Seattle Seahawks: How soon could Tre Brown start?

The Seattle Seahawks have had a fairly modest 2021 offseason aside from some trouble in paradise with star quarterback Russell Wilson. With no first-round pick and very little in the way of high-profile free agent acquisitions, the Seahawks are obviously banking on some hits with their very small 2021 NFL Draft class.

One player who could play a big role sooner rather than later is fourth-round pick Tre Brown out of Oklahoma.

Brown is slightly undersized at 5-foot-10, 186 pounds, and is as twitchy as you will find from an athletic perspective at the cornerback position. Timed at 4.40 in the 40-yard dash, Brown also posted a 38-inch vertical jump and 10’3″ broad jump.

His explosiveness and aggressiveness are two of the top traits that stand out on his Oklahoma tape, though his aggressiveness can also be his Achilles heel at times.

Over the course of the last three years for the Sooners, Brown was a consistently productive player in a number of different ways. As a sophomore, he posted a season-high 58 total tackles, six tackles for loss, two sacks, and 12 pass breakups.

As a senior in 2020, he posted a career-high three interceptions and finished out his time at Oklahoma with a total of 31 pass breakups.

He showed over the course of the last three seasons that he can be productive when the ball is in the air, and the Seattle Seahawks are going to be counting on that productivity translating sooner rather than later.

Although Seattle signed former San Francisco 49ers cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon in free agency, they lost starter and CB1 Shaquill Griffin on the outside.

Seattle Seahawks 2020 top CB snap counts

1. Shaquill Griffin – 813
2. Tre Flowers – 578
3. DJ Reed – 560
4. Quinton Dunbar – 397

There will be plenty of snaps to go around in 2021 and Brown is going to have a shot to at least become the top nickel in his rookie season with the Seattle Seahawks, which in today’s NFL is basically a starter’s position.

Brown’s outstanding play in single coverage only makes his case to be Seattle’s top nickel corner as a rookie even stronger.

With his twitch and aggressive style of play, along with his success in single coverage, Brown stands a really good chance of being a high-impact player as a rookie despite being picked in the fourth round (137th overall).

As deep as the 2021 NFL Draft class was at the cornerback position, it should come as no surprise that the Seattle Seahawks were able to find such a solid value in the fourth round in Brown, whose size concerns likely pushed him out of the first two days.

The NFL has diminished the value of projected nickel types to the next level despite their value both in terms of coverage and as blitzers. Brown can provide Seattle with someone who can do both and make some noise in 2021.