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Cornerback might be the deepest position in the 2017 NFL draft, and that’s great news for the Seahawks.
Three-time first-team All-Pro Richard Sherman has been a constant on the left side of Seattle’s defense since 2011, but the franchise has faced slow attrition at the cornerback position since 2013. Brandon Browner, Walter Thurmond and Byron Maxwell left in free agency, while replacements like Cary Williams, Will Blackmon and Browner — back for a second stint — simply didn’t pan out. Neither did draft picks Tharold Simon and Tye Smith.
DeShawn Shead, who rose from undrafted rookie to earn the starting right cornerback job in 2016, played well enough in his first year as a starter to think he might be a long-term solution on the outside. But Shead suffered a significant knee injury in the Seahawks’ season-ending loss to the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC divisional round, which seemingly puts his 2017 season in jeopardy.
Shead’s injury, and a subpar season from nickel cornerback Jeremy Lane after signing a four-year, $23 million deal last offseason, makes cornerback a position of need for Seattle in 2017 and beyond.
That’s fortunate, given the depth of the 2017 draft class at the spot.
Two of the cornerbacks likely to hear their names called in the first few rounds of the draft happen to have played at the University of Washington, and one appears in our Seahawks mock draft roundup, which this week features those updated since Super Bowl Sunday.
Visit seattlepi.com for more Seattle Seahawks news. Contact sports reporter Stephen Cohen at stephencohen@seattlepi.com or @scohenPI.
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