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Five Qs before camp: Who emerges at outside corner for Seahawks?

By John P. Gilbert
/ new
Wild Card Round - Los Angeles Rams v Seattle Seahawks Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images

The final weekend before the Seattle Seahawks report for training camp has arrived, and with just three weeks remain until the preseason opener against the Las Vegas Raiders on August 14. In the coming weeks the team will have multiple questions it looks to answer, but one of the biggest will be who will be manning the outside cornerback spots. The team has spent the offseason accumulating upside and potential in the position group, and it’s time for the assembled group to make their case on the field.

The names in the competition include:

  • Damarious Randall
  • Pierre Desir
  • Tre Flowers
  • Akhello Witherspoon
  • D.J. Reed
  • Jordan Miller
  • Tre Brown
  • Gavin Heslop
  • Bryan Mills
  • Saivion Smith

Brown, of course, as a fourth round pick likely has a leg up on securing his spot on the roster, even if it’s in a depth role as a rookie. He could certainly lay claim to a starting spot, but there is obviously no guarantee. Even Richard Sherman and Shaquill Griffin started their Seattle careers as depth, so it would seem unlikely that Brown would start, though it’s certainly not out of the question.

That said, here is how these ten players stack up in terms of their age and experience in the NFL.

Experience and age of the outside cornerbacks on the roster entering training camp

Player Games Started Snaps Played Age
Player Games Started Snaps Played Age
Damarious Randall 56 3807 29
Pierre Desir 44 2489 30
Tre Flowers 37 2459 26
Ahkello Witherspoon 33 2256 26
D.J. Reed 10 1045 24
Jordan Miller 0 24 24
Tre Brown 0 0 23
Gavin Heslop 0 0 23
Bryan Mills 0 0 22
Saivion Smith 0 0 23

Witherspoon and Reed both came to Seattle from the division rival San Francisco 49ers, Reed as a late summer waiver claim last year and Witherspoon in free agency this past March. Reed’s experience playing for Pete Carroll and defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. in 2020 could put him on the inside track for one of the two starting jobs, but it’s a position where there will no doubt be a huge amount of competition during camp and the preseason.

The competition features a former first round pick, a former third round pick, a pair of fourth rounders, three fifth rounders and one player who went undrafted in each of the last three seasons. The battle won’t just be for the starting spots, however. Every single one of the top five in the group by experience - Randall, Desir, Flowers, Witherspoon and Reed - are slated to be unrestricted free agents following the 2021 season. That could easily translate into a situation where fans and the team are right back in this same position on the eve of training camp, wondering who will be starting at outside cornerback for the Seahawks come Sundays in the fall.