Predicting the Seahawks secondary for the 2020 season

The Seahawks secondary overall wasn’t terrible in 2020. But they had to make an offseason move to be better. Who starts in 2020?

The Seahawks secondary is not what it was in the early in the 2010s but is there another secondary that ever existed quite like Seattle’s at the beginning of the last decade? Earl Thomas was the free safety. Likely a Hall of Famer. Richard Sherman was the left corner, likely a Hall of Famer too. Kam Chancellor was the strong safety and could be or should be in the Hall of Fame as well. It would be difficult for any secondary ever to compete with this group.

It would be unfair to compare the 2019 Seahawks secondary with the aforementioned group. But Seattle still had an 85.6 quarterback rating against this past year and this was good for 9th in the league. (To be fair, the 2013 Seattle secondary had a 63.4 quarterback rating against which led the NFL by nearly 11 percentage points.)

Can the 2020 Seattle secondary be better than the 2019 version? Maybe. Here are the projected starters in my brain and head and skull.

Left cornerback Shaquill Griffin

Shaquill Griffin was pretty good as a rookie, not good in his second year and then really good his third season. If he continues last year’s trend, he will become one of the top five cornerbacks in the NFL. Now he wants to cover the best receivers in the NFL and maybe Seattle should let him.

Right cornerback Tre Flowers

Tre Flowers is following the same path as Griffin which means he should be good In year three because he was pretty bad in 2019, his second season in the league. If he can be really good in 2020 then Seattle’s defense will be much better and possibly be good enough to get to the Super Bowl.

Slot corner Ugo Amadi

Amadi should have played sooner in his rookie season and Pete Carroll admitted to such. His lack of playing time until late in the season cost him growth and the team long-term. Amadi needs to be a starter at slot with his quickness and size, but his second season will almost be like a rookie year with the same aches and pains.

Strong safety Bradley McDougald

No offense to Bradley McDougald but he could end up being a roster cut due to his contract and the fact Seattle has Marquise Blair entering his second season. The problem for McDougald is that he follows Kam Chancellor and McDougald is no Chancellor. McDougald did play better once Seattle traded for Quandre Diggs, but for the Seahawks to be great at safety they need two who can play independently great and not have to rely on someone else being on the field to reach their potential.

Free safety Quandre Diggs

I have faith that a healthy Quandre Diggs playing a full season with the Seahawks will make the Seattle defense much better. Of course, Seattle needs to get some more pass rushers to help the secondary, and Diggs can’t make a defense great overall without some front push. But in five games with Seattle in 2019, Diggs had three interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown, a forced fumble and 21 tackles.