Seahawks 53-Man Roster Prediction: Take 1
By Justin Floor
CORNERBACK
Contenders: Marcus Burley, DeAndre Elliot, George Farmer, Stanley Jean-Baptiste, Jeremy Lane, Jamal Marshall, Trovon Reed, Richard Sherman, Tharold Simon, Tye Smith
Winners: Sherman, Lane, Burley, Simon, Smith
Practice Squad: Elliot
The Skinny: The Seahawks have an issue with depth here. Sherman is great, Lane is solid and Burley defends well in the slot versus similarly undersized slot receivers. Beyond that you have a whole bunch of guys that fit the 32” arm length profile but have not relayed their ideal size to actually playing the position of cornerback effectively.
Tharold Simon has been injured seemingly every day since he was drafted and can’t be counted on to be anything except a backup in this, his last year under contract. Tye Smith came to the program whispy thin and unable to contain anything or anyone in the run game. Has he built his body up enough to withstand the rigors of the league? The team hopes so. But that’s the problem with the carousel of corners that make their way into the program- it’s all finger-crossing and hoping and not enough success with development the last few years, which leads to horrific decisions to sign washed up clods like Cary Williams.
By now you would have hoped at least one of Simon, SJB, Farmer or the players that are already gone (Mo Seisay) had broken away from the pack and seized the CB2 job opposite Sherman. It hasn’t happened and until it does, Lane will be forced to play outside instead of being naturally placed at his best position- slot corner. If someone, anyone, can take a leap in play and earn CB2 duties, this secondary could once again be lethal to opponents.
Maybe DeAndre Elliot can develop into that player, but it’s a steep learning curve for any CB in Seattle’s step-kick style of press man coverage. Elliot starts out on the $6,000/week PS.
Next: Safety First!