The Seattle Seahawks, much to the chagrin of many fans and football analysts, stubbornly stuck with their base 4-3 defensive format nearly 70% of the time in 2019, far more than any other team in the league.
While Bobby Wagner, K.J. Wright and Mychal Kendricks was an elite trio of linebackers, the base defense forced them into pass coverage far too often, and allowed opposing offenses to move the ball efficiently in short yardage situations.
Now, with Kendricks out of the picture and Ugo Amadi more prepared to handle regular duty at the nickel corner position, it appears the Seahawks might be willing to move away from the base defense at such a high clip in 2020.
In fact, coach Pete Carroll not only implied exactly that on a recent conference call with Seattle media members, he discussed the possibility of using safety Marquise Blair in nickel packages as well.
“He’s a guy that we’re very interested in finding a role for him,” Carroll said. “We’ve already mapped that out. He’s got some real special talent that we want to find a spot for him…In the nickel package he is going to get a lot of consideration to contribute in some additional ways, because he’s unique and he’s got some special stuff.”
Blair appeared in 14 games during his rookie season, making three starts and totaling 32 combined tackles, two forced fumbles and one pass defended while playing primarily on the special teams – especially after the midseason acquisition of Quandre Diggs.
Now, while he’s still in the mix at either free or strong safety, the opportunity to compete for snaps with Amadi at nickel corner further adds to his versatility, and gives the Seahawks more confidence in their nickel package, a move that should help the defense on the whole in 2020.
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