Analysis: Tariq Woolen Brings Unique Traits, Immense Upside to Seahawks' Secondary
Continuing a theme of the 2022 NFL Draft, after choosing Cincinnati defender Coby Bryant one round earlier, the Seahawks doubled up at cornerback by selecting UTSA standout Tariq Woolen with pick No. 153 in the fifth round.
Taking a path similar to former Seattle star Richard Sherman, Woolen originally played receiver for the Roadrunners, catching 24 passes for 263 yards and a touchdown before reluctantly transitioning to cornerback late in his sophomore season. Making substantial strides over the past two years at his new position, he received All-Conference USA honorable mention distinction as a senior last season while helping the program post an 11-1 record.
A rare size/speed talent at the cornerback position, Woolen stands 6-foot-4 with 33 5/8-inch arms and oozes with athletic traits. Only a few weeks after improving his stock at the Senior Bowl, he ran one of the fastest 40-yard dash times in NFL combine history at 4.26 seconds and also posted a 42-inch vertical jump in Indianapolis, basically jumping out of Lucas Oil Stadium.
Given his elite speed, it shouldn't come as a surprise Woolen's wheels show up on film flipping his hips to turn and run while carrying vertical routes downfield. While his targeting in press coverage needs refinement at the line of scrimmage, few receivers have enough burst to create separation against him on fade and go routes and his long arms allow him to interrupt passing lanes at the top of routes to generate pass deflections.
One of the other benefits of Woolen's world class speed is his ability to quickly recover when a receiver beats him, particularly in the intermediate passing game. For a player of his height, he has fluid hips and above-average change of direction skills that allow him to make up ground quickly in pursuit and limit yards after the catch in coverage.
Of course, Woolen's lack of experience at cornerback shows up in a variety of ways, Somewhat surprisingly considering his prior receiver background, he plays with his back to the quarterback far too often and struggled to track the football through the air. He was fortunate a few times as a senior being able to react to the receiver's hands to make a last-second pass deflection after failing to find the ball through the air and his ball production was limited overall.
Aside from his tracking skills, Woolen will need coached up on proper depth dropping into zones and remains in the early stages of his development understanding the schematics of his position. He had several opportunities to make a play on the football last year, but delayed reactions to route concepts out of his zone drop led to easy completions against him.
Looking at other facets of his game, Woolen has been hit-and-miss as a tackler since transitioning to cornerback. He often comes in hot looking to make a kill shot on ball carriers, playing out of control without properly breaking down to make the tackle and often failing to wrap up. On the plus side, he proved to be a fun weapon for the Roadrunners as a blitzer in limited opportunities and early in his career, he could be used as a sub-package defender in this capacity.
Based on his rare athletic tools, Woolen will come to Seattle with an incredibly high ceiling and immense potential. But as far as early expectations go, with Sidney Jones, Artie Burns, Tre Brown, and Bryant all on the roster, he will be hard-pressed to see the field on defense as a rookie aside from situational packages and will need to carve out a role on special teams from the outset while he develops.
If he takes to the coaching from Carroll and defensive backs coach Karl Scott, however, Woolen could eventually become a starter for the Seahawks in the secondary. As long as he's not forced into action too early and given adequate time to develop, he could continue to follow Sherman's path with Pro Bowl upside.
