20. Kam Chancellor, S, Seahawks
A holdout—and a rather unproductive one, at that—cut into Chancellor’s 2015 performance. He did not join the team until late September, and the rust was more evident than anyone would have preferred. Even so, the Seahawks’ defense was without question far better with Chancellor in the lineup than without him. Earl Thomas handles the deep middle, with Chancellor bringing the hammer on the second level, serving as essentially an extra linebacker on many of Seattle’s schematic calls. When both are out there together, it’s almost foolish for quarterbacks to test the Seahawks between the hash marks...except for the fact that Richard Sherman is lurking on the outside. Obviously, all of Seattle’s players in the secondary benefit from the presence of elite talent around him, but that does not diminish what Chancellor can do on his own.
