Seahawks 2022 Training Camp Preview: Who Steps Up in Wide Open Cornerback Competition?
Over the past four seasons, few - if any - positions have undergone more consistent turnover on the Seahawks' roster than cornerback.
Once one of Seattle's most stable positions at the peak of the "Legion of Boom" era, the organization has funneled through numerous starters since Richard Sherman was released unceremoniously following the 2018 campaign. During that time, Shaquill Griffin, Tre Flowers, Quinton Dunbar, D.J. Reed, and Sidney Jones all received extended starting opportunities with mixed results, while other free agent agents such as Ahkello Witherspoon have not panned out.
As the Seahawks gear up for a new season, they will once again be shaking things up at cornerback with question marks aplenty. Continuing to play musical chairs at the position, the team will be breaking in at least one new starter to replace Reed, who bolted to New York to sign with the Jets in free agency. Even with Jones back on a one-year deal and expected to be a favorite to retain his starting job, the remainder of the group will be significantly different than back in January, setting the stage for an intense, wide-open competition.
Aside from Jones, former Oklahoma standout Tre Brown will be the only noteworthy cornerback returning from last year's squad. Coming back from surgery to repair a patellar tendon injury in his knee that ended a promising rookie season in November, the 2021 fourth-round pick may not be ready for the start of training camp and could even open the year on the PUP list, casting doubt about his availability. No other corner on the current roster, including John Reid and Michael Jackson, started more than two games last year.
Unlike recent seasons when general manager John Schneider tried to plug holes at corner primarily by adding a bunch of veterans off the free agent scrap heap such as Witherspoon, Pierre Desir, and Bless Austin, however, the front office emphasized youth with an eye towards the present and future. On back-to-back selections in April's draft, Seattle used a pair of day three selections on Cincinnati's Coby Bryant and UTSA's Tariq Woolen, who will be thrust into the competition to start right away.
A newcomer in his own right after coordinating the Bears' defense in 2021, associate head coach Sean Desai was able to evaluate Bryant and Woolen in action for the first time during the Seahawks offseason program. Offering vastly different strengths and skill sets, he's fired up for the chance to coach the pair of talented incoming rookies and see where they fit into plans.
“They're unique in their own ways," Desai told reporters after Seattle's OTAs concluded in June. "Coby [Bryant] has really good ball skills at the top of routes, and he can really judge the ball well. Tariq [Woolen], obviously his length shows up in so many ways, when he's pressed, when he's off, when he's playing the ball, in a chase, in a trail position. I think those guys are so eager and there's so much growth potential for them."
As Desai astutely noted, Bryant's ball skills, toughness, and high football IQ stand out as his greatest calling cards entering the league. Winning the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation's best defensive back for the Bearcats in 2021, he produced nine interceptions and 25 pass breakups in his final four seasons with the program, taking full advantage of extra targets coming his way with future top-five pick Ahmad Gardner playing across from him. Against top competition, he played at his best, including recording an end zone interception against Georgia in the 2021 Sugar Bowl.
Though lacking some of the elite athletic traits NFL teams covet at cornerback, including finishing in the eighth percentile among 2022 draft prospects in the 3-cone drill, Bryant's ability to run routes for receivers coupled with his situational awareness help offset those perceived deficiencies. He's also a willing and able run defender, playing bigger than his 6-foot-1, 193-pound frame working off blocks and making tackles in space.
Having an established relationship with the Cleveland native through their shared defensive back trainer, star safety Jamal Adams has already been blown away by the "Red Mamba" and looks forward to playing with Bryant in Seattle.
“He’s a very smooth guy, he’s very smart, and he understands the game," Adams said of Bryant during Seattle's mandatory minicamp. "It’s crazy, my DB trainer linked us up right before he got drafted and I hit him up to give him some advice on what to expect, good luck in the draft and whatnot, and man, here he is. I was one of the guys that he hit up as soon as he got drafted and I was excited to see that. That was a hell of a pick, definitely a steal.”
While Bryant comes to the NFL as a polished product ready-made to vie for defensive snaps on day one, Woolen sits on the opposite end of the spectrum as a freakishly athletic, yet raw, undeveloped prospect. After beginning his college career as a receiver, he converted to the defensive side of the football late in the 2019 season, finding a home at corner in his final two seasons on campus at UTSA.
Possessing a never-seen-before combination of size (6-foot-4), length (33 1/2-inch arms), and speed for the cornerback position, Woolen put on a show at the NFL combine, running the fastest 40-time (4.26 seconds) of any player 6-foot or taller and weighing at least 200 pounds since 2003. He became the first player at his height in combine history to post a sub-4.30 40-yard dash and post a 42-inch vertical jump.
Boasting tantalizing athletic traits, Woolen may have the highest ceiling out of any of Seattle's eight draft choices. But he's a major work in progress at cornerback given his limited experience at the position and with tons of improvement needed in his understanding of the game and technique, he seems a ways off from being ready to play on defense in the NFL.
Still, coach Pete Carroll couldn't help but gush about Woolen coming out of his first mandatory minicamp. Specifically, he cited several impressive reps against speedy veteran receiver Marquise Goodwin, suggesting his ETA as an NFL defender may be closer than it appears in the mirror.
"Probably the flashiest guy was Tariq Woolen, he was the flashiest in camp," Carroll assessed. "He missed some early time, but once he got out here, shoot, you couldn't miss him out there because he's long and tall and he is really fast. He's fast, fast, and the style of play, we would style him like you would've seen Brandon Browner and he's 6'4 and so they'll look similar. He's got a step on Brandon, or four. No offense, BB, but he made a really good impression here."
With both rookies being talked up extensively since the draft, Bryant and Woolen will be highlighted participants in Seattle's looming cornerback battle. But there's no guarantee either will start right off the bat with as many as six players legitimately vying for two spots on the outside.
Headlining the group, Jones took a huge step forward after replacing Brown in the starting lineup in Week 11. In his final six games, opposing quarterbacks completed only 58 percent of their passes when targeting him and he didn't allow a single touchdown, helping him to post the fourth-lowest quarterback rating (71.2) against during that span according to Pro Football Focus. He also finished with a career-high 66 tackles and made tremendous strides in that area of his game.
Brown's outstanding start to his career prior to his severe knee injury shouldn't be overlooked either. Once he returned from a separate sprained knee in Week 6, he exceeded all expectations starting opposite of Reed, recording nine tackles and allowing quarterbacks to complete only 47 percent of their throws targeting him in the secondary. He also came up with clutch plays, including a fourth down pass breakup in a tight loss to the Packers at Lambeau Field.
If he's back 100 percent healthy, Brown packs a punch as a tackler and plays a physical brand of football against receivers at the line of scrimmage, which makes him a viable contender to start across from Jones on either side.
In terms of wild cards, Burns shouldn't be slept on. After four up-and-down seasons in Pittsburgh and a lost 2020 season due to an ACL injury, he found his groove late last season playing for Desai in Chicago. Putting together the best extended stretch of his career, he allowed only one touchdown while registering five pass breakups, including a pair of breakups in a win over Seattle in Week 16.
Possessing legitimate 4.4 speed and 33-inch arms, Burns checks off the size/length criteria that the Seahawks have traditionally preferred. Only 28 years old, he saw all of the first-team reps working with Jones during OTAs and minicamp and defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt indicated his familiarity with the system was obvious on the field, giving him a major advantage over his peers entering training camp.
“It's been really good and talking with Sean [Desai], what he's been impressed about with Artie is how much more comfortable Artie is in year two of the system. He's really kind of grabbed that and ran with it because he was coming off of ACL previously so now he's healthy. So now he has a full offseason under his belt. It's great having Artie here, he's a Miami guy, you know I love Hurricanes, so it's good having him building, but he's doing a really nice job.”
Living up to Carroll's "Always Compete" philosophy, with quarterback and right tackle being the exceptions, cornerback may be the most compelling positional battle on Seattle's entire roster rolling towards camp. While veterans such as Jones, Burns, and potentially Brown will get the first crack to secure jobs, Bryant and Woolen will come into the league hungry for snaps and will be nipping at their heels.
Even in the slot, the Seahawks will have a trio of quality options vying for a critical role in Hurtt's defense as a nickel defender. Along with Marquise Blair and Ugo Amadi returning for their fourth seasons respectively, seasoned veteran Justin Coleman came back to the organization on a one-year deal and may be the favorite to reclaim the role he shined in during the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
Just like a year ago, there's no shortage of questions left to answer and story lines to unfold at cornerback in coming weeks. Lacking star power on the outside, many experts and analysts continue to rank the unit near the bottom of the NFL and based off of production on paper, such pessimism can be understood.
With an intriguing blend of experienced veterans and high-upside rookies set to duke it out, however, this time around feels different for the Seahawks. Most importantly, the presence of potential long-term solutions such as Brown, Bryant, and Woolen has created a sense of excitement at the position that has been missing for quite some time, a welcome development for a franchise seeking a quick reboot.
