By Mazvita Maraire Posted on

The Seahawks made a slew of roster moves, which included the return of Quandre Diggs.

Wednesday saw a plethora of roster moves by the Seahawks as the team continues to deal with lingering injury issues.

ROSTER SHUFFLING

 Quandre Diggs,  Myles Gaskin, and receiver  Jimmy Holiday were all signed to the practice squad. The return of  Diggs provides some depth and veteran leadership on the back end of the defense.   Starter  Julian  Love has missed the last seven games after being placed on injured reserve on Nov 1st. Ty Okada stepped in for Love in  his absence but suffered an oblique muscle in the first half of last Sunday’s game with the  Titans.

“They’re banged up. They’ve got their respective injuries. I would say that IR is part of the equation with those guys, something we have to decide. It’s really going to be a function of how some of these tests come back and how they progress throughout the rest of the week,” said Mike Macdonald when asked about the availability of Okada, running back George Holani, and linebacker Chazz Surratt, who were all injured in Sunday’s game.

 FORTIFYING THE BACK END

  In addition to the practice squad elevations and signings,  Shaquill  Griffin, Patrick O’Connell, and running back Cam Akers were signed to the 53-man roster. To make room for the moves, the team waived cornerback Derion Kendrick and placed linebacker Chazz Surratt on injured reserve. Rookie Rylie Mills was designated to practice, which means he can practice for 21 days without continuing towards the team’s 53-man roster positions.

WHAT IT ALL MEANS

The signing of Akers to the 53-man roster means the team is strongly considering placing Holani on injured reserve. Akers would give the Seahawks a third running back. Griffin’s elevation to the 53-man roster will bring depth and versatility at the cornerback position. O’ Connell has earned his  reps

“ I describe him as steadfast. He gets here at, I see his car more often than not when I’m getting here. So 6:00 a.m. or whatever. He’s just here every day working on his body, preparing. Then he’s a guy that’s always been available. He takes a ton of reps. He practices 100 miles an hour all the time. Nobody’s perfect in those moments, but as a coach you respect the effort and the competitor,’ Said Macdonald.

“And the guy keeps coming back after he’s gotten into some situations where he’s not really gotten the best news, which reflects the effort that he’s put forward, which is a tough situation. When you play well enough to be on an NFL team and you don’t make the team, that’s a hard thing to do. And so it speaks a lot for him to go back and just keep attacking it like he did. That’s why you’re so happy for him. Cody White is another example of that, of guys that just have stuck to it and had a great attitude.

 And that goes a long way with our team because the guys realize, too. They see them making plays all the time. They know they’re really good players. And then they see how they handle those types of situations, you can’t help but respect those guys for that.”

DEFENSIVE LINE WILL NEED TO CONTINUE STELLA PLAY

The one constant on defense for the Seahawks has been the play of the defensive line. Bryon Murphy and Leonard Williams are tied for the team lead with six sacks.  The unit has a total of  23.5 sacks . In addition to the play of  Murphy, Williams, DeMarcus Lawrence ( 4) , Derick Hall  (1), Uchenna Nwosu ( 5.5), and Boye Mafe( 1) have all recorded at least one, which has enabled the Seahawks to apply pressure to opposing quarterbacks when rushing just four players.

The Seahawks’ front five is ranked 8th overall by Pro Football Focus. What has helped the defense is the Seahawks ‘ offense’s ability to score in the first half. The Seahawks offense is averaging 21.0 points in the first half, which is behind the Los Angeles Rams’ league-high 22.0 points per half.

“It helps a lot because one, our offense is staying on the field and sustaining drives long enough for our defense to recover from the last series and we’re getting our wind and our legs back. So, by the time we go back out there, we’re ready to go,’  said Leonard Williams

 “And then also when you get a jump on a team, they pretty much have to score and a lot of times they abandon the run pretty early and they have to pass the ball, which as a defensive line and as a defense that wants to get pressure on the quarterback, that’s going to be in our favor.”

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