The Associated Press released its 2025 NFL All-Pro teams on January 10, and Seattle Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV landed a second-team All-Pro nod.
For the Seahawks, it’s another national stamp of approval for a defense that leaned on Jones as its on-field signal-caller throughout the season, and it adds one more accolade to a year where Seattle’s stars kept popping up on award lists.
It’s a pretty perfect bit of irony for Seattle: Ernest Jones IV didn’t make the Pro Bowl, but the Associated Press still turned around and stamped him as a second-team All-Pro, a much tougher, more “best at your position” type of honor. The Pro Bowl process can tilt toward name recognition and early-season momentum, while All-Pro voting is done by media members and usually tracks who actually played like an elite, every-down difference-maker. In Jones’ case, the AP nod is basically the league saying: snub or not, his impact was undeniable.
AP All-Pro Teams Put Ernest Jones in Elite Company
Jones didn’t just squeak onto the ballot. In the AP’s voting breakdown, he received 14 first-team votes and finished with 57 points at linebacker, good enough to earn the second-team spot behind the first-team duo.
Seattle also had multiple other names on the AP list, including wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba as a first-teamer, with Jones joining the Seahawks’ second-team group. Also making the list were Leonard Williams (2nd team), Devon Witherspoon (2nd team) and Michael Dickson (2nd team).
What It Means for the Seahawks’ Defense
This is the kind of recognition that matters when you’re trying to build a defensive identity around one player’s communication and range. Jones has been the guy setting the front, directing traffic and cleaning up plays at the second level, and the AP nod essentially says the league noticed.
It also fits a season-long arc for Jones that Seahawks fans watched up close. Even when Seattle dealt with injuries at linebacker, the messaging out of the building was consistent: when Jones is healthy, he changes the feel of the defense.
Seahawks, and former Rams teammate, Cooper Kupp has seen Jones’ development first hand. Kupp and Jones won a Super Bowl with the Rams, and Kupp saw the way a young Jones could lead a defense then.
“The way he could command a room as a rookie middle linebacker … it was one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen,” Kupp said earlier this season.
And when Jones is rolling, it shows up beyond tackles. Your earlier coverage of Jones winning NFC Defensive Player of the Week after Seattle’s 26-0 shutout of the Vikings is an easy example of how he can take over a game.
The “resume” moments voters remember
All-Pro voting is supposed to be season-long, but voters are human, and signature plays stick.
Jones had one of those on the national radar when he posted 12 tackles, two interceptions and an 85-yard pick-six in that Vikings shutout, which helped spark his Defensive Player of the Week honor.
He also had stretches where his availability became a storyline, including the night he was ruled out with a knee injury during Sunday Night Football, and then the follow-up where Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald downplayed long-term concern.
That combination — big-time production, big-time moments, and clear value to Seattle’s structure — is exactly how you end up on an All-Pro team.
Stats, schedule and what’s next
Jones’ All-Pro nod lands as Seattle turns the page toward January football, when defenses get tested by elite quarterbacks and one busted assignment can end a season.
If the Seahawks are going to make a run, the path almost certainly involves Jones playing fast, diagnosing quickly and creating the kind of turnover swings that made him a headline earlier this year.
Seahawks Get Great Ernest Jones News After NFL’s Pro Bowl Snub