Rookie Nick Emmanwori is likely out a few more weeks and Julian Love remains on the Seattle Seahawks injury report. Heading into Week 1, the safety position looked to be one of the Hawks’ biggest strengths. Now the back end of the defense is looking just a bit iffy.
Fortunately, neither injury appears to be very serious. Neither player has been placed on the injured list, which suggests the team expects them to return soon. But what to do in the interim?
Coby Bryant will be playing one of the safety roles when Seattle takes on New Orleans this Sunday. Ty Okada and D’Anthony Bell played a lot in the preseason, and both are capable of filling in if Love is out. But together, they have started just eight games in the NFL (all coming from Bell). If Seattle wants a similar player with a little more experience, they might want to take a look at Darrick Forest.
Young veteran could be a steadying presence as Seahawks’ get healthy
Actually, John Schneider is already considering the five-year veteran from the University of Cincinnati. Forest was reportedly in for a tryout last week. As of this writing, there has been no announcement about a contract offer.
Forest was a fifth-round draft pick by the Washington Commanders back in 2021. For a while, it looked as though he might develop into one of the better young free safeties in the league. In his second season, he teamed with Kamren Curl (now of the Rams) to be one of the few bright spots on a deteriorating Washington defense.
When Curl was hurt late in the year, Forest’s play seemed to slip. Then, he hurt himself in 2022 and missed much of his third season. His spot was taken by second-round draft pick Quan Martin, and Forest could not find his way back into the lineup.
A new coaching regime would eventually let both Forest and Curl depart. Forest signed with Buffalo but did not make their final roster. He briefly signed on with Indianapolis but didn’t stick there either.
Any team taking a chance on Forest at this point needs to make sure the injuries that have slowed him over the past few seasons have resolved and that he still has the same level of athleticism he showed back in 2021.
At that point, he offered a very good combination of size and speed. Though best suited to play deep, he has the requisite toughness and strength to play in the box, at least as part of a platoon.
That seems to fit what Mike Macdonald wants in his safeties. Coby Bryant and Julian Love play traditional free and strong safety spots much of the time, but the Seahawks’ defense values flexibility. They can switch it up, and Emmanwori can play virtually anywhere in the back seven. Forest can do that as well.
Physically, he is very similar to the Hawks’ starters, and he has 40 games and 17 starts on his resume. He has played under multiple defensive schemes and should be able to pick up a new system quickly.
There are other veteran safeties currently available. Justin Simmons is probably the best one out there. But Simmons doesn’t make sense, given that Seattle expects to have its front-line players back in the next several weeks.
Darrick Forest can provide the Seahawks with some immediate relief. Despite his experience, he is still just 26, so when Love and Emmanwori return to action, he can be a solid depth piece to stash at the end of the bench or on the practice squad.
Even if the Seahawks are happy with Okada and Bell, signing Darrick Forest is a low-risk option for adding some extra insurance at the back end of the defense.