After speaking to players and coaches familiar with the defense, I believe the secret sauce lies in Macdonald’s ability to teach his scheme, categorizing his play calls in buckets that make the learning easy for everyone. Macdonald teaches defenders the entire concept, instead of only their assignment, creating a plug-and-play system that enables the coach to run the same blitzes and pressures from different personnel packages.
To the offense, the different presentations of the same blitz create chaos, but the defense is simply executing its favorite blitz patterns with defenders switching roles. The approach is frequently touted by defensive coordinators around the league, but few have executed it like Macdonald and his staff. From playing a game of musical chairs in practice with defenders running through the same blitz from various positions to utilizing one-word play calls that set the front, pressure pattern and coverage, Macdonald finds a way to unlock his players’ talents through creative scheming that enables them to play at a breakneck pace.
In Seattle, he inherits a talented defense with a core of playmaking veterans that could make the scheme pop. In fact, Macdonald might have a more talented unit in Seattle than he did with the Ravens last season. That statement might be hard to fathom, based on the Seahawks’ defensive struggles in 2023 (ranked 30th in total defense, 25th in scoring, 31st in run defense and 21st in pass defense). However, the core of Leonard Williams, Dre’Mont Jones, Jarran Reed, Uchenna Nwosu, Riq Woolen and Devon Witherspoon is a collection of potential rock stars waiting to break out as a band. With a handful of veteran free-agent signees (Tyrel Dodson, Jerome Baker and Rayshawn Jenkins) and a few breakout candidates (Boye Mafe, Darrell Taylor, Coby Bryant and rookie Byron Murphy II) in place to help the group get back on track, Macdonald has the ingredients to put together a top-10 defense in his first season on the job.
Looking at their talents, the Seahawks have the trench warriors needed to create chaos at the line of scrimmage. Williams, Jones and Mafe combined for 17.5 sacks in 2023 in a scheme that did not feature “smoke and mirrors” calls designed to get free rushers to the quarterback. With Nwosu (9.5 sacks in 2022) rejoining the lineup after a torn pectoral muscle ended his 2023 campaign after six games, the Seahawks have four defenders who could pressure the passer from multiple angles. Furthermore, as Macdonald begins to experiment with second- and third-level pass rushers who offer disruptive potential, we could see the Seahawks utilize Baker (22.5 career sacks), Taylor (21.5 career sacks) and Witherspoon (three sacks in 2023) to heat up opposing signal-callers. The pieces are in place for the defensive play-caller to befuddle offenses with misdirection at the point of attack, creating easy sack opportunities.
Given the talent and athleticism in the Seahawks’ secondary, Macdonald could mix and match coverage concepts. This would allow the overall deception to go to another level, with opposing quarterbacks unable to predict the coverage behind the pressure.
Though the pieces will need to come together quickly, the combination of scheme, learning environment and high standards could result in a surge similar to the one Seattle’s defense experienced in the early 2010s, when the Legion of Boom dominated the league and the Seahawks emerged as a perennial title contender.
Christine Lake is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. With an extensive background in sports journalism, he covers everything from major league championships to grassroots sports events. When she’s not on the field or at the stadium, you’ll find Christine coaching youth sports teams.
