INDIANAPOLIS — For the increasingly many draft aficionados who like looking for hints on what the Seahawks might do in the NFL draft each spring, one fact has long stood out — in the Pete Carroll/John Schneider era, Seattle has never selected a cornerback before the third round.
And they’ve done that only once — Shaquill Griffin at 90th overall in 2017, the only corner the Carroll-era Seahawks have taken inside the top 100 picks.
“It’s not by design that we don’t take guys here, that’s not it,” Carroll said. “… It’s not that we haven’t taken corners or something like that because we don’t think that we should.”
Instead, Carroll said it’s just the way things have worked out.
One factor is that Seattle had no real need for corners for a while after filling out the position with surprising swiftness early in Carroll’s tenure, specifically in drafting Richard Sherman at 154th in 2011, signing free agent Brandon Browner that same year and also drafting the likes of Byron Maxwell in the sixth round in 2011 and Jeremy Lane in the sixth in 2012.
And few need reminding Seattle struck late-round cornerback gold again a year ago with Tariq Woolen at 153.
On paper, this wouldn’t seem like a year those trends would change with Woolen entrenched as a starter at right cornerback and Seattle able to easily retain exclusive rights free agent Michael Jackson as the starter on the other side. Woolen’s fellow 2022 rookie Coby Bryant (taken at 109) is set to return as the nickel.
But you can also never have too many corners in the increasingly pass-happy NFL. And considering the Seahawks ranked 25th in the NFL in points allowed in 2022, Seattle could look to improve/add competition just about anywhere on defense this offseason.
If the Seahawks were to consider bucking their cornerback historical trend, they could look to a player not only with local ties but a recent connection to one of the most storied players in team history — Georgia cornerback Kelee Ringo, who lived in Tacoma through his freshman season at Bellarmine Prep High, and is being mentored in the run-up to the draft by none other than Sherman himself.
Ringo, whose pick-six helped seal Georgia’s national title win over Alabama in 2022, moved to Scottsdale in the summer before his sophomore year of high school before later signing with UGA. He was also recruited heavily by Washington.
Ringo still considers Tacoma as his real hometown, as he made clear during his media session at the NFL scouting combine on Thursday.
Asked about the prospect of being drafted by the Cardinals and playing at home in Arizona, Ringo said it would be amazing adding “Arizona being my second home, me being originally from Washington state, Tacoma.”
Ringo moved at the time to be with his mother, who was living in Arizona.
But he returned to Washington periodically, where he struck up a relationship with Sherman through workouts at Ford Sports Performance in Bellevue — he was pictured as early as 2020 working out not only with Sherman but lining up against the likes of DK Metcalf and Josh Gordon.
The work with Sherman has continued as the draft approaches.
“It’s been great being able to learn from the legend himself,” said Ringo, who in a sign of how quickly time marches on, was 11 years old when Sherman and the Seahawks won the Super Bowl in 2014. He declared for the draft this year following his redshirt sophomore season.
Ringo said Sherman is helping him learn about techniques and “the mental game, being able to see concepts. … just how smart he is. He slows the game down. I would definitely say that he makes things look a lot more easier with how smart he is, specifically on seeing what is going to happen to him, and specifically what an offensive coordinator wants to be able to do to him in the game.”
Those are traits that, if Ringo can master them the way Sherman did, could answer some of the more pressing questions about his game.
No one doubts Ringo’s tangibles. He’s listed at 6-2, 210 pounds, ran a 4.35 40 in high school and said he hopes to run even faster than that when defensive backs work out on Friday.
“Going to shoot for the stars for sure,” said Ringo, who finished third in the 100 at the Washington state track and field championships as a freshman at Bellarmine Prep with a time of 10.58 seconds and later won state titles in the 100 and 200 at Saguaro High in Scottsdale.
Those traits have had some project Ringo in the first round, with a few mocks even having Seattle taking him at 20.
Draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah of the NFL Network said last week he doesn’t think Ringo would last much past Seattle’s first of two second-round picks at No. 37.
“I think he there’s a real chance he goes in the first round,” Jeremiah said. “He won’t get out of the early part of the second round if that were to be the case, if he doesn’t go round one.”
But some others — such as Pro Football Focus, which has him 75th on its Big Board — view Ringo as potentially sliding into the third
Wrote PFF: “His physical tools are undeniable but his lack of development is concerning,” while noting also that “Ringo always seems like he playing catch-up. While he’s obviously adept at that, it’s not a viable strategy in the league. His anticipation has to improve.”
Jeremiah, meanwhile, termed Ringo one of the more intriguing players as the draft approaches due to the seemingly divergent views teams hold of his potential.
“Kelee is going to be — I don’t want to say polarizing, I just think he is going to fit certain teams,” Jeremiah said. “He is not going to necessarily fit others. I think there’s a real chance he goes in the first round, especially when he puts on a show when he runs. Track background. He is going to be 6-2, 200 pounds. He is going to fly.”
The Seahawks, though, are undeniably interested. Ringo said Thursday he has met with the team here and he stated the obvious — that he’d be more than happy if he ended up playing in Seattle.
“Yes sir,” Ringo said with a smile.
But among the things he said he’s learned from Sherman is to understand that there is a bigger picture to the business of the NFL and whoever calls his name is April is where he will also happily call his next home.
“He’s helped me grow as a man,” Ringo said of Sherman. “And (with) outside of football things, as well as teaching me to learn the game from a greater point of view.”