Seahawks Offseason Profile: Tre Flowers

After battling inconsistencies in his first NFL season, Seattle received more of the same from Flowers in 2019. If he doesn't take a step forward, could the lengthy cornerback end up losing his starting role next season?

Following Tre Flowers’ surprising rookie campaign, the Seahawks were hoping that their young cornerback would take the next step in his development during this past season.

Unfortunately for Seattle, Flowers failed to live up to expectations during the 2019 campaign. As a result, the second-year pro remained extremely inconsistent and showed only marginal improvements starting across from Shaquill Griffin.

Let’s revisit some of the good and the bad from Flowers’ sophomore NFL season, along with a prediction of how next season may play out for him as he enters his third year in the league.

What Went Right

Despite Flowers’ inconsistent performance in 2019, he was still able to generate some encouraging results during his second season in the league.

Overall, the Oklahoma State product played in 15 regular season games and produced a career-high 82 total tackles (tied for second-most among all cornerbacks), eight pass deflections (tied for 33rd), three interceptions, and 2.0 sacks, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com.

In addition, Flowers’ production level started to increase midway through Seattle's season, starting with a Week 10 victory in San Francisco.

Through the first eight games of the season, Flowers produced just three pass deflections and one interception. Then, the former college safety generated five pass deflections, two interceptions, two sacks, and a forced fumble during the final seven games of the regular season, finishing on a strong note.

After struggling mightily in coverage during the 2018 campaign, Flowers was able to slightly improve in many metrics. In total, he allowed a 60.4 percent catch rate (2.9 percent decrease from 2018), 72.5 passer rating (34.4 decrease), 11.6 yards per catch (2.5 yards fewer) and surrendered just one touchdown.

What Went Wrong

While Flowers made improvements in coverage this past season, he was still a liability at times defending the passing game for Seattle.

During the 2019 season, the 6-foot-3 cornerback allowed 61 receptions (10th-most among all cornerbacks in the league), 708 receiving yards (18th-most) and he gave up 287 yards after the catch (10th-most).

Along with his woes in coverage, Flowers also struggled getting ball carriers to the ground during his sophomore season. After missing 10 tackles in 2018, that total rose to 15 during this past season, the most missed tackles among all cornerbacks in the NFL.

Furthermore, Flowers failed to avoid costly penalties during the 2019 campaign, especially late in the season and the playoffs. Despite being in good position to make a play, he drew two critical pass interference penalties against the Eagles in the wild card round.

Among all cornerbacks in the NFL, Flowers finished tied for the second-most penalties committed (nine), according to NFL-Penalties.com. In addition, seven of his nine penalties were called for pass interference, which was the highest total among all defensive backs in the league.

2020 Outlook

So far this offseason, the Seahawks haven't made any moves to add a cornerback in free agency as a means to push Flowers for his starting job, but they could look for competition by selecting one in the upcoming NFL draft.

Regardless of what happens over the next several weeks, Seattle will need their young cornerback to drastically improve next season.

In comparison to Flowers’ two seasons in the league, there have been just nine cornerbacks who have produced at least 120 solo tackles, 14 pass deflections, three interceptions along with two forced fumbles through their first two seasons in the league.

Among the players that are listed above, only Eric Wright, Chris Gamble, Devin McCourty, and Terence Newman recorded at least 50 solo tackles, 10 pass deflections, and three interceptions in their third season in the NFL.

Assuming he stays healthy and improves from a discipline and technique standpoint, Flowers should have a good opportunity to become the fifth player in league history to record those metrics next season. If he’s successful, there’s also a chance the Seahawks could have one of the most improve secondaries in the NFL in 2020.