Huard: Seahawks’ secondary needs more from Jeremy Lane in 2017
Jan 26, 2017, 11:15 AM | Updated: Feb 8, 2017, 3:41 pm
Jeremy Lane was Seattle's No. 3 cornerback after signing a four-year, $23 million contact last offseason. (AP)
(AP)
It wasn’t that cornerback Jeremy Lane had an entirely bad 2016 season, but if the Seahawks’ secondary is to return to its previous dominance, 710 ESPN Seattle’s Brock Huard thinks Lane needs to reach the next level.
“Jeremy Lane’s got to play better next year if this team’s going to find takeaways and get back to the coverage that they were used to in their heyday,” Huard said during a recent “Blue 42” segment.
Lane, a sixth-round pick by Seattle in 2012, signed a four-year, $23 million contract last offseason. After an “off the charts” performance in the Seahawks’ opener, Lane was a relatively quiet contributor for the rest of the 2016 season. He notched a career-high 49 tackles in 16 games but recorded just three pass breakups and was not responsible for a turnover play all season. Huard said that, despite playing more than 70 percent of Seattle’s defensive snaps as the team’s nickelback, Lane did not live up to his new contract in the first year.
“He was vocal, he was intense, he tried to be Colin Kaepernick earlier in the season and that fell incredibly flat because it wasn’t well-intentioned and well-reasoned,” Huard said. “I don’t think he had a very good year. Not the kind of year that this Legion of Boom is going to need if they are going to move forward.”
Huard was not alone in his less-than-glowing assessment of how Lane played in 2016. Coach Pete Carroll gave the following review at his end-of-the-season press conference: “Jeremy, he played a lot of football this year. He was in the middle of a lot. I thought he battled. I would always want him to tackle better; I thought he missed some chances in his tackling, but he competed his tail off. He was in a lot of hotspots throughout the year.”
710 ESPN Seattle’s John Clayton noted in his end-of-the-year Seahawks awards that Lane allowed 35 completions on 55 attempts for 481 yards and three touchdowns during the regular season compared to 52 completions on 86 attempts for 692 yards and two touchdowns for DeShawn Shead, Seattle’s No. 2 cornerback behind Richard Sherman.
Seattle’s defense was more than adequate overall, ranking No. 3 in fewest points allowed during the regular season after sitting at the top of that ranking the previous four years. However, the takeaway numbers continued their descent since the team’s Super Bowl season in 2013, from 39 that year (first) to 23 (tied for 21st) to 22 (tied for 18th) to 19 (tied for 22nd).
With Shead’s availability for the start of next season in doubt because of what Carroll described as a “significant” knee injury and free safety Earl Thomas on the mend from a broken leg, Seattle will likely lean heavily on Lane in 2017. Of major importance, according to Huard, is that Lane picks up the knack for creating turnovers that former Seahawks corners Byron Maxwell and Walter Thurmond had.
“It isn’t just being in hotspots, it isn’t playing a lot of ball,” Huard said. “(The Seahawks are) paying you good money to take that next step and actually be a difference maker.”
