Norton: John Reid impressive on his first day, Seahawks’ cornerback derby will race on
The Seahawks’ last preseason game is this weekend.
It’s unlikely to be the last of their competition to determine their starting cornerbacks.
Defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. said Wednesday he wants to settle on who his replacements for departed 2020 cornerback Shaquill Griffin and Quinton Dunbar are “by game week.”
Real-game week. The week of Seattle’s season opener Sept. 12 at Indianapolis.
“I think preseason, and our camp, and our ability to not play our starters in early games — we’ve been able to play our corners and get good looks at everybody — has been really beneficial for us,” Norton said. “A lot of great looks. A lot of great situations.
“I would assume by the beginning of our game week would be awesome (to come to a decision).”
Norton is pushing out his and coach Pete Carroll’s selections as starters to as late as possible because D.J. Reed just re-joined the race. He’s poised to be the starting right cornerback.
Reed had missed weeks with a groin injury. He got back on the field Tuesday and Wednesday.
Reed on the right and former Green Bay Packers starter Damarious Randall appear likely to start Saturday night when Seattle hosts the Los Angeles Chargers in the third and final game of the preseason. Carroll said he is eager to give Randall a chance to start and show what he can do.
Randall looks very ready for the chance. He was tackling guys in a no-tackle scrimmage Wednesday.
Another reason for the delay in naming starters: Norton and Carroll have a new entrant to evaluate in their cornerback competition. New, as of Wednesday.
John Reid practiced for the first time, after the Seahawks traded a conditional seventh-round draft choice to Houston Tuesday to acquire him. The Texans’ fourth-round draft choice from last year out of Penn State was impressive in his first work with Seattle.
The 5-foot-10, 181-pound Reid broke up two passes away from DK Metcalf in positional drills during Reid’s first minutes on the field. The second pass break up was when Reid ran and reached back to knock Russell Wilson’s pass away. Reid came from behind to bat away a third pass during 11-on-11 scrimmaging.
“You can tell that he came in and wanted to make an impression,” Norton said. “He was making plays. He made himself be known.
“So far after one day, if anyone can make a really good first impression, he made a good one.”
Reid is probably going to get a long look Saturday night against the Chargers. Carroll likes that Reid can also play inside as a slot cornerback in nickel defenses.
Reed, the D.J. one, has earned the opportunity for this late consideration to start despite missing much of this month. His aggressive, refreshing play in November and December last season at nickel and at some safety led Carroll and Norton to make Reed the injured Dunbar’s replacement at right cornerback for the final five regular-season games plus Seattle’s home playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams in January.
“We love his play,” Carroll said. “We love the way he plays. He started camp in great fashion.
“It’s terrific to have him back now. And with three weeks to go we know he’ll be ready for the opener.”
If one had to bet on it, the smart wager would be Reed starting at right cornerback to begin the season.
Former San Francisco 49ers starter Ahkello Witherspoon on the left and 2018 and ‘19 starter Tre Flowers on the right were the first-team cornerbacks for most of training camp. Flowers moved back in there after Reed got hurt in early August.
Tre Brown was with the starters last week in practices. But the rookie fourth-round draft choice from Oklahoma is now out indefinitely with a knee issue. That has him off the pace in the race to start at right cornerback, where he had been working when Reed was still out.
“He’s got a sore knee,” Carroll said. “We’re kind of going day-to-day right now.”
Flowers was strong in his first week back starting, during practices. He was denying balls to Metcalf and showing more decisiveness on passes in flight than he did before he lost his job to Dunbar at the start of the 2020 season. But in the preseason opener at Las Vegas this month he did not turn his head on Nathan Peterman’s line-drive throw over Flowers’ helmet. That ruined the cornerback’s tight coverage on Tay Jones. The Raiders’ wide receiver got a preventable, 28-yard completion over Flowers to set up Las Vegas’ touchdown on its opening possession.
Witherspoon allowed a 35-yard completion early in Seattle’s home loss to Denver in the second preseason game last weekend.
But the team is guaranteeing Witherspoon $4 million for this season, on the one-year contract he signed this spring. That’s a lot of sunk cost to sit on a bench.
NFL cornerbacks are going to allow completions, of course. Its rules of no contact beyond 5 yards off the line of scrimmage and officials’ generous interpretations of pass-interference rules favoring the offense make cornerback one of the most difficult jobs in sports.
What Seattle really needs, more than new and better cornerbacks than the many they have, is its front seven to provide a consistent pass rush. That would force quarterbacks to get the ball out sooner, and thus require the defensive backs to cover for less time in the secondary. The Seahawks believe they have the guys to bring the pass rush, with ends Carlos Dunlap and Benson Mayowa re-signed, former 49ers pass rusher Kerry Hyder joining them on the opposite side as the strong side end, plus 2020 second-round pick Darrell Taylor finally healthy and impressive end Alton Robinson ready for an expanded role in his second season.
Asked to assess his cornerback competition 2 1/2 weeks before the opener, Norton demurred — and showed Reed is very much in the coaches’ consideration.
“Well, it’s hard to say. D.J. just came back from his injury,” Norton said.
“Tre has been having a fantastic camp. He’s been doing really good things. Witherspoon is a guy that’s been making plays. He had a really good day (Tuesday). He’s having a really good camp. Preseason has been fair.
“At the same time, the competition is still out there. I don’t think any decision has been made. We have some really good players to choose from.”
