Post-Draft Seahawks Positional Overview: Cornerbacks
With free agency mostly wrapped up and the draft in the rear-view mirror, the Seahawks have assembled a 90-man roster and transitioned into their offseason program. Though more moves will be made in coming weeks as they continue to shuffle their roster, the vast majority of players currently under contract will be with the team when training camp opens in late July.
As Seattle ramps up preparations for a new season, the team could open training camp with both starting cornerback positions up for a grabs following the departure of Shaquill Griffin and Quinton Dunbar in free agency. With a fierce competition looming, which players will earn a starting nod and who will make the final roster?
Projected Starters: Ahkello Witherspoon, D.J. Reed, Marquise Blair
Consistency evaded Witherspoon and he battled multiple injuries during his first four seasons with the 49ers. But the Seahawks have been enamored by his length and ball skills since scouting him at Colorado and when he's been healthy and playing with confidence, he has performed like a starter-caliber corner. The team will banking on a change of scenery bringing out the best in him on a one-year prove it deal. Reed, another former 49er now taking residence in Seattle, returned earlier than expected from a torn biceps and gave the Seahawks a major lift in the secondary in the second half of the 2020 season. Bucking past trends as a 5-foot-9 corner playing on the outside, he produced 62 tackles, two interceptions, and seven passes defensed in just 10 games, setting the stage for him to be a full-time starter in 2021. Back from a torn ACL suffered in Week 2, Blair will be looking to pick up where he left off after a dominant training camp last August and if healthy, his size and physicality will bolster Seattle at the nickel corner spot.
Reserves: Ugo Amadi, Pierre Desir, Tre Brown, Tre Flowers, Damarious Randall, Gavin Heslop, Jordan Miller, Bryan Mills, Savion Smith
The Seahawks have amassed an intriguing mix of experienced veterans and unproven young players to compete for snaps at cornerback this summer. Amadi may not beat out Blair for the starting nickel job, but thanks to his far different skill set, he will get his share of snaps depending on opponent and situation. After bouncing around with three teams over the past two seasons, Desir will aim to get his career back on track returning to Seattle, where he played well during training camp back in 2017, while Flowers will enter the final year of his rookie contract with much left to prove after losing his starting job last season. Brown, a fourth-round draft choice out of Oklahoma, will also compete for playing time on the outside despite being only 5-foot-10 with sub-32-inch arms. The other rookie who will partake in camp is Mills, who signed as a priority undrafted free agent after starring at North Carolina Central and participating in the Senior Bowl. Following three seasons at safety, Randall will slide back to his natural position at cornerback, where he started 30 games for the Packers from 2015 to 2017. Heslop and Miller spent time on Seattle's practice squad last season, while Smith played in six games as a reserve for Dallas last season.
Wild Cards: Desir/Mills
When Seattle opted to release Desir prior to the 2017 season, the move drew criticism from fans who felt he had earned a roster spot with a strong preseason. With Richard Sherman still on the roster at the time and Griffin poised to enter the starting lineup as a rookie, however, the team didn't feel they had room to keep him. He wound up having two stellar seasons as a starter for the Colts in 2018 and 2019 and despite struggling in recent seasons, he still has good size (6-foot-1, 192 pounds) and the Seahawks' scheme is a good fit for his skill set, so he could be a rebound candidate to watch. As for Mills, the odds of an undrafted rookie breaking into Seattle's cornerback rotation aren't great, but he possesses the size and length the team covets on the outside and he did produce five interceptions in 2019, showcasing plus-ball skills. If he's able to catch on to Seattle's step-kick technique quickly and plays well in the preseason, the team may be forced to keep him on the 53-man roster to avoid losing him off waivers.
Who Makes 53?
Realistically, as many as six or seven players could be in the hunt for a starting job when camp opens in late July. Witherspoon and Reed will be the favorites on the outside, while Desir, Brown, and Flowers will have ample opportunities to crash the party and steal a starting spot. A case can be made for keeping all five of those players on the roster based solely on their cornerback skills, but special teams also has to be kept in consideration. Having started games at safety as well as corner and being a quality special teams player on top of it, Randall's versatility should give him a good chance to stick on the roster. This likely leaves just two spots open and for this simulation, the Seahawks won't cut Desir this time around. After out-playing Flowers in camp, the rejuvenated veteran and Brown will snag the last two spots on the depth chart and the team will move on from their former fifth-round pick. As for the rest of the field, Heslop and Mills will perform well enough in camp and show enough upside to land practice squad spots.
