Seahawks pre-draft position overview: Cornerback not high on list of needs

John Schneider’s 15^th draft with the Seattle Seahawks will be unique.

For the first time, Schneider won’t have one of the most famous coaches in the NFL, Pete Carroll, sitting next to him for all three days, providing input and guidance.

While the draft was always considered Schneider’s to lead during their 14 years together, there’s no doubt Carroll had a strong influence, officially having final say on all football-related personnel decisions.

Schneider holds that responsibility in his new title of president of football operations.

Rookie head coach Mike Macdonald has taken over for Carroll and surely will wield some influence.

But the buck unquestionably stops with Schneider.

That’s important context to remember as the draft approaches April 25-27, with the Seahawks holding the No. 16 pick, and six more throughout the seven rounds.

With the draft just over a week away, it’s time for our annual review of each of the Seahawks’ position groups, assessing the roster and draft need, as well as a few potential draftees. 

With Schneider taking more responsibility, we’ll also review the Seahawks’ draft history during the Carroll/Schneider regime.

Let’s start with cornerback.

Projected depth chart

Left cornerback: Devon Witherspoon/Tre Brown. Last year, the Seahawks moved Witherspoon inside to play nickel with Tre Brown coming on to play left cornerback, which was the primary defensive look. Macdonald figures to go with some version of that plan again since Witherspoon figures to never come off the field.

Right cornerback: Riq Woolen. The Seahawks are hoping for a return to Woolen’s rookie year success in his third season — and no doubt, the hope is that the influence of Macdonald will help.

Nickel cornerback: Witherspoon. The majority of Witherspoon’s snaps may come inside even if he is listed as a starter on the left side. He had 348 of 883 snaps last year playing outside, the rest either at nickel or inside in other packages.

Backups: Michael Jackson, Artie Burns, Coby Bryant, Lance Boykin, Andrew Whitaker.

One question heading into the draft: Do the Seahawks think they are as set at cornerback as it appears on paper? 

They re-signed Jackson and Burns and didn’t add any outside free agents to the cornerback spot, seeming to illustrate they are pretty happy with what they have. Of the backups, the future of Bryant is the most intriguing. They could use him more at safety going forward.

Draft need, 1-10: 2. The only real reason to draft a cornerback is for the future, as the lineup for 2024 appears set.

Schneider/Carroll draft history

Cornerbacks drafted: 12. Witherspoon (fifth overall pick, 2023); Shaquill Griffin (90, 2017); Coby Bryant (109, 2022); Walter Thurmond (111, 2010): Tre Brown (127, 2021); Tharold Simon (138, 2013); Tre Flowers (146, 2018); Woolen (153 2022); Richard Sherman (154, 2011); Tye Smith (170, 2015); Jeremy Lane (172, 2012); Byron Maxwell (173, 2011).

Best pick: Sherman. Witherspoon appears on his way to a stellar career. The pick of Woolen was also a time Schneider/Carroll pulled the, well, wool over the rest of the NFL’s eyes, and Thurmond, Lane and Maxwell were all mid- to late-round picks who became key parts of the Super Bowl team. Sherman is not only the best pick at cornerback of the last 15 years, but one of the best picks in franchise history of any kind.

One regret: Expectations should be kept in check for anyone taken after the second day of the draft. So, by that reckoning the Seahawks have done well taking corners since 2010 — Witherspoon, Griffin, Woolen and Sherman all made Pro Bowls (and Sherman a whole lot more), and Brown, Bryant, Lane, Maxwell, Flowers and Thurmond all earned starting spots for a time. One player the Seahawks may always wonder “what might have been’’ is Simon. Sherman once said, “He’s going to be better than me by the time it’s all said and done.’’ Simon certainly looked the part, at 6-2, 202 pounds, and injuries forced him into the starting lineup in 2014. He had a fourth-quarter interception to help seal a late-season win at Philadelphia. But his Seattle career lasted just three years and he was out of the league following the 2016 season.

Draft overview

Known visitors: NFL teams are allowed to bring in 30 players for private visits before the draft.

The Seahawks had two players either in town — or scheduled to be by the Wednesday deadline for visits — who are listed as cornerbacks: Cooper DeJean of Iowa and Qwan’Tez Stiggers.  

DeJean, whose posts on social media indicated he was in Seattle on Monday, is rated by some as the top cornerback available. Many think the 6-1, 207-pound DeJean’s best position could be safety and he said at the NFL scouting combine he was open to whatever a team wants. Via Pro Football Focus, he played 630 of his 705 snaps last year at cornerback before a broken leg in November ended his season (he appears recovered, though teams bringing him in can give him physicals to get further assurance).

Stiggers, listed at 6-0, 197 pounds, is one of the mysteries of the draft. Stiggers is a native of Atlanta but played last fall with Toronto of the Canadian Football League and is draft eligible and played in the East-West Shrine game. Stiggers has been listed to have at least a dozen visits as teams try to assess his value, though he appears likely a third-day pick.

Local ties: Washington State’s Chau Smith-Wade attended the NFL scouting combine after starring at the Senior Bowl, where he picked off two passes to be named the MVP of the National team. Smith-Wade measured 5-10, 184 at the combine, which NFL.com wrote “could hurt his draft slotting.” But someone is sure to take a shot on the third day, at least. He is listed 132^nd on Pro Football Focus’ Big Board.

Others to watch: Mike Sainristil, Michigan: Given Macdonald’s ties to Michigan’s defense, every Wolverine defender is surely on the radar to some degree. Sainristil is regarded as a likely second-day pick at least, and the Seahawks may not reach that high for a corner-only corner.

The final analysis: This is regarded as a solid class of cornerbacks — PFF lists 24 cornerbacks among the top 149 on its big board. And a defensive coach like Macdonald could be tempted to want to dip into that, especially with some uncertain contract situations coming up — Woolen, for instance, is eligible for an extension following this season. But by any assessment, cornerback ranks near the bottom of the Seahawks’ draft needs.

Up next: Safety