Tariq Woolen, Seattle Seahawks.
It’s the offseason, and the most interesting thing happening with the Seattle Seahawks is non-contact OTAs sans several stars. So we decide to have a little fun with the upcoming season.
We’ll be going through each position group and asking our writers some over/under questions. Part 1 covers the defensive backs.
Under. He hasn’t played 12 games since 2019, and he’s not Benjamin Button. With Julian Love and Quandre Diggs, he’s going to be in the box more which also doesn’t help.
Under. A torn quad is a tough injury to come back from in a year’s time. If he isn’t ready for contact by week 1, Jamal Adams could wind up on the PUP list, which takes him down to 13. A nagging injury here or there, and it’s 11.
Under. Only because I think there is a really great chance he starts the season on PUP; more on it later.
Under. Until he can show me otherwise, I’m going to go with his recent Seattle Seahawks availability. In the last two seasons, he has been injury plagued, so to assume the over is a bad bet.
Under. He has a bad history of injuries since joining Seattle. I have little faith in him being able to put together a full season. It always seems to be something with him.
Andrew: Under. Tariq Woolen is interesting in that so much of his value was fueled by turnovers. Witherspoon will be the better corner, I wonder if we’ll see a fall-off from Woolen.
Ed: Under. If Devon Witherspoon is the guy Pete Carroll and John Schneider say he is, opposing quarterbacks will have a tough time throwing downfield. There will be more slot passes and check downs, meaning it will be hard for the Seattle Seahawks corners to get picks. I can see them getting 5 each.
Chris: Over. Woolen will most likely see a “drop” to start the year. Word is out that he’s a ballhawk and playmaker.
Opposing QBs will shy away from the Seattle Seahawks super sophomore starting the year. Subsequently, getting off to a slow start on the season before finishing strong. Especially when they have fresh “meat” in Witherspoon.
If Witherspoon can take advantage of the extra attention/test to start the year, I can see him easily snagging 2-4 picks within the first 6 weeks; especially when 3 of the 6 quarterbacks the Seattle Seahawks face are Jordan Love, Jared Goff, and Bryce Young.
Considering the other 3 QBs are Kirk Cousins, Dak Prescott, and Matthew Stafford. It wouldn’t shock me if this duo recorded at least 1 INT in 5 of the first 6 games.
Clint: Over. Woolen got 6 in his rookie campaign, so he is capable of doing it again. Beyond an injury, he could repeat that in this upcoming season. Maybe opposing QBs will stop trying him so much in 2024 and beyond.
Dan: Woolen is poised for a great second year. The sophomore slump will be a myth to him. A candidate for defensive rookie of the year in 2022, he’ll be poised to take that next step forward to show the nay-sayers that he’s not a one-hit-wonder.
Andrew: He’s had 10, 7, and 7 over the last three years. Love’s cover skills will allow him to play centerfield and use his instincts even more.
Ed: Over. He’ll have room to play more centerfield this season. Diggs is a ballhawk and will jump enough routes to go over.
Chris: Over. With the safety trio of Diggs, Love, and Adams, I can see Diggs just being more in coverage.
Clint: Over. In the three-plus seasons Diggs has played with the Seattle Seahawks, he has averaged 8 PBU’s per full season. So the odds are pointing towards him going over, again.
I’m going to go with the numbers and take the over. Diggs is aiming for a 1st Team All-Pro this year, so he’ll go all out.
Dan: Over. Mainly because I am a huge Diggs fan. I think he will take steps forward to improve the overall Seahawks defense and be more of a leader on game day and in practice.
Andrew: Under. It’s going to be close, but with Bobby Wagner back in the middle and two other safeties above him on the depth chart, there may not be enough tackles and plays to go around for Love to hit triple digits.
Ed: Under. It depends more on question 1, but I don’t think Love will see as much playing time with the Seattle Seahawks as he did in New York. He still is a hitter, and 75-90 is very doable.
Chris: Over (and just barely). With Love and Diggs, the Seattle Seahawks have no need to rush Adams back. He can take his time in his recovery, which would lead to my thinking that Adams is more than likely starting the season on PUP.
Obviously, this allows for Love to get more playing time. Once Adams returns, he will most likely form a rotation with Diggs and Love, while also playing some snaps in the box to better utilize his best asset.
Bobby Wagner is back with the Seattle Seahawks, and he’ll play, but it won’t be as much as people are expecting. He’s a two-down linebacker and has been for a few seasons.
While Adams is on the PUP, expect Wagner to get more playing time. Once Adams returns, Wagz won’t have to play as much, especially in coverage.
It allows for the Seahawks to roll out their newest defensive ploy of three safeties, with one of them playing in the box while not suffering any drop-off in coverage or run support. The New York Giants made the “NASCAR package” popular with their Super Bowl defense against the perfect New England team.
For those that forgot, it was playing four defensive ends on the line at one time. Seattle made the Cover-3 defense trendy and popular. Now they’ll make the Triple Safety (working on a name for it) the newest trend.
Clint: Under. Well, the numbers here are a bit skewed. In his 4-year career, he has 291 total tackles. For an average of 72+ total tackles per season. But in his first three seasons, his career average was only 56.
Love broke out last season and posted a very nice 124 total tackles. So what do I expect from him in 2023? The trajectory of his career says he should go over, but I’m a bit spooked by what role he will play here and how many snaps he sees.
Dan: 100 tackles seems like a lot to me, especially on a team with Diggs, Adams, and Wagner.
Check back with us next week for the Seattle Seahawks linebackers.