Seahawks trade for Quniton Dunbar who may be perfect Seattle cornerback
By Lee Vowell
The Seahawks finally made a big move since free agency started and well, made a trade. Seattle will bring in Quinton Dunbar to help reform the LOB.
12s are still waiting on the Seahawks to make a big free-agent signing to help the pass rush. Possibly they are even salivating over the potentiality of said signing. This must be a lot like how Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, possibly the best secondary coach in the history of the NFL, felt when he watched film of Quinton Dunbar to the last few years. Dunbar might just be the perfect specimen of what a Carroll cornerback should be. And the Seahawks traded for Dunbar on Monday.
To get Dunbar from the Redskins, Seattle reportedly gave up a fifth-round pick in the 2020 NFL draft. I can live with that. The Seahawks get some of their best players in the fifth round, like Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor, so in a weird way getting Dunbar for a fifth-round pick is a bit like drafting Dunbar in the fifth round of this year’s draft.
According to Pro Football Focus, Dunbar was the second-highest graded cornerback in the NFL in 2019 with a grade of 87.6. Third-best was graded at 84.2 so there was a big difference between Dunbar and nearly everyone else. Dunbar was the second-highest graded as far as pass coverage is concerned.
The worry about Dunbar for the Seahawks is that he gets hurt a lot. Since coming into the league in 2015 as an undrafted receiver (yes, that last part is true and not a mistake), Dunbar has not played a full season. In fact, in the last two years out of a possible 36 games, Dunbar has played exactly half of them. That number is 18 for those of you doing math at home.
Comp update: Seahawks are sending Washington a 5th-round pick in exchange for CB Quinton Dunbar, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 23, 2020
So Redskins trade a 5 for QB Kyle Allen, get back a 5 for Dunbar.
But the upside of Dunbar is worth taking a risk on. Shaquill Griffin was good in 2019 and should be again. Tre Flowers struggled at the end of the season. Assuming Dunbar stays healthy and paired with Griffin, that is one of the better cornerback duos in the league. Flowers gets relegated to something else. Big nickel?
Next. Three best Seahawks games of all-time. dark
Why is Dunbar, who had 4 interceptions in 11 games in 2019, the perfect Pete Carroll corner? Because Dunbar is 6’2″ and 200 pounds with an arm span of 32.5 arm length. Anything less than 32 inches and Carroll usually passes. Dunbar is tall, athletic and with arms long enough to pick off passes. He is a perfect fit, again, if healthy, with the Seahawks.
Grade: A-