Tyrice Knight

From UTEP to Seattle's starting LB — Year 2 brings 6 TFL, 2 sacks, 2 FF on rookie deal.

Knight was a 4th-round 2024 draft pick (#118) with a journeyman college path: Independence CC → UTEP. He earned defensive snaps as a rookie, and locked in as a full-time linebacker for Seattle's defense in Year 2.

Year 2 disruption metrics that jumped: TFL (3 → 6), sacks (1.5 → 2), forced fumbles (0 → 2). His assist rate fell sharply (47 → 20) — he's flowing to the ball faster and making more decisive solo tackles in space.

Why it matters. Doubling TFL output while also posting first-career sacks and forced fumbles in the same season signals Knight is reading plays pre-snap rather than reacting — the leap from chase-down tackler to disruptive run-stopper.

Career game: Week 10 vs ARI — 2 sacks, 2 FF, both converted to touchdowns.

Knight's loudest game came in Week 10 of 2025 against Arizona: 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 3 TFL, and 6 tackles in a 44-22 Seattle blowout.

Both sacks produced forced fumbles recovered for touchdowns — Knight single-handedly created 14 points off turnovers in one game. That double-sack/double-FF/double-TD performance is the kind of stat line that appears once or twice per season across the entire league.

Seattle's full sack unit that day: Knight 2, Boye Mafe 1, Leonard Williams 1 — 4 team sacks total.

Why it matters. Two sack-fumbles converted to touchdowns in one game is a rare defensive performance that changed the scoreboard directly — not just a strong tackle box score.

6 TFL in 14 games — all 6 came in just 4 games (Weeks 4, 5, 9, 10).

Knight's TFL distribution is bursty: 6 TFL total, and all 6 came in just 4 regular-season games (Weeks 4, 5, 9, 10). Ten of his 14 games were tackle-volume games with no backfield penetration.

Week 20 (Divisional round) was his playoff debut — 5 solo tackles in a high-leverage spot at San Francisco, showing Seattle's defensive trust didn't wane into January.

Why it matters. Bursty TFL production often correlates with matchup-specific usage spikes — Seattle is scheming Knight into the backfield when they expect heavy run looks, not deploying him as an every-snap pass-rush piece.

UTEP has sent 4 players to the NFL since 2014 — Knight is the best pass-rusher of the group.

Knight's alma mater has produced a thin NFL pipeline in the modern era: since 2014, 4 UTEP players have been drafted — Aaron Jones (RB, Rd 5), Will Hernandez (G, Rd 2), Tyrice Knight (LB, Rd 4), and Elijah Klein (TE, Rd 6).

Jones and Hernandez are the offensive linchpins of the group. Knight is the first UTEP defender in that window to register NFL sacks — 2 sacks and 6 TFL through two seasons, making him the school's most productive defensive NFL contributor in at least a decade.

Why it matters. UTEP's NFL pipeline is almost entirely offensive skill positions; Knight carving out a role as a productive 4-3 linebacker from that same school is a genuinely uncommon path.

Among SEA LBs in 2025, Knight's 10% TFL rate ranks 4th — ahead of team leader Ernest Jones (3%).

Ernest Jones leads the Seahawks in raw solo tackles (58), but his TFL rate — tackles behind the line as a share of total stops — is just 3.1%. Knight runs at 10%, meaning one in ten of his tackles stops the play in the backfield.

Among high-volume LBs (20+ combined tackles), Knight's 10% TFL rate sits just below Boye Mafe (11.4%) — a dedicated pass-rusher. That's an unusually high backfield-penetration rate for an off-ball linebacker.

Why it matters. TFL rate separates assignment tacklers from disruptive run defenders; Knight's 10% rate on 54 combined tackles signals he's being used and succeeding as a downhill attacker, not just a cleanup player.