Brock Huard: Seahawks have a position on D they need to address

Dec 24, 2024, 8:46 AM

Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald during a Dec. 22, 2024 game against Minnesota. (Christopher Mast/Getty Images)

(Christopher Mast/Getty Images)

Editor, Seattle Sports

On the offensive end of things, it’s pretty clear where the Seattle Seahawks need to make improvements after the 2024 – the offensive line.

That doesn’t mean all is well on the other side of the ball, though.

Brock: Why it’s so hard to evaluate Seahawks QB Geno Smith

Following the Hawks’ 27-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings that severely impacted their chances of making the postseason, Seattle Sports’ Brock Huard pointed at a position on defense that he believes Seattle will need to take a look at during the 2025 offseason.

“I think what’s become apparent is corner is going to be something you have to evaluate,” said Huard, a FOX football analyst and former NFL quarterback.

To be clear, the Seahawks have a solid cornerback in Devon Witherspoon, who was a Pro Bowler as a rookie in 2023 and has been solid again this season. But it’s the corner spot opposite him that Seattle hasn’t figured out, at least not in first-year head coach Mike Macdonald’s scheme and system according to Huard.

“(The Seahawks are) certainly aggressive within their front seven, can mix a lot of things and do things. And you’ve got ‘Spoon’ – Spoon’s an elite corner, there’s no question about it,” Huard said. “But in this league, I don’t know if you can just have one.”

Huard likes what he’s seen this season out of Josh Jobe, who has established himself as a key member of the defense over the past two months after initially spending the first two months of the season on the practice squad. But he isn’t a solution for the role Huard believes the Seahawks need to sort out.

“Josh Jobe has done some nice things. He’s giving you everything. Josh Jobe is a terrific third or fourth corner in this league. He has earned kind of that right,” Huard said.

That leaves Riq Woolen, who has been up and down the past two seasons after being a surprise Pro Bowler as a rookie in 2022, and Tre Brown, whose career has been marked by injuries since being drafted in 2021 out of Oklahoma. Brown especially stood out in a bad way Sunday, as he was flagged for a neutral zone infraction that negated a sack on third down, giving Minnesota another chance that it turned into a touchdown pass over Brown to Justin Jefferson.

“We thought Tre Brown was (what Jobe has become). That, unfortunately, has not been the case,” Huard said. “Huge, huge step back – started with the Giants game and the litany of injuries, and then yesterday… it’s so simple to look down the line of scrimmage and realize where you are – and oh, by the way, look at the line judge as well and he will tell you. Like, he was out of his mind – that’s all that that can tell me. That moment was just way, way, way too big, and then he gets beat for the touchdown on the next play.”

Jefferson had another big score later in the game that came on Woolen’s side of the field, but unlike last week when Huard had some pointed criticism for the third-year cornerback, he assessed the blame on a different member of the secondary.

“Woolen’s getting killed for the final play, and I certainly got on Tariq Woolen (last week). He certainly didn’t start this game for team issues and I think he’s on thin ice anyway from just the stuff beyond the X’s and O’s, but I’m not going to kill him for that final play. … He gets a good jam. That is where (safety Julian Love) has got to be over the top of a pretty simple concept with the go-route. Didn’t happen there.”

.@JJettas2 CLUTCH.#ProBowlVote

📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/HFiWQZibHR

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) December 22, 2024

Hear Brock Huard answer three football questions during the daily Blue 88 segment at 7:45 a.m. on Brock and Salk. Catch a new episode of Brock and Salk live from 6-10 a.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports 710 AM, the Seattle Sports app and SeattleSports.com, and find podcasts of every full show at this link or by subscribing on your favorite podcast app.