Seattle, WA
‘Sky’s the Limit’: Julian Love Cautiously Excited About Seattle Seahawks’ Potential
RENTON, Wash. – Now in his second season with the franchise with a new contract in tow, Julian Love believes the Seattle Seahawks’ defense has all of the ingredients in place at all three levels to become one of the NFL’s best this season.
But no word can equally create initial optimism or eventual disappointment quite like potential. As the sixth-year safety noted prior to Thursday’s practice leading up to Sunday’s season opener versus Denver, though he thinks Seattle’s upside is “extremely high” with a fun blend of experienced veterans and talented youngsters, Love cautioned against the carriage racing out ahead of the horse with all of the buzz surrounding new coach Mike Macdonald’s scheme.
The main message in the locker room? The Seahawks can’t think they have already arrived when they still have much to prove between the lines after finishing 25th in scoring a year ago with many of the same players on the roster, including Love himself.
“That’s usually the hardest part of developing a team, which is having that high-end potential, but potential doesn’t mean anything unless you execute and you get it done,” Love remarked. “And we had similar guys in the room last year, and I don’t think we achieved much of what we could’ve. And so that potential, it’s great that we can do it, but it takes weeks in, weeks out of being locked in, just being sound, especially in the secondary, stopping the run all year. And so, I think the sky’s the limit, but we have to work to get there.”
As evidenced by Seattle’s defensive struggles a year ago, talent only goes so far in the NFL, as all 11 players have to function as a cohesive unit executing their assignments and communicating with teammates and their coaches must put them in position to succeed. Ranking near the bottom of the NFL in passing defense and rushing defense, the presence of Love, defensive tackle Leonard Williams, pass rusher Boye Mafe, cornerback Devon Witherspoon, and others ultimately didn’t yield expected results.
With Macdonald now steering the ship as the successor for legendary coach Pete Carroll, however, the excitement and exuberance radiating from the VMAC couldn’t have been more palpable this summer. A renewed emphasis on fundamentals and physicality stood out during training camp practices and players could be heard barking out signals every play, exemplifying the stress on communication in a complex system renowned for pre and post-snap disguises.
On paper, the Seahawks should have all the pieces necessary to make dramatic improvements on defense, starting with a further reinforced defensive line. Along with Williams returning on a new three-year deal alongside fellow veteran Jarran Reed and newcomer Johnathan Hankins, the team invested a first-round pick in athletic defensive tackle Byron Murphy II, who should immediately play extensive snaps at multiple positions. Off the edge, Derick Hall looks ready to pop in his sophomore season rotating behind Dre’Mont Jones, Uchenna Nwosu, and Boye Mafe in a deep group.
If Seattle has a question mark, after losing Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks in free agency, linebacker still jumps out as a possible red flag. And yet, at the same time, Macdonald and the coaching staff have been complementary of newcomers Tyrel Dodson and Jerome Baker, expecting both to play well when the real bullets start flying this weekend, while rookie Tyrice Knight waits in the wings coming off an impressive first preseason.
As for the secondary, Love will benefit from playing next to two of the league’s most promising cornerbacks in Witherspoon and Riq Woolen, who each enjoyed strong training camps and have the goods to push for All-Pro consideration this season. At the other safety spot, Rayshawn Jenkins provides yet another savvy veteran with positional multiplicity, capable of playing single-high safety or in the box like an extra linebacker, while K’Von Wallace has similar flexibility playing in the slot.
With all of that talent around him and a number of young players in the defensive backfield, Love admitted that he feels a bit more pressure to shoulder the leadership load, but he isn’t letting that responsibility be a burden. He’s going to play within himself and control what he can control, including ensuring that both he and his teammates maximize their preparation opportunities with the goal of winning on Sundays.
“Going into last year, I started that game in week one, and I just have a similar confidence, just kind of play my game, my style being me, just try to be as perfect as I can in practice and just continue to be me,” Love said. “And so, I think that translates no matter what is going on externally with my role on this team. From a leadership perspective, though, I think it’s a little heightened. I got to be more aware of the feeling in my room. DBs, talking to my corners, my nickels, and other safeties. I’m just making sure we’re all in the same accord, and we can go out there and win a game.”
Rolling into the Week 1 opener, Love expects the Seahawks will go through their share of growing pains, as is the case for any defense at the start of a new season. This is especially true for a team learning a new defense, as limited preseason reps and a pair of joint practices doesn’t provide much of an opportunity going against other competition in August, leaving plenty of questions in regard to how the team will perform in real time.
At the end of the day, with being bought into the scheme being only half the battle, Seattle’s path to success or failure with Macdonald on the sidelines will rest on the team’s continued improvement by week. Starting with a home date with Denver this weekend, Love hopes to see the group start building towards playing to its full potential right off the bat with the mission of becoming a finely tuned machine by January heading full steam ahead into the postseason.
“I think it should be an ongoing thing. The best teams and best defenses each year they build on each week. Say they see a look, or something doesn’t go their way one week. They improve on it. They correct it, and they move forward. And so that’s what we have to be. We have to be fluid, and we have to be adaptable on defense, everybody. And I think that’s how we can get to that top potential.”
Ted Land had almost given up on being a homeowner.
When he moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2014, he was an award-winning television journalist, having lived and reported in Indiana and Alaska before arriving in Seattle to work for a local station, King 5. At first, he rented a studio apartment in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.
[Did you recently buy a home? We want to hear from you. Email: thehunt@nytimes.com. Sign up here to have The Hunt delivered to your inbox every week.]
“It’s very walkable, with lots of transit, very L.G.B.T. friendly, great restaurants, nightlife, parks,” said Mr. Land, 40. “It has everything I like in a neighborhood.”
His journalism career had been fraught with unexpected transitions, so it didn’t seem sensible to buy a home. “I thought I was going to move up and be a reporter in New York City or L.A. or D.C.,” he said. “I had my sights set on that. It really wasn’t even on my mind. Buying a house seemed so out of reach for me.”
As the years passed and he bounced from rental to rental, the hustle of TV news began to wear him out. Finally, in 2022, he grabbed an opportunity to move into corporate communications. With that choice came a higher income and a more stable future in Seattle with expanded living options.
“I kept signing lease after lease, not wanting to confront the daunting process of purchasing, and increasingly frustrated with the fact that I didn’t lock in a low interest rate during Covid like so many of my peers did,” Mr. Land said.
He had up to about $620,000 to spend, but as a single-income buyer, he was vexed by the down payment. “Everyone says that you’ve got to put down 20 percent. It’s like, ‘Where am I going to get $100,000? Does anyone know? Can you please tell me that?’”
With help from his broker, Mark Chavez of Windermere Real Estate, Mr. Land arranged to structure a purchase with 10 percent down using a mortgage insurance that costs him less than $100 per month, with his payments reducing in size until they total 20 percent of the home price. “I mean, $50,000 is a lot easier to save for than $100,000,” he said.
But even with that cushion, options were limited in pricey Seattle, especially for the kind of home he wanted. “Apartments are noisy places,” Mr. Land said. “They just are. And that kind of gets old after a while. I was looking for something a little quieter where I’m not hearing neighbors all the time.”
Most of Mr. Chavez’s clients want single-family homes, the broker said, but “it’s a bigger expense and there’s more to take care of, like the landscape. It used to be that to get into a condo, the entry point was more affordable. However, with many homeowner associations underfunded for future expenses, it is becoming more challenging to buy into a condominium.”
The middle ground? Townhouses. But every square foot needed to count, and location was critical. Mr. Land loved Capitol Hill, but felt he couldn’t afford to buy there. “I just really like being in the central part of the city,” he said. “The more I looked, the more I realized that walkability is a really important attribute for me.”
Find out what happened next by answering these two questions:
One of the Seattle Seahawks’ biggest rivals delivered the first big shockwaves of the 2026 offseason.
Why Salk ‘blanched’ at a Seahawks Maxx Crosby trade proposal
Los Angeles Rams have agreed to a deal that would send four draft picks to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for All-Pro cornerback and former UW Huskies standout Trent McDuffie, according to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Wednesday morning.
McDuffie, who is entering the final season of his rookie contract, is expected to sign a long-term extension with the Rams, according to Schefter.
Shortly after the news broke, former NFL quarterback Brock Huard gave his reaction on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.
“This feels like a direct move to match up with JSN and the Seahawks,” Huard said.
Widely considered to be the two best teams in the NFL this past season, the Seahawks and Rams squared off in three epic battles, capped by Seattle’s 31-27 win over Los Angeles in the NFC Championship.
Over those three games, the Rams’ shaky secondary struggled to contain NFL receiving leader and AP Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The Seahawks star wideout totaled 27 catches for 354 yards and two touchdowns across those three matchups, including 10 catches for 153 yards and a TD in the NFC title game.
Smith-Njigba also had a career-high 180 receiving yards and two touchdowns in an overtime loss to the Rams in 2024.
“It’s kind of like an old NBA world,” Huard said. “Like, alright, we know we’re gonna have to deal with Jordan or we’re gonna have to deal with Pippen or we’re gonna have to deal with Bird. Like, how do we match up? And (the Rams) know that that was the one area – in their back seven – that could not match up.”
Listen to the full Brock and Salk conversation at this link or in the audio player in the middle of this story. Tune into Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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The countdown to the FIFA World Cup hit a milestone Tuesday, approximately 100 days from the start of the global soccer tournament, which is being played this time in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Seattle is one of 16 host cities for the tournament, with the first game at Lumen Field scheduled for June 15.
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City leaders at a press conference on Tuesday described specific changes underway to welcome an estimated 750,000 people during the six matches, from adding new artwork in downtown to bolstering security.
“Our aim is actually to revitalize, reinvigorate, rejuvenate the downtown core,” Seattle World Cup Organizing Committee CEO Peter Tomozawa stated.
People who take a trip through downtown Seattle will see that part of that work has started in anticipation of the World Cup, with 53 colorful paintings on the columns of the monorail, showcasing the flags of the countries of the competing teams.
“In just 100 days, people will come back to Seattle and will be using the system to travel back and forth to various events related to [the] FIFA World Cup,” Seattle Monorail Services Megan Ching said.
“The visitors who are coming here for the World Cup are already booking their trips: where to stay, how to get around and what to explore,” added Jorge Gotuzzo with Visit Seattle.
Darkalinos restaurant hopes the events planned for Pioneer Square will convince new customers to return beyond the tournament.
“The summer season is what keeps us going,” General Manager Crystal Hernandez told KOMO News. “We’re going to have a beer garden in the plaza. There will be some live music outside.”
Behind the scenes, work continues to plan for crowd control and security. That means round table meetings and partnerships at the international, federal, state and local levels.
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“We’ve been working on the security plan for over three years,” Tomozawa explained. “We hired former SPD Chief John Diaz to design the plan and I have to say this is one of our highest priorities, for sure.”
Downtown Seattle Association President and CEO Jon Scholes adds that businesses are eager to build on the success of the recent Seahawks Super Bowl parade. He said there will be watch parties for the matches at Westlake, Pacific Place and along the waterfront.
“Seattle’s a big event town, and we can do it well and produce a lot of joy for hundreds of thousands of people,” Scholes stated.
The World Cup Organizing Committee mentioned Seattle’s walkability makes it a great location for the tournament. It’s why they also announced a new walking path to connect multiple neighborhoods that will stay beyond the summer.
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It’s called the Unity Loop, runs about four-and-a-quarter miles and will connect the stadiums, waterfront, Seattle Center, Westlake and the CID, but no specifics were provided.
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