Seahawks: 15 best defensive backs in franchise history
By Lee Vowell
Number 11: Seahawks cornerback Shaquill Griffin, 2017-2000
Number 11 is a player who I still wish was with Seattle. Shaquill Griffin now plays for the Jacksonville Jaguars but can you imagine a cornerback group for the Seahawks that includes Griffin, Tariq Woolen and Coby Bryant? That would be good in 2022 but good in 2025 too. Griffin wasn’t perfect in his time with Seattle, but he did make a Pro Bowl in 2019.
One of the issues with Griffin is he didn’t create turnovers. Of the players on this list, Griffin is likely to have the first interceptions per snaps played. In his first three seasons for Seattle, he had a total of 3 picks. But just looking at that number does a disservice to Griffin.
Griffin has always played bigger than his size. He isn’t small at 6 feet tall but he plays with a physicality that is closer to Richard Sherman than most other cornerbacks. He’s always been a solid tackler (one reason that Seattle could use him this year is that the tackling has been atrocious). In his final year with the Seahawks in 2020, Griffin missed just 6 percent of his attempted tackles. That’s good for a CB.
Griffin was taken in the third round by Seattle in 2017. At the time it was the highest that Seattle had chosen a CB since Pete Carroll and John Schneider came to Seattle in 2010. Who knows? Maybe one day he will work his way back to Seattle.