With Brock Purdy and the 49ers headed into a big Week 5 matchup, the spotlight turns to Seattle’s side of the ball - and there are a few Seahawks San Francisco has to handle cleanly if it wants to keep things on track. There’s also at least one defender Purdy would be wise to avoid altogether.
The most versatile chess piece in this group might be linebacker Nick Emmanwori, even if “linebacker” doesn’t really tell the full story. He’s being used more like a hybrid force than a traditional safety, closer to Bruce Irvin than Kam Chancellor.
Seattle’s ability to lean into nickel looks against heavier sets comes from what Emmanwori can do. Last week, he was on the field for more than 77% of the snaps after playing a little less than half earlier in the season, and 73.6% of his snaps came on the line of scrimmage or in the box.
He rushed the passer eight times and finished with four pressures. The danger with a player like that is simple: don’t let him run downhill untouched.
Make him change direction, force him to flip his hips, and put him in conflict with concepts that make him think instead of charge. He can still make plays, but he’s not someone the 49ers should run away from.
Up front, the matchup that jumps out is right guard Beau Stephens against San Francisco’s interior rush. Stephens, a rookie and one of the writer’s draft favorites, is currently splitting time with Christian Haynes after Seattle put starter Anthony Bradford on injured reserve.
Haynes has out-snapped Stephens 112-76, though Seattle still found a spot for Stephens last week while bleeding the clock late. The numbers aren’t pretty: Stephens has a 5.2% blown-block rate and has allowed a team-high 8.1% pressure rate.
Haynes sits at 1.8%, a little below the league average of 2.7%. This is the kind of spot where Keion White can cause problems, especially with his quickness over guards and a pressure rate above 17% as a 3-technique.
It also looks like a chance for Mykel Williams to get his first real taste of this kind of matchup. Stephens’ arm length sits in the first percentile, so San Francisco should be hunting ways to isolate him.
One Seahawk Purdy should absolutely be careful with is Julian Love. The safety may not always get the same attention as Devon Witherspoon, but the impact is there, and then some.
The source called him one of the best safeties in the NFL, and the description fits his game: he can blitz, disguise, bait quarterbacks, and make life miserable in coverage. Mike MacDonald has no hesitation sending him, and Love had a couple of unblocked pressures last week.
He’s the kind of defender who makes a quarterback think a window is there, then closes it from nowhere and turns the play into an interception. He can miss a tackle now and then, but he’s also comfortable timing run blitzes and working in space.
For Purdy, the warning is clear: be careful, Brock.
Tight end A.J. Barner is more of a target than a threat, but he still matters because of how Seattle is using him.
Brian Fleury has leaned on play-action for more than 37% of Sam Darnold’s dropbacks, and while Darnold has completed 69.2% of those throws, the production has been mixed, with two interceptions, two sacks, and an EPA per play of -0.193. Barner has somehow drawn more targets than Jaxon Smith-Njigba in play-action with Darnold under center, even if it’s by only one target, and he’s done it on three fewer routes.
He has six targets on Darnold’s 22 play-action dropbacks. Most of the time, though, if the ball goes to Barner, it means the first couple of options were covered.
He did catch a 32-yard screen against Washington, though that play came with multiple missed tackles from the Commanders, and he dropped a would-be first down on 3rd and 5 last week. Seattle has also hit him on the kind of screen where the quarterback pumps one way and then comes back to the tight end down the middle.
That got them 12 yards last week. Barner isn’t being highlighted because he’s the engine, but he’ll get chances in play-action and in the red zone.
Then there’s Byron Murphy, who might be the most difficult problem on the board. The source didn’t overcomplicate it: “Look out for one of the best defensive tackles in the game.”
Murphy did damage on 3rd and 4 last week when Seattle put a wide-9 end to his side and used Leonard Williams to hold the center, leaving Murphy one-on-one with the right guard. He beat that block in under a second and finished the play with a sack.
Last season, he led the league with 33 pressures when aligned inside the guard, and he’s following that same path again. He ranks 29th in pressure rate, but that number doesn’t fully capture how often he gets doubled.
Williams is expected to spend a lot of time against Dominick Puni, and the 49ers will need to trust Puni to hold up. He has been strong all year, with last week marking his first blown block in pass protection.
Connor Colby had a rougher time, including three blown blocks in pass protection against Zach Allen in Week 4, and Murphy represents the next step up from there. The suggestion is for Colby to be aggressive, use jump sets, and try to beat Murphy to the punch before the tackle can start working through his move.
That kind of approach could shape how San Francisco chooses to attack.
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