Seizing Opportunity, Castaways D.J. Reed and Sidney Jones Thriving in Seahawks' Secondary

Injuries led to Reed and Jones both being discarded by their former teams and landing in the Pacific Northwest. Since joining forces as Seattle's starting corner tandem, both players have been playing the best ball of their careers, potentially playing their way into future plans for the franchise.

Prior to kicking off the 2021 season, cornerback stood out as one of the Seahawks biggest question marks like a sore thumb. Former starters Shaquill Griffin and Quinton Dunbar departed in free agency, leaving two starting spots up for grabs in what coach Pete Carroll expected to be a heated competition.

But unfortunately, that competition never materialized as hoped. Seattle traded free agent signee Ahkello Witherspoon to Pittsburgh for a future draft pick in mid-August, rookie Tre Brown went on injured reserve before the opener with a knee injury, and incumbent Tre Flowers secured a starting job across from D.J. Reed by default more than by merit. Several other moves were made shortly before the start of the regular season by trading for Sidney Jones and John Reid and signing Bless Austin, further shaking up the depth chart in the final hour.

Not surprisingly, Flowers didn't exhibit any notable improvements in his fourth season after being benched in favor of Dunbar a year ago and struggled mightily through four starts, forcing Carroll to throw the white flag on his original plan. Seeking a spark in the secondary, he moved Reed back to his natural right cornerback spot and subbed Jones into the lineup, giving him his first start in Week 4 against the 49ers.

Still learning a new scheme and getting acclimated to his new team only a month after coming over from Jacksonville, Jones didn't provide the immediate upgrade Carroll hoped he would. While Flowers demanded his release and found his way to Cincinnati, the ex-Washington standout got toasted in his first two starts on the left side, allowing 11 completions on 14 targets for 270 yards, 24.5 yards per reception, a 158.3 passer rating, and a pair of touchdowns, including allowing 49ers star Deebo Samuel to come wide open on a busted coverage for a 76-yard touchdown.

Jones also got burned by then-Rams receiver DeSean Jackson in Week 5, allowing him to get behind him on a vertical and come back to the ball for a 68-yard catch and run as the Seahawks lost a pivotal Thursday night divisional matchup.

With the Seahawks reeling at 2-5 at the time, Carroll went against his past preferences of avoiding a platoon situation at cornerback, rotating Jones and the recently-activated Brown over the next two games opposite of Reed. By Week 10, Brown had wrestled the starting job away from Jones with stellar play, allowing just five receptions for 44 yards in his first four NFL games.

But while covering Cardinals receiver A.J. Green in Week 11, Brown tore his patellar tendon trying to make a play against a vertical route. A few days later, he underwent surgery, bringing a promising rookie season to an end and vaulting Jones back into the starting lineup for the second time.

Since then, playing with far greater confidence and mastery of Seattle's scheme, Jones' performance has been night and day compared to his two starts earlier in the season. Since Week 6 when he started rotating with Brown, he has played his best football since entering the league as a second round pick for the Eagles in 2017.

In the past six games, including back-to-back starts against Washington and San Francisco, Jones has excelled in all facets. Playing with a newfound aggressiveness and physicality as a run defender, he's racked up 27 combined tackles while only missing one, including setting a career-high with 12 tackles after taking over for Brown against the Cardinals.

Jones has been equally impressive in coverage for the Seahawks, allowing 12 receptions on 24 targets for 96 yards and just eight yards per reception. Though he surrendered a touchdown in coverage against Cardinals tight end Zach Ertz in Week 11, he's otherwise been near-flawless, producing five pass breakups with opposing quarterbacks posting a pedestrian 74.3 passer rating when targeting him.

During that span, according to Pro Football Focus, Jones ranks seventh in receiving yards allowed, seventh in yards per reception allowed, third in pass breakups, and fifth in yards allowed after the catch among qualified cornerbacks with at least 150 coverage snaps.

Thriving back on the right side, Reed has arguably been better than Jones since his positional switch, continuing to make the 49ers look foolish for trying to slip him on waivers to the injured reserve before the 2020 season. Dating back to Week 4, the ex-Kansas State star has allowed just 14 completions on 32 targets for 198 yards and no touchdowns. Among qualified corners per PFF, he ranks first in completion rate against (43.8 percent) and 11th in passer rating against (64.3).

While Reed's tackling hasn't been near as sharp as Jones with seven missed tackles in his previous eight games, he's still been reliable defending the run with 41 total tackles and has limited opposing receivers to 43 yards after the catch.

With both Reed and Jones playing fantastic football on the outside after being cast aside by their previous teams, the cornerback duo has spearheaded the Seahawks' defensive improvements as the season has progressed. Currently, the team ranks sixth in the NFL in scoring defense allowing under 21 points per game and superior play in coverage has served a key role in the group's performance as a whole.

“They are playing good football now," coach Pete Carroll told reporters on Wednesday. "Sidney stepped in and got his chance when Tre [Brown] went down. He played a really good football game last week. Those are really important spots in our evaluation. We love what D.J. has done and Sid has had a heck of a couple games, he’s had some really good play for us."

Still four games under .500 with five games left to play, Seattle's odds of returning to the postseason for a fourth straight year remain slim. According to Five Thirty Eight, they have just a three percent chance of earning a wild card in the NFC.

But even if they are eliminated from contention in coming weeks, this final month of play will be critical for Carroll and his staff to assess a cornerback group with only Brown under contract in 2022. Both Reed and Jones will be unrestricted free agents in March, while Bless Austin will be a restricted free agent and Reid will be an exclusive rights free agent, creating long-term questions that must be answered at the position.

Have Reed and/or Jones done enough to this point to earn themselves a new contract? Carroll remained non-committal on that front on Wednesday, indicating they would be giving Austin opportunities down the stretch as well to see what he could do.

Regardless, the next five weeks could go a long ways towards deciding which of those players will return and which ones could be elsewhere next fall. If Reed and Jones can keep performing at a high level as they have for the better part of two months, Carroll can envision each of them being a part of Seattle's bounce-back efforts next season.

"We are trying to develop some depth there, because D.J. was on the injury list and I don’t know if Sidney was, but they have been in and out of nagging things. They are making it, but we have to develop our depth as well. Both of those guys are playing well, and they are certainly in the thinking that they are capable of playing next year."