When you’re 6-4, 205 pounds, and do what Tariq Woolen did at the 2022 NFL Scouting combine, you typically don’t last long on draft weekend.
That wasn’t the case for Woolen, the No. 58 overall player on our board, who waited around until the fifth round to hear his name called.
The lucky team that snatched him up with the 153rd overall selection in this year’s draft? The Seattle Seahawks, a club that knows a thing or two about stealing shutdown corners with rare mental and physical tools in the fifth round.
Back in 2011, the Seahawks spent pick No. 154 on a big, physical corner from Stanford named Richard Sherman, who would log three straight first-team All-Pro nods during his tenure in Seattle.
It’s unfair to compare anyone to Sherman, who was perhaps the league’s best corner for a decent stretch of his career, thanks in large part to his rare combination of instincts, intelligence and competitiveness, to go along with impressive size and length.
But it’s impossible not to draw the connection between how quickly Sherman developed into a dominant force for the “Legion of Boom,” and the early returns from Woolen during his first training camp:
Why has rookie Tariq Woolen soared to the starting right CB spot? Pete Carroll says he's "cleaned his game up…in college (UTSA) he was all over the place…
"Very similar to Richard."
Yes, that is Sherman, and how he rapidly progressed as a Seahawks rookie a dozen years ago.
— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) August 11, 2022
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is right when he points out that Woolen’s college film from his days at UTSA was inconsistent at best. Despite his rare physical gifts, Woolen’s technique was often sloppy, and sometimes completely nonexistent.
That said, you can’t teach the rare combination of size and athleticism Woolen brings to the table, and he’s already proving to be the kind of coachable player who can put in the necessary work to maximize those traits at the next level.
While most folks will be focused on how Seattle’s offense responds after Russell Wilson’s departure, the Seahawks’ defense also has plenty of questions to answer if the team wants to be competitive this year and beyond.
It looks like they might have a future star in Woolen, and a potential cornerstone player they can build the secondary around, much like they did with Sherman in their Super Bowl glory days.
