Seattle Seahawks: Legion of Whom? New Faces in the Hawks Secondary

The New Guys

Of the new secondary, Three-fifths of are not returning starters from last year. Only Shaquill Griffin and Justin Coleman have started games for the Seahawks. 2017 was their debut year with Seattle. Griff is in his second professional season, Coleman his fourth.

The other three starters are Bradley McDougald (six-year pro), Tedric Thompson (second-year pro), and Tre Flowers (rookie) are all playing relatively well. Thompson, the most recent player addition, came in to replace the injured Earl Thomas III and has played lights out. Pete Carroll told reporters that Thompson had the best training camp of any player.

Corners

Shaquill Griffin, who was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks last year, currently has more interceptions in the first five weeks of this season than he had in the 15 games (11 starts) he played last season. Griffin started last year opposite of Richard Sherman and has worked his way up to the Seahawks top cover corner after the departure of Sherman. Shaquill’s twin brother has two interceptions and 21 tackles on the season through 2018’s first five weeks.

Justin Coleman, who played for the New England Patriots, was traded to the Seattle Seahawks in 2017. He played all 16 games (five starts) last season and recorded two pick-sixes. So far this year he has only started one game but played in all five during situational plays, as the nickel back on passing downs. Coleman has defended three passes this year and has one fumble recovery and nine tackles.

Rookie Tre Flowers has played in four games and started all four games, missing one with an injury. Flowers, a safety in college, was drafted by the Seahawks this year and has earned himself the starting cornerback job opposite of Shaquill Griffin. Flowers has three passes defended, one forced fumble, and 25 total tackles in four games. He definitely seems like one of the better draft-picks from this year.