Seattle’s secondary heads into 2017 a little banged up, and another year older. Earl Thomas is recovering from that gruesome broken leg, Kam Chancellor cleaned his ankles out, and DeShawn Shead will start the season on the PUP after suffering an injury in the Seahawks divisional round loss vs the Falcons. The only corner that will be 100% healthy from last season is Richard Sherman. There were lots of rumors of the Seattle Seahawks trading Richard Sherman before the draft and throughout the offseason but alas, the team did not trade him and he will be on the roster. The defense will definitely benefit from getting Earl Thomas back and healthy. In addition, they will get a boost from third rounder UCF standout Shaquill Griffin.
This is a do or die type season for this defense because as of now Sherman is set to leave the team at the end of this year. Also, Chancellor only has one year left on his deal and Thomas is only signed through 2018. In addition, Thomas said he was contemplating retiring after breaking his tibia. Therefore, what did the Seahawks do they went out and drafted the replacements for these players now. Griffin, Hill, Thompson, and Tyson should all be learning from their predecessors and will be ready to take over as starters next season if needed. The backups that are not rookies will also need to step up. Bradley McDougald, Perrish Cox, Neiko Thorpe and DeAndre Elliott will be important to the future of the Seahawks.
So what does that mean for this year, it means that the secondary will still need to play with that same reckless emotion that made them the “Legion of Boom” and struck fear into their opponents. If they do that, it will make this season on defense successful and give the Seattle Seahawks one last chance to get back to the super bowl this season.
Editor’s Note: This article can also be seen in our upcoming NFL Preview Edition.