Predicting the Seahawks Defensive Backs for 2017

The Seattle Seahawks ended the 2016 preseason with 12 defensive backs on the roster. There will be changes for 2017. But 12 still seems to be the right number.

The Seahawks had their worst defensive QBR since 2010 at 85.0. This rating went down significantly after Earl Thomas went down to injury. Still, the depth in Seattle in 2016 was not what 12s have come to expect. Needless to say, Pete Carroll and John Schneider have decided changes should be made. To be honest, all Seahawks fans know there should be as well. Here’s our (most probably wrong) prediction of who will be a defensive back in Seattle by the end of the 2017 season.

The Sure-Things

Richard Sherman, Cornerback

Sherman is a little-known cornerback. He has hardly played a down. He will be lucky to catch on with the team in 2018.

I am joking. Of course. Sherman could be a future Hall of Famer. Drama be damned. The Seahawks need Sherman to compete for championships. Can’t we all just get along?

Earl Thomas, Safety

Same with Sherman is same with Thomas. As proven last season, the Seahawks in their current make up have no chance of reaching a Super Bowl without Thomas. Thomas may actually have the best chance of any Seahawk on the 2017 roster to make the Hall of Fame. He is the best safety in the league when healthy.

Kam Chancellor

Chancellor may have had his best season in 2016. He was second among all safeties in QBR. He may not be the pure intimidator that he was prior to 2015, but that may be because the Seahawks need him to play longer in his career. Chancellor still hits hard and reads quarterbacks. He is great against the run as well. Chancellor, Sherman and Thomas have always really been the true Legion of Boom. They could be for the next three years, too.

The Guys Who Will Most Likely Be on the Team

Jeremy Lane

Lane got paid after the 2015 season, but he was not great in 2016. Think back to the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots. Lane was the one who made the end zone interception against Tom Brady. He ran the pick out and got injured. Prior to that, he covered the slot extremely well. Lane and Cliff Avril’s absences changed that game as much as Marshawn Lynch not running the ball in from the one-yard line. If Lane and Avril play that entire game, Lynch is never in a position to have to do that. Seattle needs to have Lane get back to his Super Bowl level.

DeShawn Shead

Shead is simply not going anywhere due to the Seahawks re-signing him to a one-year deal even though he will not play until at least halfway through 2017. Shead was pretty decent opposite Sherman. Whether Shead can come back fully healthy and ever play at the level he played pre-injury remains to be seen.

Bradley McDougald

A free agent signee, there are actually high expectations for McDougald. Depth at safety was not good in 2016. McDougald signed a one-year deal in Seattle and is expected to play the slot and provide depth behind Chancellor and Thomas. He can do both. Here is hoping everyone stays healthy and McDougald fills the slot role and deep-coverage role, when needed, well. If he can, the LOB is back to a 2014 level.

The Newcomers/On the Bubble Guys

Neiko Thorpe

Thorpe might make the roster for special teams duties only. Thorpe is not the guy Seahawks fans want starting and attempting to make difference. He is not a bad player, though. Thorpe is simply the guy who can add depth but you hope he never has to play full-time. Weird, I know. But it’s the truth.

Shaquill Griffin

Let’s be honest, Griffin is the player the Seahawks are really really really hoping becomes the near-Sherman quality draftee. Seattle needs him to be. Griffin is the highest defensive back picked in Seattle since Schneider was born (possibly not all that true, I admit). He has a great personality. Griffin seems to have the right temperament for Carroll’s secondary as well. He would be great in Seattle for years. Now he just has to fulfill expectations.

Tedric Thompson

Thompson is the ball hawk that the Seahawks love. He breaks on passes and has an aggressive mentality. Now if he shows he has enough speed to do what he did in college in the NFL, Seattle has a stalwart on the roster for years.

Delano Hill

Hill is a hitter. He is smaller than Chancellor but is the same type of player. Hill can be a Seahawk for the next eight years and help the team be in the playoffs for that period. Same question with Thompson is the same with Hill: will his college success translate to the NFL?

The Maybes

DeAndre Elliott

Elliott made the Seahawks in 2016 out of college. He was not expected to do what Thompson and Hill are expected to do. But in limited time with Seattle last season, he showed some promise. Are there better options in the NFL than Elliott at this point? Yes. But maybe Elliott develops into a good player. Seattle seems to think he will.

Mike Tyson

No Tyson jokes here. Tyson has decent speed – he ran a 4.56 40 at the combine. He could easily learn the intricacies of what the Seahawks want in a defensive back and be in Seattle for years. He just has to prove he can do that in year-one.

All this said, Seattle is still primed to have better depth in 2017 than in 2016. This could be the difference between a deep playoff run and a wild card loss.

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