Tyrice Knight was a fourth-round pick in 2024, but not expected to start in his first season. The Seattle Seahawks had signed Tyrel Dodson and Jerome Baker in the 2024 offseason, and they were going to start. As it turned out, Dodson and Baker were bad and gone midway through the season.
Seattle acquired Ernest Jones IV in a trade that sent Baker to the Tennessee Titans, and to replace Dodson, Knight was promoted. He was solid as a rookie, too. In fact, he was better than expected.
He missed just 6.7 percent of his tackle attempts and was decent in coverage. He also got 10 quarterback pressures, which was probably the most unexpected and welcome part of his game. In year two, he would surely be better.
Seattle Seahawks appear to have replaced Tyrice Knight with Drake Thomas
He hasn’t been, and the Seahawks appear to know that. Through six games, he has no quarterback pressures, and his missed tackle rate has jumped to 13.2 percent. Seattle doesn’t seem ready to keep pushing him onto the field at this point.
After splitting reps with Drake Thomas in Weeks 4 and 5, a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when the defense was atrocious overall, Knight only saw two defensive reps against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 6. Meanwhile, Thomas played 68 snaps.
Thomas was solid, too. He still is far from the best tackler on the team, but he seemingly plays all over the field. He also got a sack, a run stuff, allowed four of his seven pass targets to be completed, but for only 30 yards. He also had a pass broken up. Knight doesn’t have one of those this season.
Maybe Thomas was just a better fit for what the Seattle Seahawks were hoping to do against the Jaguars, but Knight, if he was truly the clear starter, would have been given the first chance to help perfect the game plan. He wasn’t.
Tyrice Knight also wasn’t injured. He played on 23 special teams reps, so the obvious choice to play inside linebacker next to Ernest Jones in Week 6 was Drake Thomas. The Seahawks appeared to have an ongoing on-field off-ball linebacker battle going on in Weeks 4 and 5, and Thomas has seemingly won that.
Knight will likely be needed on defense as the season goes on, but for now, Thomas appears to be a starter. Let’s just hope the Seahawks’ overall defense never reverts to its Week 5 form.
