Seattle Seahawks outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu seems to fly under the radar consistently, but he shouldn’t be.
He’s one of the main reasons the franchise turned around so quickly after the Russell Wilson era. When they signed him away from the Los Angeles Chargers in free agency, he brought a physicality to the defensive front that allowed the Geno Smith era the solid baseline of hovering around the playoffs every season. He’s dealt with his fair share of injuries the past two years, playing just six games in each of the 2023 and 2024 seasons, but when healthy in 2022, he garnered 9.5 sacks in a full season, and 7 while playing all but one game this year.
Nwosu heads into Super Bowl LX as, at most, the fourth- most prominent member of the defensive line (none of whom get as much recognition as they deserve) and at worst, maybe not even a top-10 appreciated player on the defense. That’s more of a testament to his ability to play within- and foster- the special system the Seahawks have built than an indictment on his impact.
However, he has every right to have a shot at Super Bowl MVP. One big play could swing this game the Seahawks’ direction early, and with the Patriots main weakness their inexperienced left side of the offensive line in tackle Will Campbell and guard Jared Wilson, a griseled veteran like Nwosu could be just the right weapon against them. His arms are nearly a full inch longer than Campbell’s, but he still has a leverage advantage being more than three inches shorter. Nwosu making a massive play in the big game would personify the ‘12 as one’ motto better than anyone could even dream. It’d be perfect to see him receive recognition on the biggest stage after going undernoticed because of how good he makes everyone else.
