Shaquill Griffin continues to play like a number one corner

Shaquill Griffin does not remind me of Richard Sherman, but in his own way, Griffin could absolutely replace Sherman. The Seattle Seahawks second-year cornerback was selected after 89 other players in 2017, but he’s playing like number one.

On Monday night against the Chicago Bears, Griffin had two interceptions, one more than his entire total as a rookie last season. Both picks showed great displays of awareness, athleticism, and agility (I don’t know how necessary is was to point out agility but three a-words were necessary), giving the Seahawks an unlikely shot at beating the Bears with a depleted defense and an awful performance by the offense.

Per ProFootballFocus, Griffin was targeted 10 times, allowing seven catches for 55 yards and four first downs. He had a third pass breakup in addition to his two interceptions, giving him a passer rating allowed of 43.8. Chicago has some pretty good receivers and a solid offensive mind at head coach with Matt Nagy (though that has not really been on display in the Bears first two games), so it’s an even bigger mark in favor of Griffin, who was also great in Denver.

It was also a very good game for safety Bradley McDougald, a week after he had two picks of his own against the Broncos. With Griffin, McDougald, and Earl Thomas, at least the secondary appears to be in good shape for the near future. Well, ignoring the other corner spots for now, at least.

The Seahawks appear to have found a quality successor to Sherman.