Perspectives change quickly in the NFL. During the offseason and training camp, the safety position was viewed as a weakness for the Seattle Seahawks after parting ways with Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs — both former Pro Bowlers at the position.
Julian Love was the lone returner, eventually signing a three-year, $33 million contract extension on July 25 following the start of training camp. Even Love is entering just his second season with the Seahawks after four seasons with the New York Giants.
Rayshawn Jenkins and K’Von Wallace each signed two- and one-year contracts as free agents, respectively. Jenkins, 30, is in his eighth season while Wallace, 27, is with his fourth team in five seasons.
The trio proved they are exactly what head coach Mike Macdonald wanted in his secondary in Sunday’s 26-20 win over the Denver Broncos. Love called himself and the defensive backs “the tip of the spear” on the defense.
Wallace only played 12 of 69 defensive snaps, but his impact was apparent when he was on the field. Macdonald’s frequency of deploying three safeties may only continue to increase as the season progresses. However, it’s very situational.
“It’s an opportunity to get a really good player on the field in K’Von, opportunity to get [Jenkins] closer to the ball,” Macdonald said on Wednesday. “I don’t think you’re going to just see that combination all the time with those guys, but for that specific game, we felt like it gave us a good chance to get K’Von on the field, get Spoon some reps at [outside] corner. But K’Von’s earned the opportunity to have reps. He’s had a great camp. That was really the thought behind it.”
It seemed like Jenkins or Love, who both played every defensive snap, were in on every tackle — whether solo or as an assist.
“Mike’s whole mantra for our team is ‘12 is one.’ You want to feel like there are 12 guys on the field on defense,” Love said postgame on Sunday. “All those check-downs, all those little tackle plays, it helps when your brother is coming next to you. You make just tackles. That’s just a mindset. That’s just a swagger about us.”
Combined, Love, Jenkins and Wallace accounted for 17 solo tackles, an interception, a forced fumble, a tackle for loss and a pass deflection. The trio gave up 10 receptions on 11 targets in coverage for just 39 yards, per Pro Football Focus.
However, there was a punishing aspect of their play that didn’t show up on the stat sheet. Jenkins, in particular, filled the role of an enforcing strong safety and laid down bone-crushing hits on Broncos ball carriers and pass-catchers near the line of scrimmage.
On his forced fumble, Wallace beelined for Broncos running back Jaleel McLaughlin, who caught the ball in the flat just behind the line of scrimmage.
By the time McLaughlin took his first step, Wallace had closed the 5-yard gap between them and popped the ball out. Seahawks linebacker Jerome Baker recovered, and Seattle extended its third-quarter lead to six on that offensive possession.
“It’s so crazy because I literally had the ball on my mind all day,” Wallace said postgame. “I just kept telling myself, the power in manifestation is real. I just kept telling myself that I have to get the ball out. I have to find a way to get the offense the ball back and I felt like that was the play for me to make, and I went out there and made it.”
As Macdonald has frequently mentioned before, communication is key on the backend with all the personal groupings and disguised coverages they plan to run. That’s also what makes the “12 as one” mantra work. All 11 players must know where their teammates are going to be.
“They did a tremendous job. I’m just very proud of those guys,” Macdonald said Monday of the secondary communication. “We’re operating in and out of different personnel groups. Guys are changing some positions and things. Different disguises they’re asking to do, different checks, and orchestrated it beautifully. They did a great job. They deserve a lot of credit … it was an impressive start by those guys.”
It’s still too early to tell what the ceiling and floor are for this safety group. But they appear to have an edge to them that hasn’t been present in at least the last five seasons.
Jenkins and Love will continue to be the leaders of the group, but Wallace adds a third dimension that will keep offenses guessing and potentially putting the ball on the turf.
