The Seattle Seahawks let safety Coby Bryant leave in free agency. He is now a member of the Chicago Bears. With Seattle, Bryant became a valuable veteran who might have been limited in terms of greatness but had a high floor of success. His replacement appears to be Ty Okada.
Or maybe not. What is clear is that the approach to the secondary has changed since Mike Macdonald became head coach before the 2024 season. Now, players don't necessarily have one spot they will play. Instead, versatility is key.
Julian Love is a good safety, but he is one of the few who has a defined position. Devon Witherspoon and Nick Emmanwori can play multiple spots, from slot corner to outside corner to edge rusher. Rookie Bud Clark can probably perform in most of those roles, too, and that should scare Okada in terms of job stability.
Bud Clark is going to force the Seattle Seahawks to make a difficult decision
Clark played safety at TCU, and he was an elite ball-hawk. He was also fantastic against the run, and that is key. He might need to add a bit more girth, but he is definitely afraid to throw himself into run support. That is a must in Macdonald's scheme, and so is his ability to disguise alignments.
When a quarterback stands behind center and looks at the Seahawks defense, they hardly ever know where certain players, such as Emmanwori and Witherspoon, will line up, and that could change post-snap as well. Macdonald is brilliant at creating confusion, but having the right type of player augments the system. Clark is another of those types of players.
He can play strong and free safety, and he can play in the slot, too. Clark can likely also do things he wasn't asked to do in college. Can he, as Emmanwori sometimes does, line up as an edge rusher and get to quarterbacks quickly? Likely.
His speed and physicality might not translate to being a Week 1 starter, but he could become that by the middle of the season. The player he will likely take reps from is Okada, and that is meant as no disrespect to the safety, who proved how valuable he was during last year's Super Bowl run when he provided good coverage and great run defense.
Just because Clark could supplant Okada doesn't mean Okada won't play. Rotating players in is just another aspect of Macdonald's excellent system, as each player learns different elements of the secondary and can perform them at a high level on different plays.
What Bud Clark is going to force sooner rather than later is a difficult decision for the Seattle Seahawks. Who should the team start? Clark or Okada? Most likely, Clark will be the player getting more reps across from Julian Love (or Nick Emmanwori or Devon Witherspoon) than Ty Okada.
Add us as a preferred source on Google