Most Intriguing Seahawks: No. 8, DB Brandon Browner
Jul 28, 2016, 9:51 AM
The Seahawks have a "unique role" in mind for returning veteran defensive back Brandon Browner. (AP)
(AP)
Each day until the start of training camp, “Brock and Salk” is talking with an NFL analyst and counting down the 25 most intriguing players on the Seahawks’ roster. “Two-a-days” continued with the NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah as the guest and Brandon Browner as the eighth-most intriguing Seahawk. The segment on Browner is embedded above. My thoughts are below.
• Position: S/CB
• Height/Weight: 6-4, 220
• Experience: Seventh season
• Acquired: Signed as a free agent in April
Overview: Browner is a big part of the Seahawks’ history, as he was the other cornerback opposite Richard Sherman that joined forces with safeties Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor in the original Legion of Boom secondary from 2011-13. Undrafted in 2005, Browner spent four seasons in the Canadian Football League and used the chip on his shoulder from those experiences to become a Pro Bowler in 2011, and his unusual size for a corner became a trademark for what Seattle looks for at the position. He was injured and then suspended for the tail end of the Seahawks’ Super Bowl run in 2013 and signed with New England as a free agent the next offseason, helping the Patriots beat his old team in Super Bowl XLIX. He spent just one year with the Pats, though, and had a disastrous 2015 season with New Orleans after playing through a torn MCL he suffered in the Saints’ first preseason game. That allowed the Seahawks to bring him back at a discount, though despite all he’s accomplished in his career as a corner, that’s not really where he’ll be playing in Seattle in 2016 – if he plays here at all.
The intrigue: There are no guarantees Browner will make the Seahawks’ roster out of the preseason, so he’ll be in camp trying to win a job. It’s not a job he’s had in Seattle before, either. Head coach Pete Carroll said Seattle has a “unique role” for Browner that will involve him playing safety in base downs and nickelback at other times. Now 31, Browner has lost a step or two in coverage as a corner, which is to be expected. But with his size and reputation as a hard hitter, he seems like a perfect fit to join Chancellor as a rough-housing safety who can set an example for the younger members of Seattle’s secondary. “His strengths: physical, intimidator,” Brock Huard said. “His strength is to team up with Kam and make sure these young bucks know what it means to be a part of the LOB.”
2016 outlook: The Seahawks’ plan with Browner is as much an experiment as anything. The veteran will need to prove he can make the transition, and he’ll also have to prove he can still hang after setting a dubious record last year with New Orleans as the most penalized player in a single season since the NFL started tracking individual penalties in 1999. A lot of those penalties had to do with his aggressive nature, though, which could work to his advantage in his new role if he can harness it like Chancellor does. Browner is under investigation in Pomona, Calif. for an alleged assault, which could impact his standing with the team.
Most Intriguing Seahawks: 25, DL Quinton Jefferson; 24, WR Kasen Williams; 23, WR Paul Richardson; 22, G Mark Glowinski; 21, TE Nick Vannett; 20, CB Jeremy Lane; 19, DT Jordan Hill; 18, RB Alex Collins; 17, S Tyvis Powell; 16, G Germain Ifedi; 15, QB Russell Wilson; 14, FS Earl Thomas; 13, CB Tharold Simon; 12, WR Doug Baldwin; 11, WR Tyler Lockett; 10, LT Garry Gilliam; 9, DL Michael Bennett.
