Kelly Jennings embodied Seattle Seahawks’ fans frustration with their team’s inability to stop the deep ball.
Affectionately called “slim” because of his slight build, Jennings gamely battled against such big receivers as Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald and Kansas City’s Dwayne Bowe, but always seemed to get beat for long touchdowns.
Now fans will have to find someone else to blame. The Seahawks announced on Monday that they traded the cornerback out of the University of Miami to Cincinnati for defensive tackle Clinton McDonald.
A first-round pick (31st overall) by Seattle in 2006, Jennings played in 78 games with 43 starts, finishing his career in Seattle with 200 tackles and 47 passes defensed, including a career-high 13 in 2010.
Jennings has great catch-up speed and can turn and run with the fastest receivers, but during his five-year tenure in Seattle, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound defensive back struggled with making plays on the ball, hauling in just two career interceptions.
A free agent during this offseason, Jennings surprisingly signed a one-year deal to return to Seattle, receiving a $200,000 signing bonus and $1.8 million in base salary.
With Marcus Trufant the only veteran with playing experience at corner on the roster, the Seahawks viewed the 28-year-old Jennings as insurance should younger options struggle.
But Seattle has been pleased with the play of their young corners, with second-year pro Walter Thurmond, CFL product Brandon Browner and rookies Richard Sherman and Byron Maxwell all performing well, allowing the Seahawks to move on from Jennings.
Seattle coach Pete Carroll’s coverage scheme on the perimeter created an emphasis on the team securing bigger, more physical corners, and Jennings does not fit that skill set.
Jennings was part of a defensive backfield that gave up 31 passing touchdowns last season, third-worst in the league. He and Trufant finished with a combined two interceptions in 2010. Only the starting corners for Miami (Shaun Smith and Vontae Davis had one each) and Oakland (Stanford Routt had two and Nnamdi Asomugha none) shared the same numbers.
But the Dolphins had the No. 8-ranked pass defense in the NFL, and the Raiders were No. 2 – basically no one threw to Asomugha’s side. Seattle finished 27th overall in pass defense last season, giving up 249.6 yards a game during the regular season.
With Jennings gone, only 16 players remain from the roster Carroll and general manager John Schneider inherited when they took over the Seahawks in January 2010. McDonald was Cincinnati’s seventh-round choice in the 2009 draft, spending his rookie season on the team’s practice squad.
He played in eight games last season after being signed to the active roster on Nov. 8, collecting four tackles.
ROSTER DOWN TO 82
The Seahawks remained busy Monday, cutting down to 82 players in anticipation of this afternoon’s league deadline to get down to an 80-man roster.
The Seahawks released wide receivers Brandon Smith, Chris Carter and Patrick Williams, linebacker Neal Howey, defensive lineman Teryl White, fullback Ryan Travis, cornerback Jesse Hoffman and offensive lineman Zach Hurd.
Seattle still has to cut two more players by this afternoon.
Eric D. Williams: 253-597-8437 eric.williams@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/seahawks
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.