NFL

Seattle Seahawks 90-Man Roundup: What’s Next For Pro Bowler Julian Love?

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2 months ago

July 11, 2024

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Seattle Seahawks 90-Man Roundup: What’s Next For Pro Bowler Julian Love?

The Seattle Seahawks will open training camp at the VMAC in less than a month, officially ushering in the first season under new coach Mike Macdonald.

In preparation for the new incoming season, we’ll be detailing every member of the Seahawks 90-man roster over the next several weeks, diving into scheme fits, exploring best and worst case scenarios and predicting what to expect from each player entering the 2024 campaign.

In the aftermath of a sensational finish to his first season in Seattle, what tricks will Julian Love pull out next entering a contract year?

Starring at Notre Dame, Love opted to forgo his final year of eligibility to enter the 2019 NFL Draft and the Giants selected him in the fourth round with the 108th overall selection. Though he only started five games as a rookie, he still logged nearly 500 defensive snaps playing multiple positions and took on a significant role on special teams, registering 37 tackles and an interception. After three seasons primarily serving as a situational reserve and special teams ace, Love finally broke into New York’s starting lineup in 2022 and enjoyed a career year as a do-it all safety, setting personal bests in tackles, interceptions, and tackles for loss. Taking on a major role with the Seahawks playing both safety spots after signing a two-year deal in free agency, he led the team with four interceptions in 2023, earning the first Pro Bowl selection of his career.

Since coming into the NFL in 2019, few players have offered more positional flexibility than Love, who has logged more than 700 career snaps as a free safety, strong safety, and slot in five seasons. Though he played more than 300 snaps at both safety positions for Seattle last year, he found the majority of his success at free safety, allowing just 30 yards on 11 targets and producing three pass breakups in a trio of games where he played more than 30 free safety snaps and less than 10 snaps in the box. In Mike Macdonald’s defense, he seems like a natural fit as an interchangeable free safety who can be moved around the field.

Picking up where he left off after a fantastic final month of the 2023 season, Love’s versatility, ball skills, and high football IQ make him the perfect candidate to handle free safety duties in Macdonald’s scheme, as he sets a new career-high with five picks and adds 84 tackles and two sacks for good measure, earning a second straight Pro Bowl and a lucrative extension with the Seahawks.

Though Love opens the season as a starter, he endures some early season struggles acclimating to a complex system, giving up a handful of big plays in coverage in the first month of action before eventually settling in. Unable to produce the same turnover numbers from a year earlier, his status long-term comes into question heading towards free agency.

Still only 26 years old, Love has all the tools to become the next highly successful safety who thrives in Macdonald’s system, which demands interchangeability at the position. Aside from him immense flexibility, he’s a plus athlete who showcased his improved ball skills last season, he plays with enough physicality to still contribute in the box and help out against the run, and he has the intelligence to handle all of the complexities that come with the new scheme. On top of that, he’s a respected leader on and off the field who peers hold in the highest regard.

Assuming Love winds up settling in as a free safety full time and isn’t asked to play over 300 snaps in the box again as he did last year for the Seahawks, his strengths will be fully maximized, setting the stage for him to be even better than he was in the second half last season. Of course, he will have to prove he can play with greater consistency, particularly in coverage where he allowed almost 560 yards and a 70 percent completion rate last year. If he can clean up some of the coverage mistakes he made early last year and also pitch in as a blitzer and run defender, he has a great opportunity to make himself big bucks with free agency right around the corner.