Seattle Seahawks 90-Man Roundup: Will Tre Brown Return to Starting Lineup at CB?

With a crowded cornerback room in 2024, will Tre Brown do enough to stand out and be a regular in the Seahawks rotation?

Nov 19, 2023; Inglewood, California, USA; Seattle Seahawks cornerback Tre Brown (22) reacts in the third quarter against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

The Seattle Seahawks will open training camp at the VMAC in less than a month, officially ushering in the first season under new coach Mike Macdonald.

In preparation for the new incoming season, we’ll be detailing every member of the Seahawks 90-man roster over the next several weeks, diving into scheme fits, exploring best and worst case scenarios and predicting what to expect from each player entering the 2024 campaign.

Will Tre Brown earn a spot in the cornerback rotation and potentially return to the starting lineup for the 2024 season?

Background

Brown was a four-star recruit in the 2017 recruiting class at cornerback. He committed to play for the Sooners and played four years in Norman. He played in all four seasons, including making Second-Team All-Big 12 in his senior season and being Second-Team All-Big 12 kick returner with a 23.7 yard average. He broke up 31 passes and intercepted four more during his college career. He parlayed that success into becoming a fourth-round draft pick by the Seahawks in 2021. Brown played sparingly during his first two seasons due to a knee injury, but saw a lot of action in 2023 over 15 games. In his 603 snaps on defense, Brown posted a Pro Football Focus coverage grade of 64.1 with two interceptions and five passes batted down.

Scheme Fit

Though Brown has the skill set to play slot cornerback, he has been at his best on the boundary when he's been allowed to play in press coverage. With new head coach Mike Macdonald in the fold, that will be a great fit for how Brown likes to play. His quickness and physicality will be maximized and he could even move inside occasionally, though that hasn't been seen yet on the practice field.

Best Case Scenario

Brown thrives in Macdonald's scheme with his physicality and wins the second boundary job outright across from Riq Woolen and Devon Witherspoon takes most of his snaps inside in the slot. His play forces Coby Bryant to safety, which was likely his best bet to succeed in the NFL. He also cleans up the penalties that plagued him during both his college and pro career, retaining the starting role for the entire season this time around.

Worst Case Scenario

Though he saw most of the first-team reps in OTAs and minicamp, Mike Jackson ends up surpassing Brown on the depth chart in training camp and the preseason with the latter once again struggling with penalties in exhibition games, knocking him out of the lineup and relegating him to primarily special teams duties.

What to Expect in 2024

The battle for the third cornerback job in Seattle is going to be a feisty one. Brown is entering the final year of his rookie contract and will be squaring up with Jackson and potentially rookie Nehemiah Pritchett and Artie Burns to earn a spot opposite of Woolen. Now, the intrigue here is whether or not Macdonald prefers Witherspoon to play most of his snaps in the slot during nickel situations, as his size and shiftiness could be intriguing with his aggressive style. If Witherspoon is going to play a lot outside, that changes the dynamic a bit in the competition.

The likely scenario is that Brown takes a step forward with free agency on the horizon and makes a real play to return to the lineup as Seattle's second boundary cornerback or even gets some opportunities to slide inside for the first time in his NFL career. But Jackson may have something to say about that after starting 21 games the past two years, so while his roster spot is secure, he better be ready to compete when camp opens next month.

Previous 90-Man Roundups

Buddha Jones | Devin Richardson | TaMerik Williams | Rason Williams II | Ro Torrence | Nathan Pickering | Dee Williams | Devere Levelston | Kobe Lewis | Sunny Anderson | Mike Novitsky | Max Pircher | Easton Gibbs | Hayden Hatten | Garret Greenfield | Carlton Johnson | Matt Gotel |George Holani | Cody White | Ty Okada | Drake Thomas | McClendon Curtis | Easop Winston Jr. |Nelson Ceaser | Jonathan Sutherland | Lance Boykin | Joshua Onujiogu | Patrick O'Connell |Jack Westover | Raiqwon O'Neal | Tyler Mabry | Dareke Young | Tremayne Anchrum | DJ James | Artie Burns | Kenny McIntosh | Myles Adams | Dee Eskridge | Stone Forsythe | Tyrice Knight |Jerrick Reed II | Mike Morris | Coby Bryant | Jake Bobo | Jon Rhattigan | Nick Harris | Johnathan Hankins | Derick Hall | Laviska Shenault | PJ Walker | K'Von Wallace | Sam Howell|Sataoa Laumea | Pharaoh Brown | Michael Dickson