“Demarcus means a lot,” defensive tackle Jarran Reed told NFL.com. “He came here from the Cowboys, and I think he was the player that we needed, the dark horse that we needed to change our defense. He has good speed, he plays well, he creates turnovers, his performance is incredible and he is a great teammate.”
Additions like Lawrence and others helped Seattle’s D go from good to great this year. A unit that finished 11th in points and 14th in yards allowed a year ago was the smartest group in 2025, allowing 17.2 points per game, the most in the NFL, sixth in yards and sixth in passing yards.
“I haven’t been around a guy like that who just has that much football instinct,” defensive lineman Leonard Williams said of Lawrence. “He does a tremendous job of getting the ball, creating the ball, creating the penalty area, sometimes not even for himself, for the rest of the guys around him. That’s huge for our defense.”
Williams pointed out that the 33-year-old’s relentless effort, game after game, rubbed off on the rest of the team.
“We joke about him being old, but we also call him ‘Crash Out’ because he’s an old guy, he flies around, he goes full speed to the ball every play,” Williams said. “When young guys see that they have no choice but to go for it on every down, it brings a high level of competition between the other guys.
Lawrence represents the difference-making defense, one asked to press without extra runners and defend the run with light boxes, so Macdonald can play his elaborate coverage.
The Seahawks generated the fourth-highest punt rate (38.1) but punted at the fifth-lowest rate (22.3) in 2025, including playoff games, according to Next Generation Stats. Seattle had a 35.2 non-blitz pressure percentage (fifth-highest in the NFL).