12th Man Rising
FanSided

Grading the Seahawks defensive starters through 13 games

By Lee Vowell

SEATTLE, WA - OCTOBER 07: Defensive End Frank Clark #55 of the Seattle Seahawks intercepts the ball in the first quarter against the Los Angeles Rams at CenturyLink Field on October 7, 2018 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - OCTOBER 07: Defensive End Frank Clark #55 of the Seattle Seahawks intercepts the ball in the first quarter against the Los Angeles Rams at CenturyLink Field on October 7, 2018 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images) /
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Shaquill Griffin of the Seahawks
(Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images) /

Secondary

This may no longer be the legendary Legion of Boom. Clearly, Seattle no longer has Thomas or Chancellor or Sherman. And while this team might be really young at almost every secondary position, the talent is still there. And that talent is getting better.

The great thing about any Pete Carroll secondary is how well they tackle. And while this unit has had issues at times in 2018, the potential is there to be intimidating. Especially Griffin and Flowers.

The corners are set for the next several years. Both Shaquill Griffin and Tre Flowers are under contract for at least the next two seasons. In fact, Flowers may end up being better than Griffin. And that is not a bad thing. Griffin could be a really good corner.

Flowers, though, is still learning the position fully and is getting good quickly. He may not yet be a Pro Bowl player. But with coaching from Carroll, Flowers could be a top corner in the NFL. Because we all know that Carroll is really the secondary coach in Seattle and probably the best secondary coach who ever walked the face of the Earth.

The highest rated corner, according to PFF, with the Seahawks is Justin Coleman. Coleman has scored three defensive touchdowns in two seasons with Seattle. His agent wants him to get a bigger contract and Coleman has earned that. Seattle needs to extend Coleman for several years. Now if only Coleman could work on his tackling, which at times is pretty poor.

At safety, Bradley McDougald has played like a Pro Bowl player. He has replaced Kam Chancellor exceedingly well. McDougald doesn’t hit like Chancellor, but he covers even better. After being ranked in the top-five safeties in the league at the beginning of the season, per PFF, McDougald has fallen. But just a bit to number 19. That is good.

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Lastly, Tedric Thompson hasn’t proven to be as good as Thomas. But he is also not as experienced and plays free safety differently. And really one could argue that Seattle simply doesn’t need the weighty contract of Thomas moving forward. With Thompson there is enough talent to move on from Thomas. Thompson will also only get better.

Grades

Coleman: B

Griffin: C+

Flowers: B

McDougald: B+

Thompson: B

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