2020 Seahawks Draft recap: In a rare move, John Schneider skips the secondary

You might have noticed that none of the Seattle Seahawks’ eight selections in the 2020 NFL Draft addressed the secondary. Despite John Schneider’s noted disapproval of what happened in 2019, no corners or safeties were taken.

This is just the second time under Schneider and Pete Carroll that Seattle has opted not to take a secondary player in the draft. In 2016, the Seahawks had ten draft picks but their only defensive selections were interior linemen Jarran Reed and Quinton Jefferson.

Of course, that isn’t to say Seattle didn’t use draft capital to improve the secondary; Quinton Dunbar was acquired with a fifth-round pick, and he should factor heavily into the team’s defensive plans this season. You could also argue that part of the Seahawks’ secondary fix involved last year’s Quandre Diggs trade, as he proved to be a vastly superior option to Tedric Thompson.

As things stand, the Seahawks secondary depth chart looks like this:

Cornerbacks

Tre Flowers
Quinton Dunbar
Shaquill Griffin
Ugo Amadi
Neiko Thorpe
Brian Allen
Ryan Neal
Linden Stephens

Safeties

Quandre Diggs
Bradley McDougald
Marquise Blair
Lano Hill

The only thing to keep in mind is that Dunbar, McDougald, Hill, and Griffin are all free agents after 2020, while Diggs and Flowers’ contracts are up after 2021. Apart from Hill, everyone else figures to be a regular part of the Seahawks’ rotation. There’s also the chance that Hill is replaced as a reserve safety by Amadi, who has the versatility to play both slot corner and safety.

Pass rush has been the top priority of this Seahawks offseason, and perhaps we’ll see an improved secondary if the pass rush returns to some semblance of competence. If the pass rush returns to something close to top form and yet there are still issues in the back-end, you can guess what becomes the new top priority in 2021. One might argue that of all the defensive units, it’s the Seahawks secondary with the most to prove this season.