I have only ever owned and worn three Seattle Seahawk jerseys. One is that of Russell Wilson’s, which I have worn regularly since his rookie year. Another is Michael Bennett’s, my favorite Seahawk defender from the Legion of Boom era, and a player that I admired greatly for his unique ability to play defensive end and defensive tackle at a high level. And the last is Cortez Kennedy’s, Seattle’s hall of fame all-pro defensive tackle from the 1990’s, and the player who has been my personal favorite Seahawk of all time not named Russell Wilson.

Notice how, outside of Russell, I have felt compelled to seek out and acquire jerseys of Seattle defenders who played defensive line. Further more, notice that each player had spent quality time playing defensive tackle. Truth, be known, it’s a thing for me.

I love defensive tackles. I’ve always loved defensive tackles. I’m a middle aged dude who is a product of the 1970’s and 1980’s. As a Gen-Xer, my first football hero was not Steve Largent, Walter Payton, or Roger Staubach. It was Mean Joe Green. Before I climbed on board of the Seahawk bandwagon in 1983, I was a Steelers fan, and it was all about their star defensive tackle. In pee wee league, I played defensive tackle. In high school, I played end and tackle.

Oh, yes. I do love so those defensive tackles. William the Fridge Perry, Cortez, Haloti Ngata, Warren Sapp, Kevin Williams, Jim Burt, Joe Nash, Aaron Donald, Richard Seymour.. the list can go on and on.

Also, there’s nothing pretty about being a defensive tackle. It’s grueling work taking on guards and centers, and much of the time, it is about soaking up blockers so that other players around you look better, like the ends and linebackers. Further more, if you are doing your job well, it often doesn’t show up in the stats, and it leaves fans thinking that your position doesn’t matter as much (especially in a scheme that Seattle deploys in which you are not allowed to freely charge up field, instead you must lock up with the blockers to diagnose where the play is going before reacting).

Yet, the reality is that the entire success of the defense starts up front, and really it starts with that one player that lines up in the gap of the offensive line that resides between the guard and the center. Some call it the nose tackle, some call it the one technique. But let’s call it for what it is, the dude is a defensive tackle, and heading into the 2020 season of football, the Seattle Seahawks were willing to start their season scary thin there.

In fact, I can’t remember a season where Seattle went into their season more thin at the position. It was especially shocking considering that their head coach is a defensive minded one who had always shown the preference of having a deep rotation there.

Every week, after every game, I wrote about the need to bring in the best defensive tackle available on the market, Damon Snacks Harrison. It had been rumored for months that he was the free agent player Seattle was most interested in. Every week, for months, I had anticipated his signing with this club, and every week, for months, I found myself disappointed and dejected when no deal was done.. until yesterday.

It took the Seattle Seahawks all the way through the first week of October, all the way to the day before my birthday, but they finally got this deal done. Damon Snacks Harrison is now a Seattle Seahawk and this is a huge deal for the club in a multitude of ways.

What Snacks Brings to Seattle

Simply put, he brings all-pro talent as an early down defender that, at 6-3 and 350 pounds, has the size and strength to tie up multiple blockers, so that others can make plays, but even more impressively, he can make plays himself. 2019 was one of his worst statistical seasons, and he still managed 49 tackles, which would be pretty great production for Jarran Reed, who Seattle just signed to an expensive two year contract extension. Snacks will make Reed look better now, and he will allow others pop out more, as well.

He is the perfect big bodied defensive tackle for Seattle’s scheme. He will keep Bobby Wagner and KJ Wright clean from blockers so they are free run around and make plays against the run. He will allow Reed to stay fresher, no longer having to play over seventy percent of the snaps, and therefore, likely to have more juice to rush on third downs. Even against the pass, Snacks is now probably the one true player up front to tie up multiple blockers for players to rush the passer on early downs. He will make defensive ends Benson Mayowa, Alton Robinson, and LJ Collier better. Bank on it.

It is not surprising that he is the one defensive lineman on the market that Seattle would have been the most interested in. He is the perfect Pete Carroll defensive tackle. He can play nose tackle, and three technique. Like Ahtyba Rubin, Brandon Mebane, Tony McDaniels, Alan Branch and many other before him in this scheme, he brings size, strength and veteran savvy at this critical position, and honestly, if he has anything left in the tank, he probably comes in and plays the position better than any of those guys, and they were all pretty good players for this club.

This is a huge deal for the club. Huge.

Seattle May Not Be Done Adding Talent

Detractors of this Snacks signing will clamor that Seattle has still not addressed their need for more edge rushing help. They have a point.

No, Snacks is not Jadeveon Clowney, or even Clay Matthews. While I would argue that his impact might be more valuable than a quality edge rusher, especially once this team starts playing games against each of their NFC West foes who all prefer to run the ball, I concede that Seattle still likely needs more help there.

Yes, sure thing. Yup, yup. Seattle can use another edge defender, and I still believe that a move for one could be coming, especially when you consider that Seattle will be granted a bye week next week after the Sunday night game against the Vikings. It could be Matthews. It could also be a player on another club that Seattle might be willing to trade for.

Watch for what happens when the Washington Football Team plays the Rams this Sunday. If they loose to the Rams (likely), they will be 1-4 for the season, and they might decide to tank for the Trevor Lawrence sweepstakes.

Their all pro edge rusher Ryan Kerrigan is on the wrong side of thirty and is set to become a free agent after the season. He is still a highly productive player, and probably still has a couple more seasons left in the tank, even though he is 32 years old. Seattle might feel compelled to give Washington their second round 2020 pick if they can reach a two year extension with him. They will have a two week window with the bye week to hammer out a deal.

Yes, that pretty much guts Seattle’s 2021 draft class, but with Covid impacting college football right now, they feel compelled not to invest so much in that class, especially considering how solid their 2020 class looks with Damien Lewis, Alton Robinson, Freddie Swain, and DeeJay Dallas already making positive impacts in games. If they get Kerrigan onto the roster with Snacks Harrison in 2020, and get him signed to a two year extension, I would probably make that deal.

In a year in which Russell Wilson is playing his ass off chasing the MVP, just get him the stars that he is asking for, I say. If a Super Bowl run is well within reach, why not?

I like a defensive line a heck of a lot more with Ryan Kerrigan, Snacks Harrison on it to go along with Jarran Reed, Poona Ford, Benson Mayowa, Alton Robinson, and LJ Collier. That much is certain. if they did this move in addition to bringing in Snacks, suddenly, Seattle goes from what was perceived as a major weakness, to a unit that could be group that puts this club over the top this year.

So, yeah. I think we could see another move coming, but right now, I really like this one. For my birthday, the Seattle Seahawks gimme Snacks. I dig it.

Go Hawks!