Seahawks 90-Man Countdown: CB Tre Brown - Slot Audition Incoming?

Sidelined for more than half of the 2022 season due to a knee injury, Tre Brown only played a handful of defensive snaps upon his return and will now vie for snaps in a crowded Seattle Seahawks secondary without a clear starting role available.

Author:
Corbin K. Smith
Publish date:
Jun 29, 2023 5:16 PM EDT

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Seattle Seahawks

With the calendar flipping to June and offseason activities wrapping up league-wide, the Seattle Seahawks will open training camp at the VMAC in less than two months, officially ushering in the 2023 season.

To celebrate the new incoming season, we'll be detailing every member of the Seahawks 90-man roster over the next several weeks, exploring best and worst case scenarios and what to expect from each player entering the 2023 campaign.

Tre Brown, Cornerback

Height/Weight: 5-10, 185 pounds

2022 Stats: Three tackles

Joining the Seahawks as a fourth-round pick out of Oklahoma in the 2021 NFL Draft, Brown's NFL career got off to a tough start when a knee injury landed him on injured reserve late in his first training camp. But after sitting the first four games to recover, he quickly emerged as a viable starting option at cornerback, replacing Sidney Jones in the starting lineup in his third NFL game. Yielding a 47 percent completion rate in coverage and proving himself as a capable tackler in five games, he looked the part of a long-term option for a secondary that had played musical chairs at the position in recent years, only to suffer a season-ending patellar injury in Week 11.

Facing a lengthy rehab process, Brown opened training camp last August on the PUP list and didn't make his season debut until after Seattle's bye in Week 12, playing three defensive snaps in his first action in more than a calendar year. With rookie Tariq Woolen and Mike Jackson performing at a high level, he only played 21 defensive snaps in six games, casting questions about his fit on defense moving forward.

Best-Case Scenario: More than a year removed from knee surgery, Brown returns to his pre-injury form while seeing his first action working out of the slot during training camp and the preseason, carving out a situational role checking into the lineup in dime packages with six defensive backs on the field while playing extensive special teams snaps.

Worst-Case Scenario: Lost in the shuffle with an abundance of talent ahead of him on the depth chart on the outside, including rookie Devon Witherspoon, Brown maintains a spot on the 53-man roster as a reserve but rarely subs in on defense, limiting him near-exclusively to special teams duty.

What to Expect in 2023: After showing great promise as a rookie before suffering a severe knee injury, Brown will be motivated to prove he has made it all the way back competing in arguably the most talented position group on Seattle's roster. Possessing the physicality, quickness, and mindset to thrive inside, his best bet at earning snaps would be to transition to the slot position, but the team has yet to try him out there up to this point.

Even at full strength, unless the Seahawks intend to give him an audition in the nickel role to push Coby Bryant and Julian Love for snaps, Brown will have a difficult time finding his way on the field on defense with Woolen, Witherspoon, and Jackson all ahead of him on the depth chart at boundary cornerback. With that said, he has a lengthy track record of being a good special teams player dating back to college, including returning 55 kicks for the Sooners, which should open the door for him to still make a positive impact in a reserve role while providing quality insurance in the secondary.

Previous Seahawks 90-Man Profiles