In April, when Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider spent his second and third draft picks on Bud Clark and Julian Neal, the logic seemed fairly obvious. Schneider appeared to be looking for replacements for a couple of key secondary contributors the Seahawks had lost during free agency.
Clark could step into the box safety role played by Coby Bryant in recent years, while Neal could replace perimeter corner Riq Woolen.
The fact that Seattle already had a very good quintet in the defensive backfield – corners Devon Witherspoon and Josh Jobe, and safeties Julian Love, Nick Emmanwori, and Ty Okada – didn’t prevent Schneider from using some premium draft capital on the position group. With both picks, he passed on several promising offensive linemen, which may have been a more legitimate need.
What the Seattle Seahawks need from Julian Neal
Early reports on both rookies have been encouraging. But, quite frankly, that’s to be expected. Almost all rookies are still being viewed through rose-tinted glasses at this point. We will see how they hold up through the summer, and then once they actually begin playing games in the preseason.
Clark was the higher draft pick, and he is probably further along. But Neal’s progress may turn out to be more important, at least in the short term.
Julian Neal is not Riq Woolen. Not by a long shot. There are a few broad similarities, but their style of play is very different.
Both are bigger cornerbacks who will play on the perimeter. Neal may have the ability to move around more than Woolen, and over time, that may be important. But as a rookie, if he proves capable, he will most likely play the same type of role Woolen played. That should look like 600-800 defensive snaps, almost entirely outside.
Neal has very good size and speed, but he is not the athletic equal of Woolen. Few are. Woolen’s unique blend of length and speed made him look for a time like a future superstar. Over the years, inconsistency slowed his progress. He appeared to lose discipline at times (his penalty in the NFC Championship game against the Rams was the final example), and his tackling was always suspect.
There was a time when it would have seemed unthinkable that Seattle would have chosen former undrafted free agent Josh Jobe over Woolen, but that is exactly what John Schneider did this offseason. Discipline and tackling were almost certainly major factors in that decision.
So what Julian Neal must do first and foremost is show he can master those two areas. He needs to make smart plays and balance his natural aggressiveness with veteran savvy. And he has to tackle.
Fortunately, he has shown signs of being able to do both – though it is obviously more difficult to quantify the “maturity” part of the equation. With Jobe and Witherspoon already functioning at a high level, it may seem that Seattle can take their time with Neal, allowing him to get his feet wet in nickel and dime packages before asking him to do more.
The fact that they have a veteran perimeter corner in Nehemiah Pritchett and a veteran slot option in Noah Igbinoghene could allow for even greater leeway.
But that is not what Mike Macdonald wants to do. The Seahawks did not need to draft Clark in the second round. With three top-tier safeties on the roster, they could have gone in a different direction. They chose Clark in part because Nick Emmanwori is a safety in name only. He moved all over the defense last season, and indications are he will move even more this year.
The same applies to Devon Witherspoon. He could be the best slot corner in the league if he devoted himself to that spot. He could probably be the best perimeter corner as well. But that is not what Mike Macdonald wants.
In Emmanwori and Witherspoon, he has two of the most unique athletes in the league. They can make plays from anywhere on the defense. Their ability to line up anywhere and do anything causes endless headaches for opposing offenses.
You can only get full value out of Emmanwori if you trust Ty Okada to play the traditional box safety role at a high level. And you can only get the most out of Spoon if you have a partner for Jobe on the perimeter. Okada and Jobe are not Pro Bowlers.
But they are very effective at what they are asked to do. That’s what Neal has to do. He has to play solid zone coverage and make tackles. He has to press bigger receivers on occasion. Fortunately, he profiles as the type of player who can do just that.
Seattle’s defense is good enough and deep enough to survive if Neal does not live up to expectations. But if he does, and if he does so quickly, that defense could be even scarier than it was toward the end of last season.
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