Seahawks Cody Barton will become the center of the universe

Forget what you see in 2019, 12s. Seahawks rookie linebacker Cody Barton will become a special player in a Seattle uniform.

Cody Barton is a Swiss Army knife of a linebacker. If you look at his statistics from college, he did not really stand out in an one area but did a lot of things well. The Seahawks love this in their linebackers. All offseason, though, Barton has made a great impression on anyone who has watched him.

Need Barton to play special teams? He will and do so well. In fact, Barton most likely will play on a lot of special teams reps this year and make an impact. He can do so much more, however. On Tuesday in practice, Barton covered Tyler Lockett when Lockett lined up in the backfield and took off on a post route.

Barton did not cover Lockett all the way downfield, but he did the smart thing. When Lockett left the backfield, Barton gave Lockett a nudge. Barton had the play read and that is special for any rookie, let alone a third-round pick out of Utah who is really just supposed to be playing special teams this year.

As Barton told 710 ESPN Seattle’s Danny, Dave and Moore Show, “They had (Lockett) in the backfield, in the running back position to get a mismatch. I was like, ‘He’s probably gonna go deep,’ so I just stayed back and once he turned I just rammed him.”

What has separated recent great Seahawks from other mortals, players like Doug Baldwin and Richard Sherman, is not their physical ability but their intelligence. This is what will separate Barton too. It won’t happen this year as Seattle linebacker group is far too experienced and talented for Barton to break through much.

In three seasons, though, I expect Barton will be a starter at linebacker. He already has figured out what the defensive play calls are, enough to call them out in practice. Now Barton just needs to apply that mental ability to the real speed of the NFL. He will do that well eventually and be a star in Seattle.