Field Gulls
Throughout the 2025 NFL season, SB Nation’s Doug Farrar writes about the game’s Secret Superstars — those players whose performances might slip under the radar for whatever reasons. In this installment, we focus on Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman DeMarcus Lawrence, who has come back from a last lost season with the Dallas Cowboys to his new status as the tone-setter for the NFL’s nastiest defense.
DeMarcus Lawrence isn’t really underrated in a career sense. Selected in the second round of the 2014 draft out of Boise State, the 6’3, 265-pound Lawrence has put up 69 sacks and 475 total pressures in a remarkable 11-year career with the Dallas Cowboys. And the Seahawks certainly weren’t underrating him when they gave him a three-year, $32.5 million contract with $18 million guaranteed this offseason.
But you may have to pick through your memory banks a bit if you want Lawrence highlights. Last season, he missed all but the first four games with a foot injury, and given that he turned 33 on April 28, you may well have wondered just how much Lawrence still had in the tank.
Well, wonder no more. This season, Lawrence has totaled seven sacks (his most since 2021), 39 total pressures (his most since 2023), nine tackles for loss (also his most since 2023), 18 stops, and a forced fumble. Moreover, in a defensive front that was already fairly loaded before his addition, Lawrence has added a toughness, nastiness, and veteran resolve to get things done that makes all the difference.
On/off splits can tell interesting stories in these cases, and in Lawrence’s case, it’s pretty clear how much better this defense is with Lawrence on the field. The one game he missed this season — Week 5 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, due to a quadriceps injury — was the one in which Seattle’s league-best defense in DVOA looked nothing like that.
Without Lawrence in that 38-35 loss, Seattle allowed 3.8 yards per play, had one sack, and wound up with a Defensive EPA per play of -0.195 (Defensive EPA is better when when it’s positive). With Lawrence on the field, the Seahawks have averaged 16.3 points per game, 2.25 yards per play allowed, 3.55 sacks per game, and a Defensive EPA per play of +0.075.
While he’s been a standout through most of the season, Lawrence saved a few of his most remarkable plays for Seattle’s 26-0 thrashing of the Minnesota Vikings last Sunday. It was Seattle’s first shutout since 2015, and the first time the Vikings had been blanked since 2007. From the start, Lawrence was inclined to unleash hell on Minnesota’s offense, led as it was by undrafted rookie quarterback Max Brosmer.
The veteran announced his presence with authority pretty early in this one. With 3:14 left in the first half, Minnesota had the ball at the Seattle 4-yard line on fourth-and-1. Lawrence crashed through the Vikings’ protections (which didn’t account for him at all), chased Brosmer back a good 20 yards, and Brosmer...
