Seahawks CB Ugo Amadi Vows to Ramp Up Aggressiveness After 'Timid' Rookie Season
When it comes to the NFL, every rookie encounters that "welcome to the league" moment. Whether on the practice field or game day, no player moving to the highest level of the sport is exempt from making rookie mistakes.
After joining the Seahawks as a fourth round pick out of Oregon, cornerback Ugo Amadi did everything he could to steer clear of such miscues.
“I feel like, especially on defense, the opportunity I got on the field, I feel like I never wanted to make a mistake,” Amadi told ESPN 710 Seattle's Tom, Jake, and Stacy.
After carving out a niche on special teams for most of the 2019 season, particularly as a gunner on the punt coverage team, Amadi took over as the Seahawks primary nickel cornerback late in the regular season. He played 55 defensive snaps during Seattle's last three games, producing five tackles and nearly returning an interception for six points against Carolina in Week 15.
But looking back, Amadi feels his efforts to avoid mistakes consistently left him a step slow, preventing him from fully capitalizing on those extensive snaps. Then, his welcome to the NFL moment finally happened, as he allowed Packers receiver Davante Adams to score his second touchdown against him from the slot in a divisional round loss in Green Bay.
While the botched coverage proved critical in Seattle's season-ending defeat, Amadi sees a silver lining to the situation. Now that he's made the big mistake he tried so hard to avoid, he should be able to play faster and fly around the field as he did starring for Oregon.
“I feel like I was playing timid and when I’d see things, I wouldn’t go right away like I did in college," Amadi remarked. "But I feel like with a year under my belt, I’m going to be able to react instead of thinking and then reacting. I was just trying to play everything safe and I feel like next year I’m going to be a lot more confident to be more aggressive, especially on defense.”
Nobody should be more excited about Amadi's comments than coach Pete Carroll, who admitted back in January that he regretted not turning to the youngster earlier in the season.
Interestingly, Amadi played 20 defensive snaps in the nickel spot during the Seahawks season-opening win over the Bengals. But veteran Jamar Taylor re-signed the next week, pushing the rookie to exclusively playing special teams. He didn't see a single defensive snap from Week 3 until Week 14.
When asked to assess Amadi's first season in Seattle's program, Carroll told reporters at the NFL combine he did a "nice job" after being thrust into the lineup in December, again suggesting the team should have turned to him sooner.
"He gave us a certain style of player there - a smaller guy, real quick, and a very smart, very good zone player. He had some time working at the spot early on. We kind of did it in the middle of the year, later in the year to really give him the go-ahead, but he did fine."
Heading into his sophomore season, Carroll views Amadi as the favorite to win the starting nickel role. But sticking to his core philosophies, the job will have to be earned and the Seahawks will keep options open to provide ample competition for him.
"We’re okay if we don’t add a guy, but we’ll keep looking though, because nobody really owns the spot yet," Carroll commented. "It’s really Ugo’s to lose right now. If we were going back, that’s where we would begin, but he’s going to be under siege now, he’s going to have to really work hard to keep it, which is what the competition is all about.”
Vowing to return to a more aggressive playing style, Amadi intends to reward Carroll for his confidence in him. Grateful for landing in Seattle, he aims to make the most of his chances from here on out learning from the renowned defensive backs guru.
“Getting drafted there, I was always a big USC fan, especially when Pete Carroll was there and when I got the opportunity to be coached by him, I embrace every moment I have with him."
As Carroll stipulated, Amadi won't simply be handed a starting job in Seattle's secondary. With only 76 defensive snaps under his belt, he has much left to prove, and a shortened or canceled offseason program due to the coronavirus will make more difficult to make a second-year leap.
At the same token, Amadi quickly acclimated to Seattle's scheme upon his arrival last summer, learning both safety and slot cornerback positions. Drawing upon lessons learned as a rookie, he should be well-prepared once teams are given the go-ahead to resume on-field activities.
With no reason left to fear failure and a confident, revitalized mindset, Amadi should be well-positioned to emerge as a defensive cornerstone and core special teams talent for the Seahawks.