Seattle, WA
Seattle Seahawks Coaching Staff ‘Really Excited’ About Dre’Mont Jones in New Defense
As the Seattle Seahawks progress further into their offseason program, the many roles of the team’s plug-and-play defensive linemen are beginning to become more clear.
Mandatory minicamp is now underway, and that means veterans like Dre’Mont Jones and Leonard Williams are back on Seattle’s practice field at the VMAC full-time. Jones was not present for any voluntary OTA practices, while Williams made his first appearance in the 7th of 10 practices on June 3.
Seattle signed Jones away from the Broncos on a three-year, $51 million deal last offseason — the largest free agent contract of the Pete Carroll and John Schneider era — and he, like all the other interior defensive linemen, was criticized for the Seahawks’ poor run defense in 2023, which allowed the second-most rushing yards in the league to its opponents.
Now that Jones has reported, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald and defensive coordinator Aden Durde can begin to tinker with all the pieces Seattle has at its disposal in the trenches. However, nothing will be cemented until the pads come on. Macdonald, in a press conference with local media after the team’s first minicamp practice on Tuesday, said they are in the early stages of experimentation.
“He’s very much in the mix of that. I think you saw today, you know, and we don’t know the answers yet. We don’t know how it’s going to look come the beginning of the season, how it’s going to progress throughout the whole year.”
– Mike Macdonald on Jones’ versatility
Like Williams, Jones has a history of playing various techniques on the defensive line. In his first three seasons in Denver, Jones played the vast majority of his snaps inside or over the tackles and even played about 23 percent of his defensive snaps at nose tackle as a rookie in 2019, per Pro Football Focus.
But as his career has progressed, there is clearly intrigue with Jones’ potential on the outside. While he still played about 55 percent of his total snaps inside the tackles last season, the rest of Jones’ snaps came as either a 6-technique or stand-up outside linebacker in Pete Carroll’s 3-4 defense.
It wouldn’t be a shock to see Macdonald use him there more, as Jones’ physical build (6-3, 281 pounds) and athleticism have benefitted him as a pass rusher off the edge. With other 300-pound interior defensive linemen on the roster like Williams, Jarran Reed, Johnathan Hankins and rookie first-round pick Byron Murphy II, that may also be where he gets the most opportunity to be on the field. In Seattle’s first minicamp practice, most of Jones’ reps came as a stand-up outside linebacker.
“I think his skillset lends to trying to play a little matchup ball with him or setting another guy up. He can do a lot of things. We’ve talked about it, but we are really excited about Dre’Mont. He was in great shape today. He knew a lot of the stuff we were doing even though he hadn’t been in the building. Credit to him for staying up to speed.”
– Mike Macdonald
Even in a season where Jones’ interior presence felt marginal, he amassed a career-high 49 combined tackles, according to Pro Football Reference. His 4.5 sacks and five tackles for loss were the second lowest of his five-year career, however.
Regardless of where things stand by the end of minicamp, Macdonald was just glad to have Jones and Williams back on the field so they could begin to gauge how they fit into the team’s developing defensive scheme.
“It’s a function of reps, conversations,” Macdonald said of developing a relationship with the two players despite limited chances to work with them in OTAs. “There are only so many texts and phone calls. That is only going to take you so long. Now that they’re here, we’ll be rolling. We got a couple more days here and then we’ll go take a breather and go back and attack it and camp.”
– Mike Macdonald
After so many disappointing seasons with the interior offensive line, the Seattle Seahawks made a commitment last offseason to improve the unit. They started one big step at a time by drafting North Dakota State guard Grey Zabel in the first round, 18th overall pick, of the 2025 NFL Draft. This one was one of the last steps for the Seahawks to create one of the most productive offenses in the NFL.
Zabel wasn’t perfect in his rookie season, but he was good enough to validate the decision to draft him in the first round, and he showed improvement. Zabel is already a favorite among some Seahawks fans and some media outlets as they love his determination and spirit. It was a big jump from the FCS collegiate level to the NFL and this season, he has a chance to show why he might be a top-half-of-the-league guard.
Why Zabel Could Be Ranked Higher?
The Seahawks wanted a determined workhorse when looking for a guard. That’s exactly what they got in Zabel. Last season, he appeared in 1,051 snaps, which is only 10 fewer snaps than right tackle Abraham Lucas, who had the most offensive snaps. Zabel got better as the season progressed. Pro Football Focus gave him an overall grade of 81.5 and a run-block grade of 81.2 in Week 14 through the NFC Championship Game.
There were times last season when he looked like a monster against several defenders. He was pushing some defenders completely out of the way on pulling plays and even ran to defenders after the pass-catcher caught the ball. This is the mentality the Seahawks expect him to have going into his second season in the league. He has more experience and the complete trust of the team to be a franchise player on par with Lucas and left tackle Charles Cross. If he continues to improve, he will be another steal for the Seahawks.
Why Zabel Could Be Ranked Lower?
There were times last season when he didn’t quite catch up to the learning curve of the NFL. Zabel allowed two sacks, four hits and 24 pressures in 2025. The Seahawks expect those numbers to decrease significantly as he is experienced and capable of playing at an efficient level. While Zabel is impressive, he might not be the best player the Seahawks have selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. That honor belongs to slot cornerback Nick Emmanwori, who is stepping up to be the steal of the draft.
Zabel is easily one of the best second-year players and is one of the top offensive linemen, but there are players behind him because they haven’t proven to be consistently explosive for the Seahawks. There is going to be even more pressure on him this upcoming season. The Seahawks hired a more run-friendly coach in Brian Fleury as offensive coordinator. His ranking at the end of the season might be much better if he improves, or worse if he fails to reach expectations.
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SEATTLE – High pressure continues early this week, leading to more sunshine and warmer afternoon temperatures. Skies will be sunny, warm and dry through the middle of the week.
High pressure continues early this week, leading to more sunshine and warmer afternoon temperatures.
What’s next:
Highs today in the low to mid 80s for parts of western Washington, with highs in central and eastern Washington getting close to 100 degrees. The coast and northern interior will remain in the 70s with mostly sunny skies.
Highs today in the low to mid 80s for parts of western Washington.
Fire Risk Levels
The Fire Risk Levels this week will continue to elevate as we see warming temperatures and increased chance of thunderstorms. East of the cascades is already dry and warm, so the increased chance of new fire starts will be something to watch with the storms.
The Fire Risk Levels this week will continue to elevate as we see warming temperatures and increased chance of thunderstorms. (FOX 13 Seattle)
Looking Ahead:
Temperatures will continue to warm for western Washington through midweek, before we see another low pressure system swing inland Thursday. This low will increase changes of showers and isolated thunderstorms on Thursday, and temperatures will be back to normal for this time of year. This cool down is short-lived as high pressure builds again and highs warm back up into the 80s by the weekend.
Temperatures will continue to warm for western Washington through midweek, before we see another low pressure system swing in Thursday.
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You easily could have missed it amid all of the attention around this year’s tournament, but in late December FIFA revealed the bids that they received from federations to host the 2031 and 2035 Women’s World Cups. The sole bid for 2031 was a joint proposal from the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica. Although a formal vote still needs to take place to approve the bid, this all but assures the USA of hosting the women’s tournament for the first time since 2003.
As part of the bid, 20 potential host cities were profiled, including Seattle, which was lauded for its long history with women’s soccer and support for collegiate and professional women’s sports.
Local organizers from the 2026 men’s World Cup have already started publicly talking about bringing the women’s tournament here, too.
Here’s what you need to know:
Seattle in strong position to be a 2031 Women’s World Cup host
Seattle is one of 20 U.S. cities profiled in joint bid with Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica.
Is the 2031 Women’s World Cup really coming to the United States?
While it’s not official until the FIFA Congress meets in November and votes on the bids, it appears to be a fait accompli at this point. With the tournament growing to 48 teams in 2031 and FIFA desiring to cycle each edition between different continents, no other bids were received for 2031. Similarly, a joint UK/Ireland bid is the sole proposal for 2035 and is expected to be approved at the same FIFA Congress meeting.
However, the vote was originally scheduled to occur at a FIFA meeting in April, but had to be delayed after the Trump administration refused to sign off on required guarantees while attempting to pressure FIFA and U.S. Soccer to adopt draconian anti-transgender athlete policies. Whether either side budges before November remains to be seen.
Why was Canada not included in this bid, unlike the 2026 Men’s World Cup?
Having recently hosted the 2015 Women’s World Cup on their own, Canada Soccer felt that the Concacaf bid would be received more favorably without their involvement, which opened the door to the USA and Mexico inviting smaller Concacaf nations to join them.
What does it mean that Seattle was profiled in the bid book?
The overall proposal lists 35 potential host cities and 49 venues, with a subset of 20 profiled more in-depth. Some of this likely reflects the reuse of content which was already available from the 2026 men’s World Cup bid book, and let’s be honest – it’s a lot easier to hype up the metronatural wonders of Seattle than somewhere like Birmingham or Salt Lake City.
The venues that are profiled were selected to represent “the diversity in geography, scale, and infrastructure readiness”, but all 49 venues will be given equal consideration when it comes time for FIFA to select host cities.
Why is Portland not in the bid?
That’s a good question! The minimum venue size for the women’s tournament is 20,000 and a number of stadiums of similar size to Providence Park are included. I expect that many of the smaller venues will be weeded out during the review process because FIFA wants that sweet, sweet ticket revenue, so perhaps they knew they’d be overshadowed by us.
How likely is Seattle to be selected?
The odds are good! For broadcast purposes, the tournament organizers will want to spread games across time zones and there are only a few West Coast cities in the proposal – Seattle, San Francisco/Bay Area, Los Angeles, and San Diego. Seattle also benefits from being geographically distinct, offering the potential to draw fans from the wider Pacific Northwest area, especially if Canada plays any games at Lumen Field. The rave reviews the stadium and city just received during the 2026 men’s tournament are also going to be a big net positive during the selection process.
Previous Women’s World Cup tournaments have typically included 6 to 10 host cities, but with the event doubling in size from 2019 (when 9 cities were chosen for 24 teams) and global media wanting matches spread out in more timeslots, there will be a need for more venues than ever before. The 2026 Men’s World Cup serves as a model, with 16 host cities for that 48-team tournament. Costa Rica and Jamaica will each have one venue and Mexico has six potential host cities, meaning the US will likely have at least eight host cities, if not more. It is also unlikely that multiple cities in close proximity would be selected – for example, no more than one of the three Florida candidates would likely be selected, if any; and likewise only one of Baltimore or Washington, D.C.
What will the atmosphere be like?
Much of what you’ve witnessed for the 2026 tournament will also feature in 2031. All of the fields will have natural grass surfaces. Host cities will have dedicated fan zones with supporting programming and watch parties, bars will host events, and you can expect a lot of traveling support bringing their own culture and stadium traditions to games.
Will this be another wild goose chase to get overpriced tickets?
Historically, the Women’s World Cup has been significantly more affordable and accessible than the men’s tournament. For example, packages with a ticket to both semifinals and the final in 2019 in France started at €50 (about US$60), and tickets to the 2023 final in Australia started at AUD $40 (about US$28), while group-stage games were even less expensive. The past five women’s finals have sold out, but there was ample time to get tickets in the lead-up to the games without submitting to a lottery to win a chance to wait in a second queue a month later for the possibility of buying a ticket that’s more expensive than your mortgage payment.
But the sport is growing quickly, with a huge influx of money and more sponsor and media attention around the globe, and more federations finally getting serious about investment and promotion for their women’s sides. The experience and demand in 2031 might look completely different from 2023. That said, even with higher demand and price inflation, tickets should not be remotely near the eye-watering dynamic prices being charged for the 2026 tournament, nor as difficult to obtain.
When will we know if Seattle is selected?
The first step won’t come until after the bid is formally approved this winter. Then there will likely be several rounds of review, with some candidate venues dropped after each round. The final venues for 2026 were selected about four years in advance, which means we might get an indication of Seattle’s status in late 2027. Until then, one of the biggest things you can do to help the cause is to continue showing up to other women’s soccer games happening in Seattle.
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