Seahawks Position Preview: Secondary
Who joins Spoon, Riq and Love in the back end of the new defense?
With Seahawks training camp kicking off on Wednesday, SeaTown Sports will be previewing all the position groups as fans gleefully await the season opener against the Denver Broncos on September 8th. Coming off a slightly disappointing season with a 9-8 record under Pete Carroll, fans are either full of optimism or at the very least intrigue with the change in coaching staff. Mike MacDonald (not the one below) comes in from Baltimore with a reputation for complex defensive schemes. In 2022 and 2023 as defensive coordinator for the Ravens, MacDonald’s defenses finished 7th and 1st in DVOA respectively. In fact, the Baltimore D ranked first in the NFL in points allowed, sacks, and takeaways in 2023. For Seahawks fans a dominant defense would bring nostalgia back to the Legion of Boom days and at the same time be a confusing and foreign sight after finishing 28th in defensive DVOA last year.
Even Sean McVay loves what Mike MacDonald does on defense. Not sure about his opinion on Yacht rock.
So clearly there is no better place to start our position previews than on that side of the ball. And if you are going to start with the defense, start where the most talent lives.
Defensive Backfield
Projected starters: Devon Witherspoon (CB), Tariq Woolen (CB), Julian Love (S), Rayshawn Jenkins (S)
Likely on the roster: Tre Brown (CB), K’Von Wallace (S)
Fighting for a spot: Michael Jackson (CB), Artie Burns (CB), Coby Bryant (S/CB), Nehemiah Pritchett (CB), D.J. James (CB), Jerrick Reed II (S)
The top end talent in the defensive backfield is quite exciting. Witherspoon excelled in his rookie year, especially at nickel. Some places will not officially list Witherspoon as a starter at corner because he spent so much time inside last year. However, in this new defense, expect Witherspoon to be used almost like a safety who roams and does all kinds of fun things for the Hawks. He will play inside, outside, near the line of scrimmage, and away from the action. You name it and you can expect Spoon to do it. On the other side, Tariq Woolen is exciting Seahawks coaches maybe even more than Witherspoon. Assistant coach Leslie Frazier sees Woolen as a potential lockdown corner who travels with the number one receiver on the other team. The young duo of Woolen and Witherspoon are regarded nationally as good, but not great. Pro Football Focus puts them both in the top 25 in the league but in the 20-25 range. For the Seahawks to make a jump defensively, one or both of these guys need to become true lockdown corners.
Meanwhile, many experts believe Julian Love will benefit the most by playing in MacDonald’s scheme. Love signed a three year extension on Wednesday, assuring the Seahawks of having a safety on the roster beyond 2024 (Love, Jenkins and Wallace all essentially were operating in the last year or only year of a contract). Coming off a Pro Bowl season, the coaches seem very excited to employ Love all over the field like they will Witherspoon. The combination of Witherspoon and Love should excite fans as you try to track where they are lining up and where they finish when the ball is snapped.
While Love, Riq and Spoon are all familiar enough, Rayshawn Jenkins is new to Seattle after signing a two year, $12 million deal. Without seeing how MacDonald will use Jenkins and Love, it is difficult to say who is the strong safety and who is the free safety. This might be exactly what MacDonald wants. The versatility between the two safeties allows for more disguised formations and more complex schemes. Jenkins played both positions in the past few years and also blitzed a career high 46 times last year.
The only sure things outside of those four starters are Tre Brown at corner and K’Von Wallace at safety. Wallace signed a free agent deal to provide safety depth and Brown is a potential starter when healthy. In fact, Tre Brown was the number one corner in the NFL in press coverage in 2023.
Michael Jackson might belong on this list as he started a good number of games last year, but those who follow the Seahawks closely are concerned for his role. Jackson’s roster spot might just be dependent on how the rookies look in camp. The Seahawks drafted two corners in Nehemiah Pritchett and D.J. James from Auburn. Pritchett is intriguing with good size and excellent speed (4.36 time in the 40). I would expect Pritchett will make it even if he doesn’t see a lot of snaps early in the season. D.J. James was a playmaker and full time starter in the SEC but doesn’t have the size or strength of Pritchett. If the Hawks keep five corners, it will come down to the rookies versus Jackson.
Coby Bryant will likely make the team due to his versatility as a corner and safety. Again, I would guess MacDonald will value that flexibility as he wants to disguise blitzes, formations and coverages. That would give the Seahawks four safeties, but I am guessing they keep five. The last spot would go to Jerrick Reed II if he can return soon enough from his ACL injury. It is hard to know when that will be but MacDonald did show optimism even if there is no timeline.
Overall, this group has a chance to be special. If the combination of Leslie Frazier, Mike MacDonald and Jeff Howard (defensive backs coach) can tap into the potential of Witherspoon and Woolen, it could be really fun to watch this defense. I am looking forward to anything different than two corners just allowing underneath throws chunk by chunk for 60 yards until the defense buckles down to try and allow a field goal. That defense was what I saw for the past three years and I will never get those Sundays back.
“I will never get those Sundays back”
Seahawks?! Is baseball season over yet?? (Don't answer that plzzes! ;p)