle your team’s identity? “You bolster that thing,” Bumpus explained.
That first statement is really intriguing, and Bumpus discussed it more on Tuesday’s Bump and Stacy on Seattle Sports.
“I’m looking at how this defense has been performing recently. Obviously, you open the season by giving up a lot of scores and yards to the Rams while trying to work things out… And we’re thinking about the offense coming into the season, right?” he remarked.
Indeed, the defense was a huge issue for the Seahawks last season, but the offense had a tremendous year and returned nearly every key player, including quarterback Geno Smith, receivers Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf, and running back Kenneth Walker III.
That naturally led many to believe that the biggest question facing the Seahawks this year was whether the defense could hold up its end of the bargain.
“We were looking at the defense and saying we don’t we really don’t know what this defense is gonna look like,” Bumpus said. “… We have all these questions and we’re waiting to see what’s going to happen. And then the first week comes around and you’re like, ‘Oh no, man. Oh no. The offense is gonna have to step up.’ Then you get into a shootout against the Detroit Lions 37-31 and you get that ‘W’ (in Week 2). Then the Carolina Panthers (game in Week 3) I think is when we started to kind of see what this defense could be.”
While Seattle allowed 27 points and a lot of yards through the air against Carolina, the run defense was stellar. That was key as Seattle was 30th out of the NFL’s 32 teams against the run last year.
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