Dec 8, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Seattle Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV (13) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

ESPN projects Seahawks stud Ernest Jones will lead all NFL linebackers in pressures

Originally posted on Seattle Seahawks on SI
By Russell Baxter | Last updated Sep 2, 2025 12:00 PM ET

The Seattle Seahawks finished 10-7 during Mike Macdonald’s debut season as head coach. The team overcame a midseason 1-5 slump and won six of its final eight games. During that stretch run, the Seattle defense began to come into its own, and there are high expectations for this unit in 2025.

One of the standouts was linebacker Ernest Jones IV, acquired from the Tennessee Titans via a midseason trade. The young defender helped solidify a run defense that got off to a rocky start.

In previewing Macdonald’s team for 2025, ESPN’s analytics writer Seth Walder had this bold forecast regarding the four-year pro and his impact on the ‘Hawks’ defense this upcoming season.

“Linebacker Ernest Jones IV will lead off-ball linebackers in pressures. Jones blitzed 15 percent of the time last season between Tennessee and Seattle, but in 2023 with the Rams, he blitzed 23 percent of the time (29 percent of the time in clear passing situations) and recorded a massive 35 percent pass rush win rate. In his first full season with the Seahawks, Macdonald could use Jones in creative pressure plays that result in him putting the quarterback under duress.”

Could Seahawks’ LB Ernest Jones IV be a bigger pass-rushing factor?

That aforementioned 2023 campaign not only saw Jones lead Sean McVay’s club with 145 tackles, he finished with a career-best 4.5 sacks. In his other three combined seasons with the Rams, Titans, and Seahawks, the 25-year-old defender teamed for only 1.5 sacks.

This past season, the Seahawks finished with a very-respectable 45 quarterback traps, led by defensive end and 2024 Pro Bowler Leonard Williams (11.0), young edge rushers Derick Hall (6.0) and Boye Mafe (4.0), and defensive tackle Jarran Reed (4.5).

This offseason, general manager John Schneider added former Dallas Cowboys’ four-time Pro Bowler DeMarcus Lawrence and seven-year pro Uchenna Nwosu returns for his fourth season with the club. Both players are looking to rebound from injury-shortened campaigns. Increasing Jones’s role when it comes to rushing the passer could be a wrinkle that makes Macdonald’s defense a little more dangerous in 2025.

This article first appeared on Seattle Seahawks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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