Seattle Seahawks: 5 Players on roster bubble feeling pressure
By Samuel Teets
Jamar Taylor, CB
Jamar Taylor is a recent signing who was brought in to add depth to the cornerback corps, but his stay in Seattle could be short. Don’t get me wrong, the Seahawks need as much help in the secondary as they can get, but Taylor feels more like a horizontal shift than a vertical leap.
Taylor was drafted in the second round by the Dolphins back in 2013, but he left the team after just three years, spent two seasons in Cleveland where he recorded his only three career interceptions, and then played for the Broncos and Cardinals last season. The idea of adding a six-year veteran to a young secondary might sound good on paper, but will Taylor actually make the team any better?
Traded from Miami to Cleveland and then from Cleveland to Arizona, Taylor passed through a series of hapless organizations that only felt he was worth a seventh or sixth round pick. Arizona then cut Taylor on Nov. 21 last season and Denver signed him a week and a half later on Dec. 4. It’s been a rollercoaster of a career for Taylor, but there’s been a reason why he’s changed teams so often and has failed to produce turnover despite starting 41 games in his career.
Looking at the depth chart, Shaquill Griffin and Tre Flowers are clearly CB1 and CB2, but things open up a bit after that. Justin Coleman played in the slot for Seattle last year, but he left in free agency.
The Seahawks did add Ugo Amadi in the fourth round of the draft, and it’s expected he’ll see snaps in the slot, but I don’t know how long it will take him to assume that role. Akeem King, Jeremy Boykins, Kalan Reed, Neiko Thorpe and Simeon Thomas are all equally unimpressive. The team has also signed undrafted free agent corners Davante Davis from Texas and Derrek Thomas from Baylor.
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The Seahawks have a lot of unanswered questions at cornerback, and I could have chosen any of the numerous players I just named for this spot, but I went with Taylor because he’s a newer signing who has bounced around so often. This could be just like the Nate Orchard (a defensive end who Seattle signed and cut this offseason) situation, where the team signs a player for depth but then moves on from him soon afterward.