Tre Brown salvaged otherwise disastrous 2021 Seahawks draft

Brown made the most of his first (mostly) healthy season in a Seahawks uniform.

The 2023 Seattle Seahawks defense might have been collectively bad, but there were individual bright spots worth highlighting.

Cornerback Tre Brown rarely saw the field in his first two seasons in the National Football League. He showed promise when thrust into the starting lineup in October 2021, but his season was cut short after suffering a patellar tendon injury in his left knee. The severity of the injury led to him missing most of 2022, playing just 21 defensive snaps.

With a full, healthy offseason under his belt, Brown took the left cornerback starting job away from Mike Jackson Sr, and frequently showcased why the Seahawks took him in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

PFF’s charting has Brown allowing 30 catches on 47 targets for 398 yards, 3 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, as well as a sack, two forced fumbles, and five passes defensed. His PFF grade isn’t impressive and even without the grade, those stats are not the makings of a future All-Pro corner, but he also frequently was tasked with tough coverage assignments against the likes of A.J. Brown, Ja’Marr Chase, and Puka Nacua.

In the larger picture, Brown’s relative success in 2023 has prevented the Seahawks’ 2021 draft from being just a big ol’ F grade. It’s not just the lack of picks, it’s why they had only three selections that season that compound the issue.

2021 Seahawks draft review

Round 1 – No pick due to Jamal Adams trade (eventually used by Minnesota Vikings to take Christian Darrisaw)

Round 2 – Dee Eskridge

Round 3 – No pick due to Jamal Adams trade (eventually used by Minnesota Vikings on Wyatt Davis)

Round 4 – Tre Brown

Round 5 – No pick due to Gabe Jackson trade (used by Las Vegas Raiders on cornerback Nate Hobbs)

Round 6 – Stone Forsythe*

Round 7 – No pick due to trading back up into the sixth round to get Forsythe

*The Seahawks initially had no sixth-round pick because they had traded it to the Miami Dolphins to take Stephen Sullivan in the seventh round of the 2020 draft, but were able to get their pick back through subsequent trades.

We know that the Adams trade has been a disaster so this is just to re-emphasize how bad the trade was. The Seahawks acquired Jackson at an inexpensive draft capital cost but also gave him a three-year extension which he didn’t complete. For whatever value you put into PFF grades, Jackson was a huge liability in 2022.

The thought process behind throwing away the 2021 draft was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most college football conferences had truncated seasons and there were plenty of opt-outs. There were no in-person NFL combine workouts so no additional intel could really be gathered. The Adams trade was made a few months after the pandemic was declared, and the Jackson trade occurred prior to the start of the ‘21 draft. In effect, Seattle punted on this class.

Eskridge is almost certainly not going to be on the Seahawks roster next season. Forsythe has been a capable backup tackle but there’s a reason why Seattle grabbed Jason Peters out of semi-retirement to rotate snaps with him. It’s reasonable to believe that Forsythe is going to be fighting to maintain a spot on the 53 this August.

Which leaves us with Brown. His contract is up at the end of this season and he most likely still be competing to maintain his starting job. At his best, he could potentially be another D.J. Reed type of undersized but talented cornerback. It will be interesting to see how Mike Macdonald views him and his role in the defense. I believe the best is still yet to come from ‘Big Play’ Tre.