Seahawks draft profile: Kevon Seymour, CB, USC

The Seattle Seahawks brought in Kevon Seymour for a private workout. This was a surprising move, since he doesn’t fit the profile of a Seattle CB.

USC cornerback Kevin Seymour isn’t a typical draft target for the Seattle Seahawks. They love cornerbacks with length, and two words that you’ll see in every scouting report on Seymour will be “short arms.” Imagine my surprise when this popped up on my timeline:

If the Seahawks are using one of their 30 private workouts on him, then it means that I need to do my homework and figure out how he might fit with the team.

The Basics

Height: 5 ft. 10 3/4 inches

Weight: 184 pounds

40 time: 4.39 seconds

3-cone: 6.81 seconds

The Tape

My Thoughts

My first thought when i heard that the Seahawks had brought in Seymour was “why?” He isn’t tall (5 ft 10 inches); he isn’t long (only 30 3/4 inch arms). He just doesn’t look like what the Seahawks look for in cornerbacks.

What Seymour has is speed for days. His 4.39 second 40-yard dash is only part of that story. His 6.81 second three cone shows that he has agility and quickness to go with that straight line speed.

While that speed and quickness are enticing, the team has never drafted a CB during the Pete Carroll era with arms under 32 inches. So why would they even bring him in for a workout?

Answering that question required some digging, but it led me to two possible explanations. The first is Marcus Burley. The Seahawks didn’t draft him, but they did trade for him. He is very similar in size to Seymour, including the short arms. Perhaps the Seahawks are willing to give up some length for a good slot corner.

The other player would be All-Pro safety Earl Thomas. Thomas is a half-inch shorter than Seymour, and his arms are a half-inch longer, but still under that 32-inch threshold. Thomas and Seymour posted similar combine numbers as well.

It is that second comparison that has me the most intrigued, and watching Seymour’s game tape didn’t let me down. He’s very instinctual when playing zone coverage. He can cover a lot of ground in a hurry, and does a good job of taking the proper angles to the ball.

Next: Seahawks looking to trade down in the draft?

That isn’t to say he is an Earl Thomas clone or anything. He’s 20 pounds lighter and no where near as physical of a defender. I’m just saying that the prospect of Seymour as a backup FS/slot CB combo is interesting, and not a bad fit for the Seahawks.