Seahawks fans weigh in after Rams’ Myles Garrett trade, but most still expect Seattle to own the NFC West sack race

The Seahawks’ defensive outlook became a talking point across the NFL this week, and it started with a simple question: will Seattle still lead the NFC West in sacks even after the Rams acquired pass rusher Myles Garrett? The premise comes from an SB Nation Reacts survey that collects responses from Seahawks fans and from NFL fans around the league, with the focus placed on how the sack leaderboard could reshape inside one division.

In the survey framing, the Rams move is presented as the clearest external threat to Seattle’s pass-rush standing. Garrett is a widely recognized disruptive edge presence, and the survey’s setup assumes that his arrival increases pressure on any division opponent that wants to claim the top sack total. That matters because sacks are one of the most direct indicators of a defense’s ability to affect game control, from forcing longer third downs to tightening protections for quarterbacks.

For Seahawks supporters, the central issue is not whether Seattle’s defense will generate pressure, but whether it can convert that pressure into the highest sack count in a division that now includes a headline-level pass rusher. The survey format also reflects a deeper question NFL analysts often return to during training camp and the early season: can a team maintain a defensive identity when a rival’s front office adds a player who changes matchups immediately?

The most important takeaway for how the season could play out is that the survey is not projecting a specific outcome from training-camp statements or early-season box scores. It is measuring expectations, and expectations are shaped by different things, including coaching reputation, personnel familiarity, and the way fans interpret offseason changes. In other words, the survey functions as a snapshot of belief within the NFC West sack conversation, not a statistical forecast backed by game-week results.

At the same time, the question itself highlights why the division sack race has become more than trivia. When one team is assumed to add an elite edge rusher, the rest of the division has to consider whether their pass protection, defensive schemes, and rotation depth can offset that. If Seattle does lead the group, it would reinforce the idea that its defensive pressure is scalable and not dependent on one matchup. If the Rams leap ahead, it would suggest that the Garrett acquisition reshaped how the NFC West is likely to attack opposing quarterbacks.

What to watch next is how those fan expectations line up with how defenses actually deploy their rush packages once preseason and the regular season begin. The sack totals will ultimately depend on a range of factors fans do not always account for in surveys, such as quarterback dropback rates, coverage time, third-down efficiency, and how quickly defenses can win one-on-one situations without blitzing.

For readers following the Seahawks specifically, the larger question becomes whether the team’s defensive plan creates consistent opportunities across opponents in the division, including when Seattle faces the Rams’ improved pass-rush matchup picture. The survey’s premise makes that a high-visibility subplot of the year, because it ties a single statistical category to broader roster-building and matchup control within the NFC West.