Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald’s cutting-edge defensive scheme places an emphasis on positional versatility.
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There’s perhaps no greater example of that than All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton, who Macdonald deployed all over the field during his success-filled run as the Baltimore Ravens’ defensive coordinator.
And now, Macdonald is building quite a collection of versatile defensive backs in Seattle.
Standout cornerback Devon Witherspoon has moved around as a versatile chess piece during his first two NFL seasons, logging 47.9% of his snaps as Seattle’s slot corner, 37.2% as an outside corner and 12.2% in the box, according to Pro Football Focus.
Veteran safety Julian Love has also shown positional flexibility over the course of his six-year career, having played 48.2% of his snaps at free safety, 24.6% in the box and 17.8% at slot corner.
Coby Bryant was versatile enough to play two different primary positions, beginning his career as a slot corner before moving to safety last year and earning a starting job alongside Love.
And then there’s rookie safety and second-round draft pick Nick Emmanwori, who very well might be the most versatile of them all. The 6-foot-3, 220-pounder roamed all over the field as a big-time playmaker at South Carolina, where he was one of just three FBS players last season with at least 300 snaps at safety, 100 snaps at slot corner, 100 snaps at outside linebacker and 100 snaps at inside linebacker, according to ESPN Research via ESPN’s Brady Henderson.
On Wednesday’s edition of Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk, former NFL wide receiver Bryan Walters put that all into context.
“This is gonna be a fun one for Mike Macdonald to have so many different options,” said Walters, a Bothell native and Super Bowl champion with the Seahawks who was filling in as co-host. “You just have these interchangeable guys that you can play everywhere. It’s almost like you have three Kyle Hamiltons.”
Walters then mentioned a few specific ways he expects the ultra-versatile Witherspoon and Emmanwori to be deployed.
“I bet you that Devin Witherspoon is gonna be a big blitzer this year, a lot more than we’ve seen, because you have people on the back end that can cover,” Walters said. “You have Emmanwori who can play nickel (and) can man up someone if need.
“It’s awesome. This defense is gonna be really exciting this year. I can’t talk enough about it.”
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