Second-ary Guessing

The Seahawks secondary is understandably a big point of interest after some suspect play last year. The injuries to Jordan Babineaux, and potentially Kelly Jennings, only intensify the intrigue. The severity of those injuries will have a lot to do with the decisions the Seahawks make on September 1st.

If everyone was healthy, then the situation is pretty straightforward. The team would keep these four cornerbacks and four safeties:

CB (4) - Marcus Trufant, Kelly Jennings, Josh Wilson, Jordan Babineaux
S (4) - Deon Grant, Brian Russell, Mike Green, Michael Boulware

There has been some speculation that Michael Boulware could be in jeopardy of losing his roster spot to C.J. Wallace. Don’t bet on it. Boulware didn’t look that great against Minnesota, but he did come in and play as the nickel LB with the starters. Wallace is an alright player, and better than alright on special teams, but he isn’t so valuable that he couldn’t be stashed on the practice squad.

If it looks like Jennings and Babineaux won’t be ready for the opener, then the team will be forced to keep 5 CBs, at least until one of them comes back. However, that 5th guy might not play very much, except on special teams. In that case, it could be Wallace that makes the team over a 5th CB, but I doubt it.

Let’s take a look at what the starting secondary might look like without Jennings and Babineaux:
CB1 Marcus Trufant, CB2 Josh Wilson, FS Brian Russell, and SS Deon Grant

No big surprises there. Now let’s take a look at what the nickel package might look like without Jennings and Babineaux:
CB1 Marcus Trufant, CB2 Josh Wilson, CB3 Deon Grant, FS Brian Russell, and SS Mike Green, NLB Michael Boulware.

Given the other options at corner (Pete Hunter, Kevin Hobbs, and DeJuan Groce), that seems like a better option for the Seahawks. Deon Grant is accustomed to lining up over the slot receiver in man-to-man coverage. He did that quite a bit in Jacksonville. Mike Green is also pretty solid against the pass. He may have had some trouble in coverage as a FS, but he would be a good coverage player for a SS. The same goes for Michael Boulware as the nickel linebacker. That is a pretty solid group of six defensive backs on the field in the nickel package.

I would feel differently if I thought more of Hunter, Hobbs, or Groce. Hunter and Groce appear capable of playing consistently mediocre. That is what you expect from an emergency fill-in. My money would be on Hunter winning that role if it looks like they need a 5th CB for a few weeks, but it could easily be Groce instead. I like Hobbs the best of the three, but he would likely make some really good plays and completely blow others. The consistency just isn’t there yet.