Seahawks CB Riq Woolen gets surprisingly high spot on NFL's top 100 players

Last year when the NFL Network was putting out its yearly list of top 100 players in the league, the Seattle Seahawks only had three players make the ranking. Surprisingly, no receivers did. One player who did was Bobby Wagner who is no longer with the team.

Riq Woolen was rated at 76. This made sense as Woolen was coming off a rookie season where he tied for the league lead in interceptions with six and made the Pro Bowl. He was a fifth-round draft pick in 2022 who made good. He appeared on the cusp of greatness, and then the 2023 season happened.

Woolen began by hurting his knee in minicamp and then when he returned he did not play with the same kind of aggression, especially against the run. The cornerback's overall production decreased and his quarterback-rating-allowed rose by 30 points. He had just two interceptions and was a liability against the run.

Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen ranked surprisingly high on NFL Network's top 100 players of 2024

According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Woolen finished with the ninth-worst run defense grade among cornerbacks last year. He was seemingly even benched for a game because of his inability to set a hard edge. As opposed to his rookie year, Woolen also whiffed on a lot of tackle attempts.

There was nothing to indicate heading into 2024 that Woolen was still among the best CBs in the NFL. He might have been a one-year happy accident who teams were not prepared to face. By last season, they might have figured him out.

This is why the NFL Network ranking Woolen at 91 is almost shocking, especially as the Seahawks normally don't seem to get a lot of respect, generally speaking. The cornerback might be good again this year, but he also might be out of his starting job if he doesn't perform well early in the season, especially against the run.

Woolen appears to be a boom-or-bust player and certainly not so assumedly productive that he is the 91st-best player in the NFL. That he is ranked at all in the top 100 is the most surprising part.

Two other Seattle players made the top 100 list between 80 and 100 (the ranking has not yet been fully released at the time of this article). DK Metcalf is likely ranked too low at 84 but again, he wasn't ranked at all last year. Julian Love is 95, made the Pro Bowl in 2023, and could be even better this year under the new defensive direction of head coach Mike Macdonald.

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