Seahawks 90-Man Roster Primer: Marquise Blair

An unfortunate knee injury derailed what looked to be a promising second season for Blair after just two games. Now on the mend, will he be able to pick up where he left off and give the Seahawks another Pro Bowl-caliber defender in their secondary?

Nick Lee | Jul 11, 2021

With the calendar flipping to July and offseason programs recently wrapping up, NFL training camps will begin around the league in less than a month. To celebrate the new incoming season, we will be breaking down the Seahawks' 90-man roster over the next several weeks, exploring best and worst case scenarios and what to expect from each player entering the 2021 campaign.

Marquise Blair, Defensive Back

Height/Weight: 6-foot-1, 196 pounds

2020 Stats: Eight tackles, one forced fumble in two games

Transitioning to slot cornerback before the start of training camp, Blair may have been Seattle's MVP in the month of August. He picked off multiple passes during the team's three mock scrimmage games and seemed to come up with turnovers in each and every practice, beating out Ugo Amadi for the starting job and emerging as a potential breakout candidate on defense. Unfortunately, his season came to an abrupt end only a few weeks later, as he tore his ACL in a Week 2 victory over the Patriots and underwent reconstructive knee surgery. Still just 23 years old, Blair flashed plenty of promise at his new position and expectations remain high coming back from his injury. His versatility and instincts as a tackler make him valuable in multiple ways and during his rookie year two years ago, he showed why the Seahawks had enough faith in him to make him a second round pick, producing 32 tackles and two fumbles forced in limited action.

Best Case Scenario: Rebounding nicely from his severe knee injury, Blair doesn't miss a beat in his return to the practice field and regains his starting nickel corner role with a stellar preseason, eventually turning in a career year with more than 60 tackles and a trio of interceptions to buoy Seattle's secondary.

Worst Case Scenario: Rusty after nearly a year away from the game, Blair gets outplayed by Amadi during training camp and struggles to earn snaps on defense, primarily playing special teams in a disappointing third season with the Seahawks.

What to Expect in 2021: Since Blair won the starting job at slot cornerback coming out of training camp in 2020, given that Seattle did not give him any additional significant competition during the offseason, it's likely he will do the same this year as long as he's fully recovered from his injury. Assuming that's the case after seeing him participate in OTAs and mandatory minicamp, now entering his third NFL season, it could be a case of now or never for him to find a permanent role in the Seahawks' secondary with the likes of Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs likely staying around for a while at the safety spots. If he plays well and avoids further injury, there's still a possibility he could be the free safety of the future and at worst, he provides Seattle with a versatile defensive weapon who can line up at multiple spots and creates flexibility for coordinator Ken Norton Jr. Seeking redemption after a lost season, the franchise will be counting on big things from the hard-hitting defender.

Previous Seahawks 90-Man Roster Primers

Published Jul 11, 2021

NICK LEE

Nick Lee grew in San Diego, California and graduated from Brigham Young University-Idaho in 2017. He married a Washington native and moved to the Pacific Northwest after 2014. He began his writing career for Bolt Beat on Fansided in 2015 while also coaching high school football locally in Olympia, Washington. A husband and father of a two-year old son, he writes for East Village Times covering the San Diego Padres as well as Vanquish the Foe of SB Nation, covering the BYU Cougars. He joined Seahawk Maven in August 2018 and is a cohost of the Locked on Seahawks podcast.