Getty The Seattle Seahawks have added a veteran CB in response to the Jamal Adams injury.
The Seattle Seahawks brought in an established veteran defensive back after it was reported that one of their most recognizable players on defense will be required to have season-ending surgery.
After suffering what was reported as a torn quad in the Week 1 win over the Denver Broncos, All-Pro safety Jamal Adams will have season-ending surgery to deal with the injury. NFL Network insider Ian Rapaport tweeted the bad news on Thursday, September 15.
With Adams being placed on injured reserve, former Detroit Lions draft pick and five-year veteran cornerback Teez Tabor was signed by the Seahawks off of the Atlanta Falcons practice squad, according to Rapaport.
Former Green Bay Packers second-round pick Josh Jones will be stepping up in place of Adams for the Seahawks. The veteran safety considered retirement this offseason, but after a solid stint in Seattle at the end of last season, head coach Pete Carroll convinced Jones to return to the team.
Who is Teez Tabor?
He may not be a household name anymore, but before his NFL career, Teez Tabor was one of the most intriguing NFL draft prospects in the country.
Coming out of Friendship Academy in Washington D.C., Tabor was a 5-star recruit and one of the top 20 players in the class of 2014. Programs from across the country were trying to land him, including Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, and Ohio State.
However, Tabor ultimately decided to go down to Gainesville to play for the Florida Gators. He was a full-time contributor in all three seasons for the Gators, making the All-SEC Freshman team in 2014 before being named to back-to-back First-Team All-SEC teams. In his three college seasons, he finished with 104 total tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 28 pass deflections, eight interceptions, and three defensive touchdowns.
Tabor had drawn some interested as a first-round pick after he declared for the NFL draft following his junior season. However, poor testing at the NFL Scouting Combine and Florida’s pro day hurt his draft stock. He slid down into the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft, where the Detroit Lions took him with the 53rd overall pick.
Unfortunately, Tabor’s career never took off at the NFL level. Over five seasons, he has started just six games for the Lions and Chicago Bears. He will likely only be used as an emergency depth piece in Seattle, especially with the team’s young rookie corners already establishing their own roles on the defense.
Who Are Seattle’s Rookie Cornerbacks?
It’s been years since the Legion of Boom dominated the NFL, but the Seahawks are hoping that rookies Coby Bryant and Tariq Woolen can have a similar impact over the next few years.
Bryant was an exciting fourth-round pick for the Seahawks coming out of Cincinnati. Despite being the other cornerback alongside top draft pick Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner, Bryant was a two-time First-Team All-AAC cornerback and the Jim Thorpe Award winner given to the nation’s top defensive back.
Woolen didn’t start playing cornerback until halfway through his college career at UTSA, but his size and athleticism helped him succeed while he worked on his technique. The rookie cornerback turned plenty of heads in the pre-draft process after measuring in at 6’4″ and 205 pounds while running the 40-yard dash in only 4.26 seconds.
They may not have gone early in the 2022 NFL Draft, but the expectations are high for Bryant and Woolen given their college production and athletic traits.