The Seattle Seahawks’ OTAs and preseason have both concluded and the team’s least anticipated regular season in a decade starts in two weeks.
Despite extremely reserved expectations for the team as a whole, a few Seahawks have shown an abundance of promise throughout these past few months. Former Seattle linebacker KJ Wright is extremely excited about one player in particular: rookie cornerback Tariq Woolen.
“When I saw this guy in OTAs, I was like, ‘Who is this guy making these plays, getting these interceptions?’ Tall and fast,” Wright said.
“Oh my God, he made a phenomenal play in OTAs,” he continued. “And you see him now, he’s comfortable, his technique looks really good, he has the speed.”
This is presumably the play he referred to:
That Woolen Wingspan 🤯 @_Tariqwoolen #SeahawkCamp x @Boeing pic.twitter.com/hFMoz6vmwq
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) August 7, 2022
Woolen has all the intangibles to be a superstar cornerback in the NFL, including size, speed, arm length and athleticism, but he is still raw as a defender and needs time to develop. He slipped all the way to the fifth round in the 2022 NFL draft, where Seattle scooped him up.
Despite this, Woolen has turned heads throughout training camp and could start in Week 1 against the Denver Broncos. Wright certainly thinks he will:
“I fully expect him to start Week 1 at corner. He looks very, very good. So he’s been my favorite since Day 1.”
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