It has been an offseason of great change for the Seattle Seahawks.
The Pete Carroll era coming to an end meant the Seahawks hiring a new coach for the first time since 2010, and with the switch to Mike MacDonald has come a change to a new defensive scheme.
MacDonald established a reputation as one of the finest defensive minds in the game during his two-season spell coordinating that side of the ball for the Baltimore Ravens.
A feature of the Baltimore defense, which in 2023 led the NFL in DVOA, was the way in which MacDonald would utilize the multiplicity of his players to confound opposing offenses by presenting them with different looks.
While the Seahawks will nominally continue to run a 3-4, players at all levels of the defense can expect to move around a lot.
One man who is already doing so a lot at mandatory minicamp is veteran defensive lineman Leonard Williams, who on Wednesday detailed the different spots at which he has practiced during the workout program.
Williams told reporters: "They kind of have me playing six different spots, all the way from zero [technique, head up on the center] to all the way out, pretty much both sides."
That might seem like a lot to put on Williams' plate, but he has the benefit of being able to lean on similar experiences from earlier in his NFL career.
"I did have a similar coaching staff with Patrick Graham at the Giants," added Williams.
"I played like a lot of 5-technique [aligning on the outside shoulder of the offensive tackle], which I actually like, it kind of creates some mismatches in the run game and in the pass game and I like to be utilized that way."
Beyond that, Williams is adjusting to his extremely varied new role by focusing his attention on the alignments he is less familiar with playing.
"There’s certain positions that are already kind of locked in for me, playing 3-technique [outside shoulder of the guard] is like second nature for me, that’s almost like riding a bike," Williams explained.
"I obviously continue to put in work on that position because that’s my bread and butter, but at the same time I put more emphasis on the positions I’m not as comfortable [with] yet. I put more emphasis on playing 5-technique, playing 6-technique [outside the tackle, head up on tight end] and places where I feel a little more discomfort."
It may take some time for the Seattle defense as a group to adapt to MacDonald's defense. However, if Williams — who last season ranked 11th among interior defensive linemen with 54 pressures, per Pro Football Focus — can quickly start to excel outside of his comfort zone, the transition might be a little quicker and a little easier.
