The Seattle Seahawks have assembled what might well be the best linebacker group in franchise history heading into the 2019 season.
Star middle linebacker Bobby Wagner is back, and so are K.J. Wright and Mychal Kendricks – assuming he is able to play after an upcoming sentencing hearing following his guitly plea to insider trading.
That leaves Austin Calitro, Barkevious Mingo and Shaquem Griffin as reserves, although coach Pete Carroll indicated Griffin could be in for a more hybrid role in 2019.
Carroll said that while Griffin’s position will remain weakside linebacker, he wants to find a way to have the athletic, second-year player rush the passer more next season.
“We need to show him more there,” Carroll told reporters at the Phoneix league meetings. “We need to see more. He didn’t get enough opportunities even in practice as we look back. Just because he had a knack for it, we need to uncover that, make sure we know what we’ve got.”
Griffin rushed the quarterback exceptionally well in college with the UCF Knights, recording 18.5 sacks between his junior and senior seasons.
Griffin’s new role in Seattle could look similar to Mingo’s last season and may also mirror Seattle’s plans for fellow 2018 draftee, Jacob Martin.
It could also indicate that Seattle is planning to cut Mingo, which would save them $4.4 million dollars in cap space.
Regardless, seeing Griffin more involved in Seattle’s defense next season will be a fun development for this Seahawks team.
