Defensive Adjustments

- from FOXSports.com

It isn't his scheme that coordinator Ray Rhodes needs to tweak, but the players who had problems performing in it last season. In searching for a reason why the Seahawks tumbled from a ranking of No. 8 at midseason to No. 26 by seasons end, look at the play of the linebackers. Injuries forced Rhodes to use too many players whose contributions should be limited to special teams. At one point, the "starters" were Solomon Bates and Isaiah Kacyvenski outside and Orlando Huff in the middle. That's why just-signed Kevin Bentley looms large in the Seahawks' plans, even though he wasn't even tendered a restricted free-agent offer by the Browns. Bentley could start on the strong side, allowing veteran Chad Brown to be used primarily on passing downs in his 13th NFL season. D.D. Lewis is expected to replace just-released Anthony Simmons on the weak side, and Niko Koutouvides should be more consistent in his second season in the middle. But there's still the problem of generating a better pass rush, which won't be easy with the departure of defensive end Chike Okeafor.