Seahawks 90-Man Roster Primer: Tre Brown

Bucking past trends, the Seahawks selected Brown in the fourth round despite being just 5-foot-10 with sub-32-inch arms. Will the undersized cornerback compete for playing time on defense right away?

Aryanna Prasad | Jul 6, 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.

Tre Brown, Cornerback

Height/Weight: 5-foot-10, 185 pounds

2020 Stats (at Oklahoma): 31 tackles, three interceptions, six passes defensed in 10 games

A lifelong Sooner, Brown has excelled at every level of his Oklahoma football career before finding his way to the NFL. After leading his high school to a state title senior year, he became a four-star prospect that signed with Oklahoma, playing as a true freshman with 14 games and 12 total tackles. He went on to record 141 total tackles, 8.5 tackles for a loss, two sacks, four interceptions, and 31 passes defended over the course of his college career. He also thrived on special teams, earning Second-Team All-Big 12 honors in 2018 with 30 returns for 710 yards and a 23.7 return average. After being voted Second-Team All-Big 12 as a senior in 2020, he participated in the Senior Bowl and performed well in the all-star showcase in Mobile back in January. Though a smaller cornerback than Seattle has typically preferred, the team loved his physicality and grit, opting to use a fourth-round pick on him in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Best Case Scenario: Holding his own during an intense competition at the cornerback position during training camp, Brown opens the season as a starter on several special teams units and eventually finds his way onto the field to play significant snaps defensively later in the season, setting the state for him to start in 2022.

Worst Case Scenario: Despite a stellar offseason, Brown struggles during camp and the preseason, losing reps to veterans such as Tre Flowers, Pierre Desir, and Damarious Randall. While the team doesn't cut him, he's limited strictly to special teams and plays less than 20 defensive snaps as a rookie.

What to Expect in 2021: After watching D.J. Reed play well down the stretch last season, the Seahawks clearly have altered their approach when it comes to scouting and evaluating cornerbacks. While Brown lacks the height and length the team has typically coveted at the position, he checks off many of the other boxes they look for, as he loves to press receivers at the line of scrimmage, plays physical coverage, and willingly steps up to make tackles against the run. Right off the bat, he should be a feisty gunner that will stop kick and punt returners in their tracks on special teams for Seattle. In time, depending on how he performs throughout camp and the preseason, he could become a contributor on defense sooner rather than later.

Previous Seahawks 90-Man Roster Primers

Published Jul 6, 2021

ARYANNA PRASAD