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5 Bold Predictions For Riq Woolen, Seattle Seahawks Defense Entering 2024 Season

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5 Bold Predictions For Riq Woolen, Seattle Seahawks Defense Entering 2024 Season


After more than a month of training camp and preseason dress rehearsals, the real bullets will finally start flying when the Seattle Seahawks officially open the Mike Macdonald era with a Week 1 home clash coming up against the Denver Broncos on September 8.

While Macdonald arrived in the Pacific Northwest as a first-time head coach at any level, he inherited a Seahawks squad with no shortage of talent that just missed the postseason with nine wins in 2023. Defensively, the team limped to a 25th overall ranking in points allowed and plunged back to the bottom of the NFL in rushing yards allowed, but the unit returns a fun blend of experienced veteran stars such as Leonard Williams as well as high-upside talents such as Riq Woolen and Devon Witherspoon, setting the stage for the group to make a dramatic bounce back.

Can Seattle’s defense emerge as one of the NFL’s most improved under Macdonald’s watch? Here are five bold predictions heading into the start of a new season in the Emerald City:

Coming off a spectacular rookie season where he tied for the NFL lead with six interceptions, Woolen wasn’t able to come close to replicating that performance last season in part due to injuries. Meanwhile, while Witherspoon put up a historic stat line tallying pass breakups, sacks, and tackles for loss, he only picked off one pass as a rookie, so double-digit combined picks between the two would be a massive, maybe even implausible jump from a year ago. With that said, the two players combined for 24 pass breakups between the two of them, regularly getting their hands on the football as active disruptors in coverage. If training camp serves as any indicator, more of those plays will be bound to turn into picks, especially in Macdonald’s aggressive defense predicated on speeding up opposing quarterbacks through post-snap disguise and a wide array of pressure packages. With both players healthy and presenting excellent fits for the scheme, look for a massive jump in the turnover department as the two young cornerbacks push for superstardom.

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The Seahawks have come up just short of landing their first Defensive Rookie of the Year award the past two seasons with Woolen and Witherspoon finishing third and fourth in final balloting respectively. Being the second defender drafted in April, Murphy already has surfaced as a front runner to win the award and end a 48-year drought for the franchise, but depth and talent around him may limit his opportunities enough that he won’t be able to stack sack numbers likely necessary to take home the trophy. Still, easing him into a bigger role with Williams and Jarran Reed ahead of him has a great chance to present a less is more scenario, and by the end of the season, he will be wreaking havoc for opposing offensive lines with his elite first step and underrated power. Expect him to live up to the early hype contributing in a myriad of ways mucking things up at the line of scrimmage and making frequent visits into the backfield, even if he doesn’t quite have the sack numbers to garner Rookie of the Year honors.

Leading up to the season, the Seahawks have had to play a bit of musical chairs at linebacker with veteran Jerome Baker missing most of training camp with a hamstring injury. The former Dolphins starter returned to practice last week and looks to be trending in the right direction to play in Week 1, but his extended absence has granted Macdonald and his staff an extended opportunity to evaluate Knight, who has made tangible strides over the past month as he becomes more comfortable in a new scheme. After recording tackles in bunches in the preseason, it shouldn’t be a surprise if the fourth-round pick sees some defensive action early with Baker unlikely to be ready for a full workload and if he continues to play well against starter competition, it’s going to become harder to keep him out of the lineup as the season progresses. Possessing all the traits Macdonald prefers at linebacker, it feels like Baker may only be keeping the seat warm until the rook is ready, which has a chance to be much earlier than anticipated when he was drafted out of UTEP.

Several players have come close to double-digit sacks for Seattle in recent years, including Uchenna Nwosu and Boye Mafe coming within a sack of the achievement each of the past two years. But the team still hasn’t had a player reach that mark since Frank Clark and Reed each enjoyed career years in 2018, standing out as the longest such drought in the entire NFL. Fortunately for Macdonald, he doesn’t have anything close to a bare cupboard in the pass rushing department to work with. Nwosu and Mafe already have been in striking distance of 10 sack seasons in the past and should benefit further from moving around more to create ideal matchups, while second-year defender Derick Hall could be a dark horse to watch for a breakout after a strong preseason. Even in the interior, Reed hit seven sacks last year and could surpass that number playing in Macdonald’s defense, while Dre’Mont Jones’ inside and outside versatility presents the potential to push for a career high in sacks as well, making this an exciting group to watch hunt down quarterbacks.

When it comes to reasonable expectations, nobody should expect Macdonald to work a miracle overnight and suddenly transform the Seahawks into a top-10 defense. While there’s plenty of talent, there are still notable question marks at linebacker and safety that must be answered, and learning a complex new scheme will undoubtedly have growing pains early in the season, especially in the communication department. But as things round into form, assuming injuries don’t hit the team too hard, the pieces are in place for Seattle to be dramatically improved under Macdonald’s watch, starting with a diverse defensive line and a talented cornerback group that stacks up favorably against any other team in the league. It likely will be asking too much for the team to allow less than 21 points per game after ranking 25th in that category a year ago, but don’t be shocked when the team approaches that threshold as a top-12 unit by end of the season either.



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Seattle, WA

MLB Mock Trade: Seattle Mariners Deal Luis Castillo to Atlanta Braves

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MLB Mock Trade: Seattle Mariners Deal Luis Castillo to Atlanta Braves


The Seattle Mariners have had a busy offseason as they try to improve their roster and break through to the World Series for the first time in franchise history. Seattle has been active in free agency and on the trade market. One of their final roster questions is who will serve as the backup catcher behind Cal Raleigh. The Mariners could make one more move before the start of the season to address this need, potentially through a trade with the Atlanta Braves.

The Atlanta Braves are dealing with some serious injuries to their starting rotation this offseason. After an impressive 2025 campaign, Spencer Schwellenbach has been shut down because of bone spurs. Breakout candidate Hurston Waldrep was also shut down during Spring Training with elbow inflammation. Both pitchers underwent surgery in February, leaving two open spots in Atlanta’s rotation. Let’s break down a mock trade centered on Luis Castillo that could help fill those holes for the Braves.

Atlanta Braves – Seattle Mariners Mock Trade

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Atlanta Braves receive SP Luis Castillo 

Seattle Mariners receive C Sean Murphy, SP Owen Murphy 

In this mock trade, the Braves acquire All-Star starter Luis Castillo. In exchange, the Mariners receive former All-Star catcher Sean Murphy and a young pitching prospect in Owen Murphy.

Fantasy Baseball Outlook

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Luis Castillo would slot into the Atlanta Braves’ starting rotation behind Chris Sale and Spencer Strider. He has been very effective for the Mariners since they acquired him from the Reds at the trade deadline four seasons ago. In 2025, Castillo went 11–8 in 32 games with a 3.54 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and 162 strikeouts. His fantasy value would likely dip if he left Seattle’s pitcher-friendly ballpark. Still, he has proven himself as a reliable, effective starter through consistent performance, and he would play a key role for Atlanta.

With the Mariners, Sean Murphy would serve as the backup catcher behind Cal Raleigh. He would likely see a drop in playing time in Seattle, but this move could also give the Mariners more opportunities to use Raleigh at DH. With the fifth spot open in the Seattle rotation, Emerson Hancock and Cooper Criswell would be viable, experienced options. Alternatively, Kade Anderson and Ryan Sloan are elite prospects who have had strong Spring Trainings and could break camp on Opening Day. The young pitching prospect Owen Murphy would also join a talented farm system and provide a future option for the rotation.

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VIDEO: Scream Club Seattle keeps growing, midway through first year

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VIDEO: Scream Club Seattle keeps growing, midway through first year


(Story originally posted 8:22 pm, updated 12:32 am)

By Torin Record-Sand
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

From a distance, they looked like a regular crowd of people enjoying a nice evening walk on the shores of Lincoln Park. But they were gathered here for a singular purpose: to scream. Since September 2025, the Scream Club Seattle has met at Lincoln Park on every third Sunday to scream, led by head organizer Amber Walcker. No explanation, justification, or invitation to scream is needed – come as you are. “There are some harder emotions people come here to deal with, sure, but some people also just come to scream.” head organizer Amber explained.

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Tonight’s crowd showed the club is rapidly growing. From around a dozen or so participants in the first gathering in September, tonight seemed to attract around 40 people gathering to let it all out.

As the sun started to set, and everyone was finally gathered together, the Scream Club was ready to begin.

There are only three screams, organizer Amber explained. The first, she said, is a scream to get used to doing it in public. The second scream is there to ground you. And the final – and longest scream – is there to let you have an emotional catharsis.

She also wanted to make sure people were taking care of their vocal health beforehand. As she told everyone to walk a little bit from the meeting place and start to gather near the shore, she instructed the crowd to hum for a few minutes on the way, to warm up the vocal cords.

With that, the crowd walked towards the shore.

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“On the count of one – two – three – scream!” said organizer Amber.

You can see our video of the proceedings here. After the screaming, we talked to a few participants about why they came out.

“There’s not one thing that’s really making me want to scream. There’s a lot of stuff going on for me, a lot of emotional ups and downs. Screaming into the ocean together gives you a sense of community.” said Jessie.

“This is my third or fourth time coming to scream. With the political climate, with everything that’s happening, getting together with local community to scream feels more productive than screaming into the internet on social media.” said Ursula.

“This is my first time coming out.” said Liz. “I screamed after the Seahawks won the Super Bowl, and I really felt something. I realized I’ve been feeling a lot of frustration recently, and it felt like coming here was a healthy way to get it out rather than screaming at your neighbors.”

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Organizer Amber recognizes much of what they were saying. “Meeting like this can be an important element to have in your mental health toolbox. It’s rare to have scream therapy.” She shared an anecdote about the therapeutic origins of the group, which originally started with a chapter in Chicago. “The founder was a life coach. Their girlfriend was having a bad day, and they encouraged them to go to the Chicago Pier and just let it out. He walked her through the process, and that was that. Eventually they invited more people to come do it.” She hopes to bring that same therapeutic energy to the practice here. “It’s a moment of emotional release more than anything else. Depending on what’s going on in people’s minds, everyone will come here with a different mindset and purpose. We’re providing a safe space to do that.”

Scream Club Seattle meets at Lincoln Park on the first Sunday of every month, and they are also starting to meet on the third Sunday of every month at Golden Gardens in Ballard. Tentatively, the next events will be in Lincoln Park on April 5th around 6 PM, and Golden Gardens on March 15th around 5 PM. If you’d like to know more, you can find them on Instagram here or look at their future events on their Eventbrite page here.





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Detectives Investigating Robbery, Shooting Over $20 Necklace – SPD Blotter

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Detectives Investigating Robbery, Shooting Over  Necklace – SPD Blotter


Seattle police detectives are investigating a robbery and shooting of a 23-year-old man over a $20 necklace in Pioneer Square this morning.

At about 12:40 a.m., patrol officers responded to a shooting in the 500 block of 2nd Avenue. There, they found a victim, bleeding, with a gunshot wound to his right thigh. Police and the Seattle Fire Department treated his injury. Medics took him to Harborview Medical Center (HMC) in stable condition.

Police determined that the victim just left a bar, getting into the passenger seat of his friend’s car, when the suspect, wearing a ski mask and armed with a firearm, approached him and demanded his necklace. They struggled over the item, and the suspect shot the victim in the leg. The shooter fled in a vehicle with the necklace before police arrived. The value of the “chain” is about $20.

Detectives in the Robbery Unit responded to the scene and HMC. Anyone with information is asked to call the SPD Violent Crimes Tip line at 206-233-5000. Anonymous tips are accepted.

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Incident Number: 2026-57536



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