'Blessed' With Opportunity, Gavin Heslop Emerges as Viable Contender in Seahawks' CB Competition
RENTON, WA - Jumping from the FCS level where he starred at Stony Brook and earned All-CAA honors to the NFL, Gavin Heslop faced a seemingly impossible task attempting to make a 53-man roster last season.
Like most undrafted rookies entering the league during an unprecedented season amid a pandemic, Heslop would be thrown to the wolves at Seahawks training camp - if there actually was one - without the benefit of a traditional offseason program. Thanks to COVID-19, OTAs and minicamps were nixed, initially postponed before ultimately being canceled.
Making the situation even tougher on undrafted players like Heslop, the NFL also decided to axe preseason games to avoid unnecessary travel and limit chances for spreading the virus, thus eliminating a critical showcase for player evaluation by coaches around the league.
Due to an injury suffered during the early stages of camp, Heslop was forced to focus on the mental aspect of the game. Already deprived of invaluable reps during the spring, all he could do was watch from the sideline sporting a mask and absorb what he could observing veterans such as Shaquill Griffin and Tre Flowers honing their craft.
“The biggest challenge for me was adjusting to speed and the opportunity to swim, to learn a playbook." Heslop said when asked about the difficulties of preparing for his rookie season. "I had to get adjusted really fast, especially without the OTAs and stuff last year, so I had to learn all that stuff on the fly during camp."
Though Heslop had recovered from his injury, Seattle expectedly cut him in early September as the team trimmed its roster from 80 to 53 players for the regular season. But even after missing the majority of camp, the team felt he offered enough promise to warrant re-signing him as a member of the practice squad.
Possessing good size (6-foot, 190 pounds), length (32-inch arms), and a high football IQ, Heslop checked off several key boxes the Seahawks look for at the cornerback position. While he didn't have an interception at the college level, he had proven himself as a capable tackler with quality ball skills at Stony Brook, finishing his career with 196 combined tackles, 30 pass deflections, and four forced fumbles.
Given his size and football skills, it's not surprising coach Pete Carroll wanted to keep Heslop in Seattle's program and see how he developed. He spent the entirety of the season on the practice squad, earning a call-up to the active roster and dressing for a single game against Miami in Week 4 without playing any snaps.
Pleased with Heslop's progress, the Seahawks re-signed him to a future/reserve deal back in January. With the return of OTAs and minicamps, he continued to lean on his veteran teammates for guidance and soaked up all the knowledge he could like a sponge, putting himself in full command of the team's defensive scheme.
“It’s like night and day. I know every call, I know where I’m supposed to be positioned, so all I have to do is go out there and make plays and play fast," Heslop smiled.
Throughout training camp, Heslop has done just that, taking advantage of every chance afforded to him at a highly-competitive position group. Battling his tail off at left outside cornerback as well as in the slot and on special teams, he's gotten his hands on several passes during scrimmages and reaffirmed his ability as tackler, finding his way into the backfield for run stops such as the one he made in Wednesday's practice to help stifle a jet sweep.
Those type of plays carried over into the preseason opener in Las Vegas, as Heslop stood out as a rare bright spot for a Seattle secondary that struggled most of the evening in a 20-7 loss. While he gave up four receptions on six targets, he made an outstanding play avoiding pass interference covering Raiders receiver Marcell Ateman on a slant pattern, reaching out with his right arm to break up the pass. He also flashed as a run defender, wrapping up B.J. Emmons behind the line of scrimmage for a tackle for loss.
Cherishing his first NFL game action and thrilled to have fans back in the stands, Heslop called the opportunity a "dream come true."
"[The fans were] definitely a benefit, just the energy and the excitement of things coming back to normal," Heslop remarked. "I just have to be thankful, I'm grateful for my teammates. They've been very supportive, just being able to pick everybody's brain and having that time just to build and learn and allow me to play it back.”
When asked which teammates have provided the most guidance for him during his NFL journey thus far, Heslop didn't name any one particular player. As echoed by other cornerbacks such as D.J. Reed and Ahkello Witherspoon earlier in camp, though they are entrenched in an intense competition, they are all pushing to help one another and bring out the best in everyone.
"I can't even single anybody out," Heslop said. "Because I've come to everybody for points and tips, anything that I need to be a better player. I go to everybody and everybody welcomes me with open arms. I'm so lucky everybody in the room has been helpful to me."
Benefiting from lessons shared in a tight cornerback group, Heslop has also reaped the rewards of being coached by former Seahawks defensive back Deshawn Shead, who joined the coaching staff prior to this season as a defensive assistant.
Taking a similar path leaping from FCS competition to the NFL, Shead originally signed with the Seahawks out of Portland State as an undrafted free agent in 2012. Like Heslop, he was waived during final roster cuts and spent his entire first season on the practice squad, failing to see a single snap in a regular season game. One year later, he played in the team's 43-8 Super Bowl XLVIII victory over the Broncos and he eventually became a starter at cornerback in 2016.
With Shead serving as proof a seemingly improbable route from a smaller college program to the NFL can be successfully navigated, Heslop is grateful to have such an invaluable resource at his disposal and hopes he can follow in his footsteps by earning a spot on the 53-man roster at some point in his second season.
"It's been great. He doesn't even know, I've been playing with him in Madden," Heslop laughed. "Just knowing he's an undrafted guy and now he's my coach and I can pick his brain. Every question that I have for him, he's answered. He doesn't hesitate to help me, anything that I need he's given to me. He's been great to have around."
Given Seattle's depth at cornerback, Heslop continues to face an uphill climb to earn a spot on the 53-man roster. To this point, he's primarily been working with the second and third-team defensive groupings along with several special teams units during camp and still has ground to make up on the competition over the next two weeks.
But just as he would try to do sticking to a receiver in coverage, Heslop isn't about to let the gravity of the situation shake him. As Carroll famously loves to say, on an individual level, he has been presented with a "championship opportunity." If he's able to build off of a stellar performance in Las Vegas in the final two preseason games and finishes training camp on a strong note, he could emerge as this year's Penny Hart and be a surprise inclusion on the Seahawks Week 1 roster.
"I try to not put that pressure on myself, and I'm just taking a day by day and letting God just guide me and direct me where I need to be. Just leaving it all in God's hands and just seeing what happens after this preseason is done. I'm just extremely blessed and grateful that I'm allowed to play this game. There's not a lot of people in the world that have this opportunity, but I'm here. I'm one of them, so I'm grateful."
