When the Seahawks used their second and third draft picks in April on Bud Clark and Julian Neal, the move told a pretty clear story. John Schneider was targeting the secondary, and specifically the spots left open by departures in free agency.
Clark was the safer read. He looked like a fit for the box safety job Coby Bryant had handled in recent years. Neal, meanwhile, was brought in with a different lane in mind: a perimeter corner role that could eventually resemble what Riq Woolen once gave Seattle.
That mattered because the Seahawks already had plenty of talent back there. Devon Witherspoon, Josh Jobe, Julian Love, Nick Emmanwori and Ty Okada formed a strong defensive backfield on paper, and yet Schneider still spent premium draft capital on two more defensive backs. That came at the expense of several promising offensive linemen, a position group that may have been the more obvious need.
Early buzz around both rookies has been positive, though that’s hardly unusual this time of year. Rookies tend to look better before the pads come on and the real competition starts. The more revealing stretch will come through the summer and into preseason games.
Clark was drafted earlier, and he may be ahead right now. Still, Neal may wind up mattering more in the short term.
He is not Woolen. Not close.
There are some surface similarities, mainly that both are bigger corners who work on the outside, but the comparison stops there. Neal may end up having more positional flexibility down the road, but if he earns a role as a rookie, it will probably be in the same general space Woolen occupied: outside, on the perimeter, and in something like 600-800 defensive snaps.
The traits are there. Neal has good size and speed.
What he does not have is Woolen’s rare athletic ceiling. Woolen’s length-speed combination made him look like a future star for a while, but inconsistency has slowed him down.
Discipline has been an issue, and his tackling has never been a strength. The penalty he took in the NFC Championship game against the Rams stood out as the latest example.
That helps explain why Seattle moved on from former undrafted free agent Josh Jobe over Woolen this offseason. Discipline and tackling almost certainly played a major part in that call.
For Neal, those are the first boxes to check. He has to show he can make the right decisions, rein in the aggression when necessary, and bring people down when the play comes his way. The encouraging part is that he has already flashed both qualities, even if “maturity” is the harder trait to measure.
Seattle does have some cover if Neal needs time. Jobe and Witherspoon are already performing at a high level, while Nehemiah Pritchett gives them a veteran perimeter option and Noah Igbinoghene can handle the slot. That kind of depth could let Neal ease in through nickel and dime packages before taking on more.
But Mike Macdonald does not seem interested in easing everyone into one fixed spot. The Seahawks didn’t have to take Clark in the second round, especially with three top-tier safeties already on the roster.
They did it because Emmanwori is more than a safety in the traditional sense. He moved all over the field last season, and the expectation is that he’ll move even more this year.
Witherspoon fits that same mold. He could be the league’s best slot corner if Seattle left him there.
He might also be the best perimeter corner on the roster. Macdonald wants him to do more than one thing, though, because players like Emmanwori and Witherspoon create problems from anywhere.
That flexibility only works if Ty Okada can handle the classic box safety job and if Jobe can hold up on the perimeter opposite Witherspoon. Neither is a Pro Bowler, but both are reliable in the roles they’re asked to fill.
That is the lane Neal has to occupy as well. Solid zone coverage.
Consistent tackling. Enough press ability to handle bigger receivers at times.
If he gives Seattle that, the defense gets even more dangerous.
And if he does it quickly, the Seahawks could end up with a unit that looks scarier than it did even late last season.
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