As was the case a year earlier when Shaquill Griffin left in free agency, the Seahawks secondary took a hit this offseason when D.J. Reed signed with the Jets, but while his play will be missed, the Seahawks definitely won’t head into camp feeling like they’re lacking in quality options at corner.
Sidney Jones IV, a former second-round pick out of the University of Washington who had a rough start to his career in large part due to injuries, enjoyed his best season last year after returning to Seattle, starting 11 games and playing in 16—both career highs—while recording 10 passes defensed, which was tied for the team lead, and 66 tackles.
Based off of what we saw in offseason workouts, Jones is one of the leading candidates for a starting job heading into camp, having spent most of his time with the No. 1 defense opposite free-agent acquisition Artie Burns. A former first-round pick out of Miami, Burns started six games for the Bears last season and played some of the best football of his five-year career under then Bears defensive coordinator Sean Desai, who is now part of Pete Carroll’s coaching staff as the team’s associate head coach-defense.
But while those two saw the most work with the starting defense in offseason workouts, they are by no means locked into those starting spots, not with several talented young players pushing them for playing time.
If he can get back in time for the start of training camp or close to it, second-year corner Tre Brown will be a strong candidate for a starting spot. A 2021 fourth-round pick out of Oklahoma, Brown was enjoying a strong camp before being sidelined by a knee injury, then when he got back from that injury, he ended up winning a starting job for three games before a knee injury ended his season.
The Seahawks also used two draft picks on intriguing cornerback prospects, Cincinnati’s Coby Bryant, who won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back, and Texas-San Antonio’s Tariq Woolen, a 6-foot-4 corner…
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