Eric Pinkins should use size, skill to play corner for Seahawks

Eric Pinkins stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 220 pounds. That’s about the same size as receivers Alshon Jeffery and Julio Jones and just a little bit bigger than Miles Austin.

Richard Sherman is the same height, but Pinkins has the physical build of Kam Chancellor.

And he hits like him too.

In fact, at San Diego State, Pinkins played the game a lot like Kam Chancellor and played a similar “Warrior” position. Hit-stick anyone?

Now that Pinkins is a member of the Seahawks, the team is looking to play him as a corner back, rather than safety, where he played his most of his college career.

It’s not official that that’s where he will be moved, but it would be the best fit for Pinkins.

The Seahawks have Sherman and Byron Maxwell as the projected starters next season, but Pinkins could rotate in if he proves his worth defending big receivers one-on-one.

Seattle has faith in him. And it’s hard not to notice the fact that Pinkins was assigned the jersey No. 39, which was formerly the number of another big-play, big-hit corner in Seattle — Brandon Browner.

With receivers getting bigger and bigger (Mike Evans from Texas A&M is 6-foot-5), it could really help Seattle’s defense to have corner’s that match the size and speed of the opposition.

And Pinkins is ridiculously athletic as well. He ran a 4.44 40-yard dash and recorded a 39 1/2-inch vertical jump at his Pro Day.

Pinkins hasn’t played corner since his high school days in Sacramento, but he says he would be willing to play the position if that’s where the Seahawks want him.

“I’m an athlete,” he said to the Seattle Times. “So I’ll play wherever they want me to play.”

Hopefully, one day that’s alongside Richard Sherman in front of Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas in the Legion of Boom.

Let’s see how he fares in training camp first, though.