Seahawks unleash LB Uchenna Nwosu to spark defensive resurgence

Brought in to add energy to the defense's meh pass rush, Seattle Seahawks outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu has exceeded expectations so far this season.

The USC product leads the Seahawks in sacks with five, including a two-sack performance in a win last week over the surging New York Giants. Nwosu is already closing in on Carlos Dunlap's team-leading 8.5 sacks last season. According to Next Gen Stats, Nwosu is second in the league in quarterback pressures with 36.

"He's just a hard-nosed football player," Seattle coach Pete Carroll said about Nwosu this week. "He's really instinctive and has a really natural feel of the game. I'm really fired up about [him]."

Through the first five games of the season, the Seahawks allowed nearly 31 points a contest and an embarrassing 170 rushing yards a game. But during their recent three-game winning streak, Seattle's defense has held opposing offenses to just 15 points a game and 92 rushing yards per contest.

Nwosu's play has been a catalyst during that stretch, with 14 combined tackles — including four tackles for loss — three sacks and five quarterback hits.

Seattle's defense has also gotten back to its former trademark of taking the ball away. The Seahawks have forced 14 takeaways, tied for No. 4 in the NFL, and have forced a league-high 15 fumbles.

New defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt said Seattle's improvement has been an incremental process over the course of the first half of the season.

"We are still growing, so I don't want to make it sound like anything is a finished product," Hurtt said. "But you have to take lumps along the way. I would say that sometimes failure is your best learning experience. It humbles you, and you kind of get the big picture." 

The Seahawks signed Nwosu, who spent his first four seasons in the league with the Los Angeles Chargers, to a two-year, $19 million deal in the offseason. The 25-year-old linebacker's versatility has been a key part of his success in Seattle. 

Nwosu had familiarity with a 3-4 defensive front — the Vic Fangio style of defense — from his time with the Chargers playing for Fangio protégé Brandon Staley. And Nwosu also was familiar with Carroll's 4-3 principles and overall coaching philosophy from spending his first three seasons in the league playing for Carroll protégé Gus Bradley.

With that intimate knowledge of both defensive philosophies, Nwosu has played fast and confident and has used his instincts to sniff out big plays. With the Chargers, Nwosu was primarily the third edge rusher behind Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram. He never had a chance to be the main guy and show his full range of skills. 

Nwosu has finally received that chance in Seattle.

"When I got here from game one, I was going in, I was going out, I was dropping. I was doing everything," Nwosu said. "Probably when I came here that first game, I felt like, ‘OK, this is how it's supposed to feel. This is how it's supposed to be.'" 

Nwosu is just another cog in the well-oiled machine that is the NFC West-leading Seahawks. Tight end Will Dissly earned NFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors for a forced fumble and fumble recovery on separate plays against the Giants last week. Running back Ken Walker III earned NFC Offensive Rookie of the Month honors for October, while cornerback Tariq Woolen won the NFC Defensive Rookie of the Month award.

And to cap it off, quarterback Geno Smith won NFC Offensive Player of the Month.

But it has been the improvement of the defense, led by Nwosu, that has the Seahawks on top of the division heading into the final two months of the regular season. 

"Right now, I would put our defense up against any offense in the league and I'm not betting against them at all," Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf told reporters this week. "I'm pretty sure the defensive players would say the same thing about our offense and add special teams in there. 

"It's just like a young swagger that we have — just a lot of young, hungry dudes loving the game of football and ready to kick somebody's butt. That's it." 

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.