The 10 best cornerbacks in the history of the Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks have featured some truly great cornerbacks during their four-plus decades in the league. Casual fans think of the Legion of Boom, but true 12s know the tradition started much further back than that.

We will certainly take several trips down memory lane — although we won't likely visit Jeremy Lane. Love the man, love the game, but he didn't quite make the cutoff.

You may be a bit shocked at the players who did make the cut. Frankly, I was shocked once I dove into some of the stats from 17th-century players. Who knew bloodletting was an official stat for cornerbacks? I mean, for strong safeties, sure. But at cornerback? That's just weird.

Speaking of Mr. Lane, there are far too many honorable mentions to count. One I will mention is Devon Witherspoon. It would be ludicrous, even for me, to list a player with just one season under his belt. But with another comparable season, I can see how his inclusion would be justified. Yes, he's that good.

Now, you wanna see ludicrous? Don't worry. It's coming.

Criteria for selection

We love our stats in the NFL. While interceptions are certainly the flashiest stat, that's hardly the only criteria one should use when comparing cornerbacks. A corner's main job, like any defender, is to prevent the opposition from moving the chains. Sure, the best way is to pick off that pass, but it's far from the only way. A forced incompletion ranks pretty highly on a defensive coordinator's wishlist. A completion that doesn't yield a first down is pretty sweet, too.

Stats don't always tell the whole story, though, especially at cornerback. A great defender may see his interceptions drop over time because the opposing quarterbacks have learned that's where completions go to die. A lot of Seahawks opponents have learned that the hard way.

The top 10 cornerbacks in Seattle Seahawks history

10. Riq Woolen (2022-present)

I am well aware that many 12s are scratching their heads right now, as everyone on the planet (including us here at 12th Man Rising) has written about how far Woolen fell off from his outstanding rookie season. Yes, his performance did drop off. He still intercepted two passes, broke up 11 more, and forced another 10 incompletions, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

His passer rating allowed was 79.8, and his average yards per completion dropped from 12.3 as a rookie to 9.4 last season. Yes, he also missed far too many tackles and dropped three interceptions. I'm not saying he had a great season in 2023, but it wasn't exactly like the Hawks had Tedric Thompson out there. (Yes, I know he was a safety; calm down, detail sticklers). But add a decent season onto his stellar rookie campaign, and there's no way to leave him out of the Seahawks' top 10.

9. Patrick Hunter (1986-94)

Hunter leads off the wayback section of the Hawks' greatest corners. He was never named to the Pro Bowl and certainly won't be enshrined in Seattle's Ring of Honor. But he did play nine of his 10 NFL seasons with the Hawks, hauling in 12 of his 14 career interceptions for Seattle. He started 99 of his 120 games for the Hawks, compiling exactly 400 tackles. He played right corner almost exclusively.

Hunter took the position seriously, as quoted on his 1992 Pro Line football card. "Playing cornerback is a challenge, one of the biggest out there, besides being the quarterback. It's not just you against Jerry Rice or Andre Rison or whoever the challenge of the week might be. It's also you against the running back, the tight end, and the quarterback...if you don't stop them, the Seahawks aren't going to win. And winning is the most exciting part of football."

That mindset alone earns Hunter a spot in the Seahawks' top 10.

8. Keith Simpson (1978-85)

Simpson played all eight of his seasons with Seattle after the Hawks made him the ninth overall pick of the 1978 draft. If you want to get picky about it, yes, they could have taken Clay Mathews, John Jefferson, Doug Williams, or Ozzie Newsome instead. Hey, at least they didn't draft Elvis Peacock. Simpson might not have become a Hall of Fame player like Newsome, but his 19 interceptions do rank 10th all-time for Seattle.

Simpson only got two starts during his rookie season as the right corner was locked down by another of the Seahawks' best ever. He battled his way into the starting lineup at strong safety for the next two seasons, then played the bulk of his snaps at left corner. Of his 108 games in Seattle, he earned 70 starts. He also holds the record for sacks at cornerback for the Seahawks with 10, double the number of his nearest competitor.

7. Brandon Browner (2011-13)

I'm certain that more than a few 12s are wondering how I could possibly rank Browner this low. I mean, the guy was practically the progenitor of the Legion of Boom! While he had a spectacular first season with the Hawks, he never came close to matching that production. Three years later, he was playing for the Patriots, and he was out of the league just one year after that.

That debut 2011 season was spectacular, though.

After three years in the CFL with the Calgary Stampeders, Browner started all 16 games for the Hawks. All he did was pick off six passes, including a league-leading two pick-sixes, and lead the league with an astounding 23 pass breakups. The 6'4", 221-pound former Oregon State All-American was a terror at right corner with another all-time Seahawks great on the opposite side of the field. His production dropped over the next two seasons, in no small part due to a pair of suspensions for prescription drugs, then PEDs.

Browner has since been sentenced to eight years in prison after he pled no-contest to an attempted murder charge. But on the field, which is all we're focusing on for these rankings, he was one of the Seahawks' best, if only for a brief time.

6. Ken Lucas (2001-04, 2009)

The 6'0", 205-pound Lucas only played five of his nine seasons with the Hawks. Otherwise, he'd have bulled his way into the top five. His 12 career picks for Seattle place him 17th among all Seahawks defenders, but 10th among their cornerbacks. The second-round pick got eight starts in place of the incumbent starter at left corner due to injuries and a suspension.

Lucas solidified his place on the team with an interception, a fumble recovery, and 15 pass breakups. Remember, that's 15 pass defenses in just eight games. In his sophomore season, he took over the right cornerback role and continued his solid play.

His final year of his first stint with the Hawks was his best, as he totaled six interceptions, including a pick-six. After four seasons with the Panthers, Lucas returned to Seattle for his final NFL season, earning six starts and recording his final interception of his career.

5. Willie Williams (1997-2003)

Had he played his entire career in Seattle, Williams would certainly rank among the top three Seahawks corners of all time. He played 13 seasons in the NFL, but only seven in Seattle. The other six were with Pittsburgh, bookending his best years in the league. Seventeen of his 26 career interceptions came with the Seahawks, and even those place him 12th on Seattle's all-time list.

In his first five seasons for the Seahawks, he started 74 of his 75 games. Only the arrival of — you guessed it — another of the Hawks' top 10 corners pushed him to the bench. That was Ken Lucas, the guy you just read about.

From 1998-2000, Williams had one pick-six every year, a remarkable string matched by only one other Hawks defender. And yes, that particular legend's name is coming up soon.

4. Shawn Springs (1997-2003)

This is another of the few corners whose career overlaps with another of Seattle's best corners. Oddly enough, Springs and Williams' careers overlapped perfectly. Like his partner at right corner, Springs would rank even higher had he played his entire career with the Hawks. As it is, he made quite an impact over his seven seasons in Seattle.

Springs was another top draft pick, taken third overall in 1997. Until Pete Carroll and John Schneider arrived, the Seahawks weren't a bit shy about spending serious draft capital on corners. Yes, thankfully they repented in 2023.

As for Springs, he stepped right into his role across from the veteran Williams. He started 80 of his first 81 games for Seattle, only derailed by injuries in his final Hawks season. He had at least one interception every year with a peak of seven in 1998, and he returned two of those for touchdowns. He earned his only Pro Bowl nod that season but remained a solid defender until his departure in 2004.

3. Marcus Trufant (2003-12)

I'm pretty sure this is where a lot of 12s are going to start getting angry. At least, the few that haven't already started typing their incensed comments.

I don't know what to tell you, but the guys ahead of him were just better. I'm not exactly knocking a guy who played all 10 of his seasons for the Hawks. Trufant had at least one interception in his first nine seasons with Seattle, including a remarkable seven in his only Pro Bowl season, 2007.

Until his final season, the Seahawks' first-round pick of 2003 (11th overall) started 123 of his 124 games. Trufant, like the top two corners in Seattle's history, virtually shut down his side of the field. Unlike them, he played both left and right corner, although that's just as likely a result of coaching philosophy as any inherent talent.

Trufant's talent was certainly enough. Ask players like Torry Holt and Anquan Boldin how much they enjoyed seeing Trufant line up across the way. His 21 career picks rank seventh for Seattle and third among their cornerbacks.

2. Dave Brown (1976-1986)

Now 21 interceptions is a lot. There's no way to dispute that. But I didn't even have to get mathy to see that 50 is more than 21. Dave Brown's 50 career picks are more than twice Trufant's career number. Yes, Trufant leads all Seahawks with 112 career pass defenses, but the league didn't start keeping records of those until 1999, more than a decade after Brown hung up his cleats for the last time.

I'm just guessing, but I think it's safe to say that the guy who picked off at least four passes in eight different seasons would beat that number pretty handily.

Brown wasn't another of Seattle's first-round cornerbacks, but that's only because the Seahawks didn't exist in his rookie season. The Steelers did draft him in the first round in 1975, though, and the Hawks wasted no time snatching him up in the 1976 expansion draft. Brown didn't get a start with the Super Bowl champion Steelers, but his role changed the second he stepped onto the turf of the Kingdome. He played free safety that first season in Seattle, then at right corner for the rest of his career.

At this date, he's only the second defensive back in the Seahawks Ring of Honor.

1. Richard Sherman (2011-17)

It's just a matter of time before Mr. Brown is joined in the Ring by this gentleman. Yes, Brown has more interceptions, 50 to Sherm's 32. Trufant has more pass breakups, 112 to the Seahawks prototype's 99. But it's inarguable that no player has come to define cornerback play more than Richard Sherman.

Sherman didn't start until the seventh game of his rookie season. The Hawks weren't very good in 2011, as you no doubt remember. But before Sherman got the nod, Seattle was 2-4. It went 5-5 the rest of the way — not great, but markedly better.

That turned around in 2012, and Sherman was a huge part of that, along with his Legion of Boom stablemates. He was named to the first-team All-Pro squad for the next three consecutive seasons. When you lead the league in pass defenses one year and interceptions the next, it's hard for the national media to ignore, even if you do play in the lost hinterlands of the PNW.

Only an injury-shortened season kept him out of the Pro Bowl in 2017, his last in navy and gray. Yes, he played three years for the Niners, but at least he had the grace to escape those infidels for another team for his final season. There has never been a player like Richard Sherman — although, we'll see what Spoon has got for us.

The 10 best cornerbacks in Seattle Seahawks history by interceptions

More Seattle Seahawks history: