The Seattle Seahawks only have four selections in the 2026 NFL draft, but even after winning the Super Bowl this past season, the team might have more than four needs. One is at cornerback to replace Riq Woolen, and more and more mock drafts have Seattle choosing San Diego State's Chris Johnson.
The latest to do so is The Athletic, which reports that general manager John Schneider is choosing the corner at pick 32. That site is far from the only one projecting Seattle to take Johnson, as Athlon Sports, Pro Football Network, SB Nation, and even the San Diego Union-Tribune have the Seahawks making the same move.
Ironically, it is the elite skillset of Devon Witherspoon and Nick Emmanwori that might force Seattle to take a pure outside cornerback. Witherspoon and Emmanwori can be moved around the pre-snap alignments, and allow them to be more disruptive.
Another mock draft projects cornerback Chris Johnson to the Seattle Seahawks
Keeping one of them as a predominantly outside cornerback, especially Witherspoon, who is more of a pure cornerback than Emmanwori, who played safety in college and played a bit of everything for Seattle as a rookie, would limit the overall creativity of the defense.
Riq Woolen left in free agency and signed with the Philadelphia Eagles. While he saw fewer snaps in 2025, he was a full-time starter in the three seasons before that. Josh Jobe took many of his reps, and he was re-signed in free agency and should be expected to start. Opposite him could be Chris Johnson, if he lasts until pick 32 overall.
The 6-foot and 195-pound cornerback has the athleticism to produce right away in the NFL. He ran a 4.4 40-yard dash at the NFL combine and had a 38-inch vertical leap. Those numbers imply that Johnson has the raw physicality to cover professional wide receivers.
His statistics from his last season in college are nothing short of ridiculous. He allowed only 41.9 percent of his targets to be completed for only 185 yards. He gave up no touchdowns, but had four interceptions and five passes broken up. His quarterback rating allowed was 16.1.
While his coverage numbers in his first three years weren't quite as good, they were still solid, but more impressively, he is an elite tackler for a cornerback. He didn't whiff on more than 6.2 percent of his attempts in any season, and had a career number of 5.4.
That implies that Chris Johnson would be able to help the Seattle Seahawks in coverage, but he should also be good in run support. For a Mike Macdonald cornerback to earn playing time, the ability to stuff the run is needed.
Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic writes of Johnson, "The Seahawks still have all three of their starting cornerbacks from the Super Bowl team (Devon Witherspoon, Nick Emmanwori, Josh Jobe), but losing Riq Woolen, who played 917 defensive snaps last season, is a blow to Seattle’s depth...(Johnson returned) two of his four interceptions for touchdowns last season."
In other words, Johnson not only can play sticky coverage, but he can also create turnovers, and once he does, he can do great things with the ball. That certainly sounds like an ideal Macdonald player. If he lasts until pick 32, the Seattle Seahawks might be able to take their next draft gem.