Seahawks signing Justin Coleman immediately fixes slot corner issue

The Seattle Seahawks reportedly signed Justin Coleman on Wednesday and Coleman’s return to Seattle fixes a long-term issue at slot cornerback. In fact, Seattle has had a problem at nickelback since Coleman left in free agency after the 2018 season.

Last year with the Miami Dolphins, Coleman posted a QBR-allowed of just 63.4. He allowed 24 of his 38 targets to be completed but for just 7.3 yards per target. Coleman also didn’t allow a touchdown pass but did intercept 2 passes.

Compare those numbers to the Seahawks slot corner for most of last season, Ugo Amadi, and Coleman is clearly an upgrade. Amadi’s QBR-allowed was 97.1 and allowed 78.7 percent of his targets to be completed. Coleman allowed on average fewer yards after the receiver caught the ball as well.

Seahawks bring back Justin Coleman in solid move

Of course, Amadi the last two years has only gotten the majority of the snaps in the slot after presumed starter Marquise Blair has gone down with injuries. Adding Coleman allows Blair to move back to safety as well. Blair won’t start at safety but has previously and was pretty decent doing so.

My worry with Coleman is that he does have outside corner experience as well. The Seahawks lost D.J. Reed in free agency and don’t really have someone ready to take Reed’s snaps. Tre Brown might but Brown also had knee surgery in 2021 so it isn’t clear he will be ready in Week 1 of 2022.

It could be that Seattle sees Coleman playing outside more than in the slot. This isn’t better for the team or the player as Coleman is much better at nickelback than he is an outside corner. With Detroit in both 2019 and 2020 when the Lions were trying Coleman a lot more outside, Coleman’s QBR-allowed was at least 102.9 with a high of 135 in 2020. Miami moved Coleman full-time back into the slot in 2021 and Coleman had arguably his best season in the NFL.

Seattle’s offense might be iffy heading into next season and Seattle still needs to find a better pass rush, but adding Coleman at least should mean better coverage. And better coverage should also help the pass rush.