Reviewing Seahawks rookie Tre Brown’s play through his first two games

Seattle Seahawks corners have been targets all year long, for quarterbacks on the field and for criticism off of it. But with the long overdue move of releasing Tre Flowers, the Seahawks finally acknowledged what Flowers had already resigned himself to; no matter how much experience, coaching, or gameplanning that the team could provide, Tre was never going to be the next Richard Sherman. Which would have been fine; few can even approximate the unique talents of Sherm. But not only was he not the next hall of famer to man the cornerback position in Seattle, he wasn’t even the next Byron Maxwell, Walter Thurmond III, or Shaquill Griffin. But from out of the shadows of preseason injury emerged a different Tre. Of course I am referring to the Rookie 4th round selection out of Oklahoma Sooner country, Tre Brown.

Through two weeks, Brown has indicated that the preseason hype around his selection may be at least somewhat warranted; in his short time on the field, he has capably stepped in as the next man up after veteran and second year Seahawk DJ Reed, jr. And after reviewing his game film, it is hard not to get excited about the young defender. Below is a compilation of of Tre Brown gamefilm so far.

As you can see, he is a physical, athletic player who displays good ball instincts and plays with a chip on his shoulder. In spite of his relatively diminutive stature, he isn’t afraid to use his body — like he did in the Steelers game on the deep pass to Diontae Johnson — and he doesn’t back down as a tackler. These traits are certain to endear him to fans and teammates alike. When matched up against the larger Marquez Callaway against New Orleans, he generally held his own. In addition to this, he continues to display a knack for making tackles in the open field, with the most notable of these coming near the end of the Steelers game on his huge third down stop of Ray-Ray McCloud, though he also made some similar plays in the Saints game. His willingness to break away from his man and find the ball is an admirable trait, particularly in such a young corner. But when he sticks with his man, he can be sticky, for sure. Just see his blanket coverage on the Jameis Winston scramble in the clip above.

Per Pro Football Reference, Tre Brown trails only DJ Reed for snaps among corners through the two games he has been active, though he has yet to record a start, as Sidney Jones has still received that honor. In the Steelers and Saints games, Tre recorded 40 and 50 defensive snaps, respectively. This total of 90 amounts to 60% for Seattle over the last two weeks. This is notably higher than the 56 snaps Sidney Jones has seen in that same period, or fewer than 40%. DJ Reed continues to be the lone mainstay on the Seahawks defense, as has been on the field for nearly 100% of the time during these weeks, which is actually down from the first five game, when he never left the field. Interestingly, of these three players, only Sidney Jones even approximates the team’s previously firm convictions around cornerback height and length. Below is a table comparing the three through the last two contests.

During his two weeks on the field, the Seahawks defense has allowed their two fewest point totals of the season (including the overtime jaunt against Pittsburgh). Of course, the Saints and Steelers are anything but offensive juggernauts this season, so we will see if this trend maintains any staying power over the coming weeks, although a date with Jacksonville is a pretty alright matchup to draw if this defense can continue to display some consistency. Statistically, Brown has yet to make a significant mark on the stat sheet, as he has not officially recorded a pass defensed nor has he snagged an interception, though he has made a handful of tackles and generally graded positively as a run defender, per Pro Football Focus.

While he has yet to formally record a start, Tre Brown seems to be trending up and has certainly made a solid first impression in his young career. With Seattle set to take on the Jaguars at Lumen Field on Sunday, Brown will have an opportunity to do something that he never had the chance to do in college: intercept a Trevor Lawrence pass.