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Had the 2017 draft played out differently, Ahkello Witherspoon might have began his career as a member of the Seahawks.
Pete Carroll was a fan of the cornerback s game coming out of Colorado, and the Seahawks brought Witherspoon in for a pre-draft visit, but if Seattle was hoping to get him in the third round or later, they missed their chance with the 49ers selecting him with the second pick of the third round.
Four years later, however, Witherspoon is a Seahawk, having signed with Seattle in free agency earlier this spring, and he called the decision kind of a no-brainer given his familiarity with the organization, the style of Seattle s defense, and the city s relative proximity to his hometown of Sacramento.
Post-Draft Ranking of Seahawks Positional Needs
Which positions could the Seahawks still use upgrades at? Ty Dane Gonzalez ranks the seven they should prioritize over the course of the summer.
Author:
May 25, 2021
Last month, I ranked the Seahawks positional needs entering the 2021 NFL Draft. Over the course of the three-day event, general manager John Schneider and his staff hit on three of the needs I mentioned in the list with the selections of receiver D Wayne Eskridge, cornerback Tre Brown, and offensive tackle Stone Forsythe.
However, nearly a month removed from the draft, there are still areas along Seattle s roster that could use improvement or much-needed depth or both. The Seahawks, of course, don t have a ton of salary cap space to work with ($6.6 million in effective cap, per OverTheCap.com) to address every single remaining need of theirs. At least, they don t appear willing to pull the necessary levers - restructuring Bobby Wagner and/or Russell Wilson s con
That is unless rookie Tre Brown or someone else beats him out.
What makes those possibilities such a departure from Seattle s norm? Reed is 5-foot-9 and 193 pounds; Brown 5-10, 188.
Times are changing in a secondary once known for its oversized cornerbacks.
It s not that they no longer prefer big bodies such as Richard Sherman and the similarly built players who started opposite him during the Legion of Boom days. But they ve loosened what used to be fairly rigid size specifications for that position.
It started to become apparent when they played Reed on the outside in the second half of last season. It became clear when they drafted Brown in the fourth round out of Oklahoma with the second of their league-low three draft picks.
That is unless rookie Tre Brown or someone else beats him out.
What makes those possibilities such a departure from Seattle s norm? Reed is 5-foot-9 and 193 pounds; Brown 5-10, 188.
Times are changing in a secondary once known for its oversized cornerbacks.
It s not that they no longer prefer big bodies such as Richard Sherman and the similarly built players who started opposite him during the Legion of Boom days. But they ve loosened what used to be fairly rigid size specifications for that position.
It started to become apparent when they played Reed on the outside in the second half of last season. It became clear when they drafted Brown in the fourth round out of Oklahoma with the second of their league-low three draft picks.