BROCK AND SALK
Huard: DeShawn Shead and Jeremy Lane were ‘off the charts’ in Week 1
Sep 12, 2016, 2:08 PM
Brock Huard said cornerback DeShawn Shead played his best game as a Seahawk on Sunday. (AP)
(AP)
The Seahawks’ defense deserves much of the credit for the team’s 12-10 win over Miami on Sunday, holding the Dolphins to 214 total yards and only 10 first downs. And on a team filled with stars, it was DeShawn Shead and Jeremy Lane, two lesser-known cornerbacks, that Brock Huard said shone the brightest.
Shead, the 27 year old who split time as a starter last season and said he cut weight this offseason to be even more versatile, made four tackles and added two passes defended against Miami. Pro Football Focus calculated him as the No. 1 corner in the NFL in Week 1, describing his day like this:
“When a cornerback comes out of a game with 53 snaps of action having allowed just 3 receiving yards, he has had a pretty good game. That’s exactly what Shead managed, breaking up one pass, laying a hit on Miami’s Arian Foster to break up another, and making a nice tackle for no gain on a receiver screen.”
Huard agreed with the PFF’s assessment.
“DeShawn Shead played the best game I had seen him play and it was nothing but a carryover of what he’s done all offseason, training camp, preseason games – taking that job,” he said. “Jeremy Lane got paid. Many of us thought maybe he got paid to be the outside corner. Nope, DeShawn Shead has that.”
That’s not to say Lane was any slouch. The former sixth-round pick who signed a four-year, $23 million contract this offseason, excelled covering check downs and option routes in his nickel role, Huard said, and is “worth every dollar” Seattle paid him.
“He was as sticky as you could ever be. He was violent,” Huard said. “Want to throw a little bubble screen, then I’m going to jam this receiver three yards behind the line. Jeremy Lane was on it in a way that we have seen very few nickel backs do it. Maybe Walter Thurmond in the heyday in 2013, but even then, he wasn’t as violent as Jeremy Lane. Those two [Lane and Shead], off the charts yesterday.”
