Ted’s Talk: Is Coby Bryant the perfect third safety for the Seattle Seahawks?

How shortly folks neglect.

Simply over two years in the past within the 2022 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks chosen two mid-round cornerbacks. One was the reigning Jim Thorpe Award recipient, an award given to the highest defensive again in school soccer. The opposite was a transformed large receiver who was seen as a challenge.

Right here’s how they evaluate after two seasons.

Standard knowledge would say that the participant with 8 INTs and a Professional Bowl nod is the Jim Thorpe Award winner. Since it is a Seahawks web site, you already know that it’s not and Riq Woolen has outperformed each his draft slot and his fellow 2022 draftee, Coby Bryant.

It’s not that Bryant has been a bust; he’s a mid-round draft choose in spite of everything. Moreso, he retains getting shuffled round.

In school, Bryant was listed at security as a freshman earlier than transferring to outdoors cornerback for his last 4 seasons, recording 10 INTs.

As a rookie with the Seahawks, he was moved inside to nickel and performed 756 snaps on protection. Bryant confirmed glimpses of his playmaking capacity with 4 pressured fumbles and a pair of.0 sacks to go together with 70 tackles.

Going into the 2023 offseason, it appeared like Bryant would be capable to construct on his stable rookie season.

Then, Devon Witherspoon occurred.

Okay, okay, I’ve to take a step again right here. Sure, Witherspoon was drafted and had the flexibility to play inside and out of doors however Bryant nonetheless had the chance to maintain the nickel job with Witherspoon taking part in reverse Woolen to offer Seattle a younger and probably fierce “Large 3” at CB.

Bryant’s 2023 offseason took a wierd flip as he missed time with a toe harm and began working at security in coaching camp after making it again on the sector. He began the primary two video games of the season at nickel – the second of which had the debuting Spoon at outdoors CB. Bryant suffered one other toe harm (or possibly reaggravated the outdated one) throughout that second recreation and was despatched to IR a number of weeks later.

In his absence, Spoon broke out in an enormous manner at nickel. After returning in time for the Thanksgiving shit present recreation, Bryant performed a complete of 33 snaps on protection – 22 of which got here in opposition to the Tennessee Titans when Spoon was inactive…a far cry from the 113 snaps performed within the first two video games of the season.

Enter Mike Macdonald and his new protection which favors versatility to trigger confusion in opposing offenses. Perhaps it’s lastly time for Coby Bryant to settle right into a place because the third security behind Rayshawn Jenkins and Julian Love. His numerous expertise taking part in outdoors CB, nickel, and security could possibly be the correct mix for him to make an affect in 2024.

Bryant can blitz.

He can drive fumbles.

Bryant can decrease the growth on the again finish, too.

The one factor we haven’t seen him do is get an INT, however there have been loads of situations the place he jumped routes in school.

Geno Stone was a security in Mike Macdonald’s Baltimore Ravens protection in 2023 that had a profession 12 months and lots of Seahawks followers thought he would possibly migrate (sure, that’s a chook joke) to the Pacific Northwest in free company, following his former defensive coordinator.

Nicely, that didn’t occur.

However what if it’s as a result of we have already got “Geno Stone at house”?

RAS isn’t the end-all, be-all for NFL comparisons however it does present that Macdonald doesn’t essentially want freak athletes at security in his system. They DO want to grasp the protection, be instinctive, and play bodily.

Coby Bryant made some notable performs in his first two seasons regardless of being yanked round from place to place and taking part in with a bum toe. Now, with a brand new coach and a wholesome offseason, the time is likely to be proper for Bryant to seek out his match and provides Mike Macdonald an intriguing chess piece in three security packages.