Six games into the season, the Seattle Seahawks needed support for their defense. This week, they made a move by trading for defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris from Jacksonville in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick in 2026.
The 31-year-old Robertson-Harris brings size and experience to a Seahawks defense that has had a hard time stopping the run this season.
Seattle has faced injuries recently and currently ranks 19th in total defense, allowing 339.7 yards per game, and 28th in the league by giving up 144.7 rushing yards per game.
With Robertson-Harris joining the defensive line and tackle Byron Murphy II expected to return from injury, the Seahawks hope for improvement soon.
“Just an opportunity to get a really, really good player that we have a lot of respect for,” said coach Mike Macdonald. “He’s big, he’s tough, he’s rugged.
He provides some, I know we use the term positional flexibility probably too much, but he does do that, and can play really all three gaps up front. So he gives us a great opportunity to have a pretty deep front.”
It’s been a busy week for Robertson-Harris, who played in London on Sunday for the Jaguars against Chicago, and he described arriving in Seattle just a few days later as “surreal.”
On the field, Robertson-Harris aims to bring a physical style of play to the Seahawks’ line, where he is listed as a defensive tackle. So far this season, he has recorded seven tackles and two sacks.
“Obviously this front is very talented and well known,” Robertson-Harris said. “I feel like I bring a lot of violence and get-off. I’m pretty solid in the run game, pass rush is pretty solid. I bring a lot of energy on the field, practice and Sundays.”
Along with getting used to a new workplace and meeting his coaches and teammates, Robertson-Harris has to learn the Seahawks’ system quickly with just a few days until Sunday’s game in Atlanta, which he hopes to participate in.
However, as a veteran player, Macdonald believes that Robertson-Harris will be able to make an impact right away.
“He’ll be a quick study,” Macdonald said. “You know, and guys up front, I mean, there’s so much carryover in the league with some of the language and stuff. A six technique’s a six technique everywhere you go, so we know he can do that.”
Robertson-Harris sees some familiar faces in Seattle. He played with linebacker Trevis Gipson in Chicago in 2020, and they were teammates in Jacksonville this past offseason before Gipson’s trade to Seattle in August.
He also played with strong safety Rayshawn Jenkins for three seasons in Jacksonville.
Defensive end Leonard Williams is looking forward to playing alongside Robertson-Harris on a Seattle defensive line that will face a tough Atlanta offense led by quarterback Kirk Cousins and running backs Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier.
“I’m excited to have him,” Williams said. “He’s a big guy, strong, physical, good in the run game, which, you know, we need that right now.”
Robertson-Harris, who went undrafted from the University of Texas-El Paso in 2016, has built a solid NFL career. But he still feels he has more to prove as he enters his eighth season in the league.
“Guys look at me like, ‘Oh, you went to UTEP.’ Like, yeah, I know a lot of guys I played with that are still playing in this league that were at UTEP,” Robertson-Harris said. “You know, I always play with a chip on my shoulder, just to prove that I’m here, respectfully.”
