Rylie Mills
| No. 98 – Seattle Seahawks | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Defensive end | ||||
| Roster status | Active | ||||
| Personal information | |||||
| Born | August 20, 2001 Lake Bluff, Illinois, U.S. | ||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||
| Listed weight | 290 lb (132 kg) | ||||
| Career information | |||||
| High school | Lake Forest (Lake Forest, Illinois) | ||||
| College | Notre Dame (2020–2024) | ||||
| NFL draft | 2025: 5th round, 142nd overall pick | ||||
| Career history | |||||
| |||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||
| |||||
| Career NFL statistics as of 2025 | |||||
| |||||
Rylie Mills (born August 20, 2001) is an American professional football defensive end for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and was selected by the Seahawks in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft.
Early life
Mills attended Lake Forest High School in Lake Forest, Illinois where he also competed in the shot put and discus.[1] He committed to the University of Notre Dame to play college football and enrolled early beginning in the spring semester of 2020.[2]
During Notre Dame's 27-17 win over Indiana during the first round of the 2024 College Football Playoff, Mills suffered a torn ACL while sacking Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke. Although Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman initially said there was "optimism" Mills could have returned for the team's next match against Georgia, he was ruled out of the rest of the season on December 23.[3]
College career
As a true freshman at Notre Dame in 2020, Mills played in 9 games and made his first start in the 2021 Rose Bowl against Alabama. He played in all 13 games in 2022 and recorded 24 total tackles throughout the season.[1][4][5][6]
Statistics
| Year | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Total | Solo | Ast | Sack | PD | Int | Yds | TD | FF | FR | TD | |||
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish | |||||||||||||||
| 2020 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2021 | 13 | 0 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2022 | 13 | 9 | 24 | 8 | 16 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2023 | 13 | 13 | 47 | 22 | 25 | 2.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2024 | 13 | 13 | 37 | 19 | 18 | 7.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Career | 62 | 36 | 131 | 59 | 72 | 17.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
Professional career
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | Wingspan | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 5+3⁄8 in (1.97 m) |
291 lb (132 kg) |
32+5⁄8 in (0.83 m) |
9+7⁄8 in (0.25 m) |
6 ft 7+3⁄4 in (2.03 m) | ||||||||
| All values from NFL Combine[7][8] | ||||||||||||
Mills was selected by the Seattle Seahawks with the 142nd pick in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft.[9][10]
On July 15, Mills was among six Seahawks rookies placed on the non-football injury list following his ACL tear at Notre Dame.[11] He was activated from the list on December 13.[12] He made his NFL debut the next day, playing seven snaps in Seattle's 18-16 win over the Indianapolis Colts.[13] He recorded his first career sack during the second quarter of Super Bowl LX on February 8, 2026, when he pushed New England Patriots guard Jared Wilson into quarterback Drake Maye.[14]
References
- ^ a b "Rylie Mills – Notre Dame Fighting Irish". fightingirish.com.
- ^ Sinclair, Kevin (May 6, 2019). "How It Happened: Rylie Mills Commits To Notre Dame". 247Sports. Retrieved July 24, 2025.
- ^ Rittenberg, Adam (December 23, 2024). "Notre Dame star lineman Rylie Mills out of CFP with knee injury". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 11, 2026.
- ^ Farmer, Douglas (May 9, 2023). "Notre Dame 99-to-0: No. 99 Rylie Mills, senior defensive tackle, moving back inside from end". NBC Sports.
- ^ Stires, Sean (August 5, 2023). "Bulked Up Defensive Lineman Rylie Mills Is Focused On The Present". Sports Illustrated.
- ^ Mentock, Andrew (November 5, 2022). "ND's Rylie Mills: This kid can play". Chicago Sun-Times.
- ^ Reuter, Chad; Zierlein, Lance. "Rylie Mills Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved February 28, 2025.
- ^ "Rylie Mills College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved February 28, 2025.
- ^ Horton, Ari; Boyle, John (April 26, 2025). "Seahawks Select Defensive End Rylie Mills With 142nd Overall Pick". Seahawks.com.
- ^ Berardino, Mike (April 26, 2025). "Pros and cons of Seattle Seahawks picking Notre Dame football's Rylie Mills in 2025 NFL Draft". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved May 10, 2025.
- ^ Boyle, John. "Six Rookies Placed On Non-Football Injury List". www.seahawks.com. Seattle Seahawks. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
- ^ Boyle, John. "Seahawks Roster Moves Ahead Of Their Week 15 Game vs. Indianapolis". www.seahawks.com. Seattle Seahawks. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
- ^ Bell, Gregg (December 15, 2025). "After 12 long months post-knee surgery, Rylie Mills finally, fully a Seahawk". Tacoma News Tribune. McClatchy Media. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
- ^ Maaddi, Rob (February 8, 2026). "Seahawks ride their 'Dark Side' defense to a Super Bowl title, pounding the Patriots 29-13". AP News. Associated Press. Retrieved February 9, 2026.