Rookie CB Coby Bryant making a statement in Seahawks training camp

The Seattle Seahawks need some of their rookies to make immediate impacts in 2022. Cornerback Coby Bryant is well on his way to doing that.

To be honest, I thought that one of the 2022 starting CB spots was taken already. I assumed Sidney Jones IV would lock down the left corner position and the battle would be on the right side between rookie Coby Bryant and second-year pro Tre Brown.

Based on reports from training camp and snippets of Bryant’s play, I was wrong. Not only is Bryant playing as well, if not better, than any other cornerback in Seahawks camp, but he is also making a real run at displacing Jones and be the starter on the left side.

So far in camp (and we are just a few days in), Jones and fellow vet Artie Burns have been getting first-string reps. Jones makes sense as he was pretty good in the second half of the season for the Seahawks in 2021. But Burns shouldn’t be a starter and probably shouldn’t even make the active Week 1 roster; He’s not good.

Coby Bryant might be practicing his way into being a Week 1 starter for the Seahawks

But Bryant could be great long-term and really good in the short-term. He has excellent size at 6’1″ and 200 pounds. The only real question coming into the 2022 NFL draft was his outright speed.

But in training camp on Saturday, Bryant batted three passes away, covered downfield extremely well, and on one very notable play, he posted up with 6’7″ tight end Colby Parkinson and met Parkinson on a decently thrown pass and Bryant lept in the air and knocked the pass down.

That last play alone shows the kind of athleticism that Bryant has. Plus, good technique can be taught so that maybe not being as fast as, say, Tariq Woolen, can be overcome by great positioning. Bryant also has high-level experience in college so his transition to the NFL shouldn’t be as steep as players like Woolen.

The Seahawks need a cornerback like Bryant. He not only is smart with good size but he plays with ferocity and doesn’t mind hitting opposing players hard. He isn’t as big as Richard Sherman but he has the same kind of mentality. Bryant might find his way into starting Week 1 and holding down a CB spot for the Seahawks for the next 8 years. He’s played that well in training camp.