Seahawks' Position Battles to Watch Ahead of 2021 NFL Season

The Seattle Seahawks did not make any significant upgrades at cornerback through free agency and the 2021 NFL draft. If anything, they added competition for a collection of players hoping to take over Shaquill Griffin's starting spot.

The Seahawks have 18 defensive backs on their roster, and only two of them are surefire guarantees to start 16 games when healthy. Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs are two of the first names written on the depth chart at safety.

For Seattle to have a more complete defensive backfield, it needs some of the corners to step up in training camp and preseason to take a firm hold of the starting spots ahead of Week 1.

The Seahawks have a few offensive positional battles that will be intriguing to watch, too. They need one of their young receivers to step up behind Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf, while competition should be fierce at tight end between a few players.

Cornerback

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Seattle brought in Ahkello Witherspoon and Pierre Desir in free agency and landed Tre Brown in the draft.

If you add Tre Flowers and D.J. Reed to that group, you have plenty of cornerbacks to choose from to partner Adams and Diggs in the secondary.

However, none of those players have been particularly dominant of late or stayed healthy for multiple seasons in a row.

Whoever starts on the outside will be tasked with replacing Griffin's three consecutive 60-tackle seasons and three interceptions from 2020.

Seattle does not have to be too concerned with the interception numbers from its corners since Adams and Diggs are around the ball on almost every play, but they do need players who can produce 50-60 tackles because of how aggressive the safeties can be.

As training camp progresses, head coach Pete Carroll and his staff need to find two players they can trust to partner the stars of the defensive backfield.

The starting corners do not need to be the best in the league, but they must be solid supporting pieces to ensure the Seahawks have a well-rounded unit.

Tight End

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The free-agent addition of Gerald Everett made the competition for touches at tight end more intriguing.

Will Dissly did not produce as much as previous seasons in 2020 and Colby Parkinson is coming off an injury, so the former Los Angeles Rams player could become the No. 1 tight end immediately.

The Seahawks could use increased production from tight end since Dissly’s 251 yards in 16 games was the highest total of any player at the position.

Dissly, Greg Olsen and Jacob Hollister earned 106 targets from Russell Wilson last season, but they only had six touchdown catches and were well behind the other top pass-catchers on the roster.

Everett is coming off back-to-back 400-yard seasons with the Rams, but he does need to increase his red-zone production. He had three touchdowns in that two-year span.

If the 26-year-old gains the trust of Wilson, he could emerge from camp as the No. 1 tight end, but if he does not catch on right away, Dissly and Parkinson will be called upon to earn receptions early on while he adjusts.

Wide Receiver

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The loss of David Moore to the Carolina Panthers could be one of the underrated moves that hurts the Seahawks in 2021.

The 26-year-old brought in 35 receptions for 417 yards and six touchdowns a year ago behind Lockett and Metcalf.

Freddie Swain and D'Wayne Eskridge will likely get the first chances to earn the No. 3 spot on the depth chart vacated by Moore. The Seahawks also brought in a pair of undrafted free agents to compete for roster spots.

Swain was used sparingly on offense in 2020, but he did haul in 13 of the 21 targets he received. Eskridge was the top wideout for Western Michigan and could be used as a slot wideout because of his speed.

If Swain and/or Eskridge steps up to fill Moore's production, Wilson could get comfortable with a third option to throw to while Metcalf and Lockett are double-teamed.

Statistics obtained from Pro Football Reference.