Seahawks keys at Vikings: missing K.J. Wright vs. Dalvin Cook, a sub vs. Danielle Hunter
How much do the Seahawks miss K.J. Wright?
They may find out Sunday in Minnesota.
Dalvin Cook is known for his rushing. The Vikings’ two-time Pro Bowl back has 2,700 yards on the ground the previous two years. He has an average of 96 yards running through two games this season.
Minnesota also uses Cook in open field on frequent passes outside, to take advantage of his speed on the edge. He’s had 40, 53 and 44 catches the last three seasons, on screens, swing passes and more. He’s usually matched up against linebackers. That’s a match up that almost always favors Cook and the Vikings’ offense. He’s averaged 8.6 yards per catch the previous three seasons.
“He does everything,” Seahawks Pro Bowl safety Quandre Diggs said. “He’s explosive. His speed is real. ...
“I’m always impressed with him.”
Diggs would know. He played against Cook for 2 1/2 seasons inside the NFC North division. Diggs was the Detroit Lions’ co-captain, until the Seahawks traded for him in the middle of the 2019 season.
Seahawks All-Pro middle linebacker Bobby Wagner also knows how dangerous Cook is, and how vital he is to Minnesota’s offense.
“They give him the rock a lot,” Wagner said.
“And he is very fast.”
For a decade, Wagner had Wright next to him on the middle line of Seattle’s defense. Wright was the Seahawks’ mainstay at outside linebacker. His specialty: diagnosing and ruining screen passes, tackling running backs and tight ends in the open field after catches. He was one of the best in the NFL doing that. He won a Super Bowl and made a Pro Bowl team doing that.
But Wright is now a Raider. He signed with Las Vegas this month. The Seahawks let their longest-tenured player’s contract expire at the end of last season.
They chose to go with Jordyn Brooks, their first-round draft choice in 2020, at weakside linebacker for the final three seasons of his rookie contract rather than paying the 31-year-old Wright millions more.
Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Brooks has one of the biggest test of his young career.
He’s been a man on the spot this month. Brooks has been one of only two linebackers the Seahawks have been playing in base defense early this season. To combat the running of Jonathan Taylor in the opener at Indianapolis and Derrick Henry last weekend against Tennessee, Seattle has been using five defensive linemen. That’s one more than its usual base look. The run-heavy 5-2 takes out the strongside linebacker, Darrell Taylor. It leaves Brooks and Wagner as the linebackers instead of Seahawks coach Pete Carroll’s usual 4-3 scheme.
Brooks versus Cook in the run game, and on the Vikings’ many outside-zone running plays off tackle with him, will be one of the keys to whether the Seahawks get to 2-1 or Minnesota gets its first win this season.
“We have a big challenge ahead of us,” Seahawks defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. said. “(It’s Cook’s) speed, his ability to out-run people.”
The Vikings list Cook as questionable to play because of an ankle injury. He got hurt when Arizona’s J.J. Watt tackled him in the fourth quarter of Minnesota’s 34-33 loss to the Cardinals last week.
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer has downplayed Cook’s injury this week, and said Sunday is time to ride Cook to get a first win. The Seahawks absolutely expect him to play.
The Seahawks have contained Cook well in three previous meetings. His 49.7 yards rushing per game against Seattle is his fewest against any team he’s played more than twice. He’s had 13 catches for 87 yards receiving, with one of his three touchdowns against the Seahawks on receptions.
But that was with Wright playing for Seattle.
Brooks is still learning, last weekend the hard way. He got a 15-yard penalty for foolishly hitting a Titans tight end yards past the sideline boundary after a catch and run. Coach Pete Carroll yanked Brooks from the game, replacing him with Cody Barton — who got a penalty right after he replaced Brooks.
Jersey number 56 in white against 33 in purple Sunday in the open field will go a long way to deciding the winner.
That’s not the only key to this game.
Blocking Danielle Hunter
The Seahawks will be without starting right tackle Brandon Shell. He sprained his ankle on the offense’s final drive in regulation of Seattle’s overtime loss to Tennessee last weekend.
Jamarco Jones will make his first start at right tackle since last November.
Hunter had three sacks last weekend in the Vikings’ last-play loss at Arizona. He has 33 sacks in the last two seasons plus two games. That’s a problem for any starting offensive lineman. It’s a particular concern when the tackle opposite Hunter — he usually plays off the offense’s right edge — is a backup.
Expect the Seahawks and first-year play caller Shane Waldron to use more two-tight end formations in passing situations with Gerald Everett and Will Dissly, and for Dissly to stay in and help Jones block Hunter.
“He’s someone we’ve got to keep our eye on,” Waldron said.
This story was originally published September 25, 2021 at 9:29 PM.
