How the Seahawks defense has evolved under Pete…

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

By the time Norton took the reins from Richard, the Legion of Boom was gone. The heart and soul of the unit, Kam Chancellor was forced to retire early due to a major neck injury suffered in 2017. Still bitter about Super Bowl 49 and increasingly hostile towards Russell Wilson, his teammates and his coaches, Richard Sherman eventually forced his way out, earning a release and then signing with the division rival 49ers. Earl Thomas also infamously fell out with the organization and then left in 2018.

Seattle did its best to replace that all-time great trio but didn’t have any succes until recently. They pulled off a brilliant trade to get Quandre Diggs in 2019 and a less-brilliant deal to land Jamal Adams the following year. There wasn’t nearly enough replacement-level talent coming in, though.

2018 key additions: None
2019 key additions: FS Quandre Diggs
2020 key additions: SS Jamal Adams, LB Jordyn Brooks, CB D.J. Reed
2021 key additions: TBD

The defensive line also suffered a pair of unnecessary major losses during this time period. After getting Jadeveon Clowney in a trade, the Seahawks let him leave in free agency. They also traded Frank Clark away to the Chiefs. Those two would still make a superb starting edge duo, but instead Seattle has to make do with a mediocre rotation of the streaky Carlos Dunlap, Rasheem Green and Darrell Taylor. Upgrading the pass rush has to be the team’s top personnel priority this offseason.

While Norton did a great job against the run and in the red zone this past season, scheme-wise he was too passive, too “zoney”, and often too clever by half utilizing his most important personnel. He was fired in January along with defensive pass game coordinator Andre Curtis.

On the bright side, the Seahawks have seemingly reloaded on the back end and are finally transitioning away from cover 3 – a process that’s expected to continue under the newest DC…