Opponents Aside, Seattle Seahawks CB Riq Woolen is Playing Like an All-Pro

Seattle Seahawks third-year cornerback Riq Woolen is playing some of the best football of his career. Can he maintain that level of play against top offenses?

Nov 12, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen (27) reacts after a pass defense against the Washington Commanders during the second quarter at Lumen Field. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Through two games, the Seattle Seahawks are yet to play an elite pass offense. Denver and New England might even be among the worst in the league in that area by season’s end. That doesn’t change the fact the Seahawks' secondary has been dominating the teams they are supposed to.

Seattle is currently third in the NFL in passing yards allowed among teams that have played two games, excluding only the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles. The Seahawks have given up 257 passing yards (128.5 per game), and third-year cornerback Riq Woolen is a big reason why.

On 83 coverage snaps (T-8th most in the NFL), Woolen has allowed four catches for just 31 yards on nine targets, per Pro Football Focus. Woolen’s 84.6 coverage grade is second among all cornerbacks with at least 60 coverage snaps, and he has the third-highest overall grade at the position through two games (84.3).

Woolen assessed his 2023 season during training camp, which has been much maligned and criticized after tying for the NFL lead with six interceptions as a rookie in 2022.

“I’ve been through ups and downs. I’ve been to the Pro Bowl, I’ve been on the bench before,” Woolen said on Aug. 2. “It was just all part of the journey to me. I felt like as a young player I had to go through that just because it shows me that there’s some places that I don’t want to be and there’s places where I do want to be. That’s being a Pro Bowler, that’s to help my team get to the Super Bowl and just be a great player.”

He was benched on separate occasions due to performance and injury-related issues — more recently revealing he was working through a knee issue ahead of last season in addition to the shoulder injury during the regular season.

This season, however, Woolen had a healthy offseason and training camp to work on his body and skills.

“I actually got to work on my whole body. I wasn’t rehabbing before the season,” Woolen said on Sept. 11. “Usually guys train before the season. They’re not rehabbing; guys building their bodies. I had to rehab my knee and strengthen my legs … I feel like that's probably the biggest difference.”

Woolen is currently fifth in passer rating allowed among corners with 60 coverage snaps (13.9) and fourth in rating allowed in zone coverage (2.8), per PFF. He’s given up just two yards after the catch and already has an interception — one that few players in the league could make chasing down and under-cutting an over route.

Riq Woolen gets on the board with an INT

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In 2023, Woolen averaged 12.4 coverage snaps between catches allowed. He’s playing an average of 20.5 snaps between catches allowed so far in 2024. It’s a small sample size, of course, but Woolen is trending in the right direction.

The Seahawks defense has a different feel to it in 2024. It passes the eye test beyond the numbers, but Woolen is one of Seattle’s players whose success is translating to the advanced metrics. Seattle’s tackling was not nearly as effective versus New England as it was against Denver in Week 1, but its back-end coverage remained excellent.

Seattle surrendered just three catches for 19 yards and a touchdown to Patriots wide receivers. Denver’s wideouts pulled in nine catches for 83 yards in the season opener. Opposing quarterbacks have completed just one pass to a wide receiver of 20 or more yards.

Again, those numbers are against poor passing offenses, but it’s still providing the team confidence as they gear up for high-powered opponents later in the season. It’s not all Woolen, either, but he’s been massively improved from last season through two games.

Even if Tua Tagovailoa doesn’t play in Seattle’s Week 3 home game versus the Miami Dolphins, they still have to stop Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle — the 13th and 15th leading receivers in the NFL, respectively. That will be their toughest test yet.