RENTON — At the top of the list of goals that Seahawks cornerback Tariq Woolen keeps in his phone is to get five interceptions this season.
“I’ve got two more (interceptions) to go,’’ Woolen said Wednesday, adding he updates the list every time a goal is reached. “After that it (the goal) will be 10.’’
If Woolen were to do that it would tie a team record that hasn’t been matched since 1984 when Kenny Easley picked off 10 passes en route to winning NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors (John Harris also had 10 in 1981).
What also might happen if Woolen were to do that is he might achieve a goal that’s further down on his list — winning the NFL Defensive Rookie of Year Award.
“That’s one of my goals, too,’’ Woolen said. “But I just keep it in the back of my mind. I don’t really focus on it too much because I know I’ve got to just keep working and I know in my situation of being a fifth-round pick it’s a lot harder to obtain some goals than other people. So I just keep working and keep having my head down and once I keep making plays it will keep turning heads even more.’’
Woolen has already turned plenty, having pulled off a potential game-changing play each of the last four weeks, including a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown in the second game of the season against the 49ers and interceptions each of the last three games, one a pick six against Detroit.
If Woolen were to pick off another pass Sunday against Arizona he would tie a team record for most consecutive games with an interception held by six players, most recently Brandon Browner in 2011.
And his three interceptions already has him tied for fifth in team history for most by a rookie. Earl Thomas and Michael Boulware hold the record with five, and Richard Sherman and Harris had four.
And the lofty stats are indeed getting Woolen noticed. VegasInsider this week has him with the seventh-lowest odds to win the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award at 14-1 (Jacksonville linebacker Devin Lloyd is the current favorite at 2.75-1).
No Seahawk has ever won the official NFL Rookie of the Year award.
But few put anything past Woolen at this point.
“The sky is the limit for him,’’ said DeShawn Shead, a former Seahawks player who is an assistant defensive backs coach.
That was reinforced Sunday with a play that coaches say was evidence of Woolen’s quick maturation, an interception of an Andy Dalton pass in the third quarter.
And intriguingly, the play came against the current VegasInsider favorite to win the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award — Saints receiver Chris Olave.
As the snap neared, Woolen turned to face the field and took off running stride-for-stride in with Olave, who was the 11th overall pick in the draft last April in what’s commonly referred to as a “bail’’ technique.
Teading that Olave was stopping and executing an out route to come back for the ball, Woolen — the 153rd pick out of Texas-San Antonio — quickly turned and cut in front of the ball to pick it off.
That Woolen is 6-4 an runs a 4.26 40-yard dash helped him make the play.
As coach Pete Carroll said Wednesday, it also showed Woolen’s ability to understand that “his first responsibility is to stop the deep ball’’ yet still be able read and react quickly enough to contest the pass, and ultimately pick it off.
“That’s a big deal because it wasn’t like he lucked out,’’ Carroll said. “It wasn’t like he guessed. He just played the route and was on it and then got his foot in the ground and got back and then made a terrific catch with a guy contesting it.’’
Woolen said he has gotten increasingly comfortable with the bail technique through practice and noticed in the first half that almost every time he used the technique the Saints receivers “would stop their routes. I just gave him a bail look and he stopped and I just played the ball real well.’’
“That’s a hell of a job,’’ defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt said. “There’s a lot of young guys, rookies in this league, they’re playing off and soft because they’re worried about getting run by. Not that kid — he’s ready to challenge routes.’’
Receiver DK Metcalf watched the interception and was reminded of his first impression of Woolen during training camp.
“I missed the first two practices and I would see flashes of it, and then when I actually got out there and ran routes against him I couldn’t complete a go (route) on him,’’ Metcalf recalled. “I was like, ‘This kid’s going to be real good.’’’
The pick almost overshadowed another play that wowed coaches — when Woolen almost ran down Taysom Hill on a 60-yard TD. Woolen was clocked by NFL Next Gen Stats reaching a top speed of 22.93 miles per hour on the play, the fastest of any player since Rasheem Mostert, then of the 49ers, in week two of 2020 at 23.09.
Both plays helped further validate the Avatar nickname, from the 2009 Sci-Fi film, teammates heaped on him shortly after he arrived, as well as the comparisons to Sherman that began on the day he was drafted because of the similarities in their physiques and background. Like Sherman, Woolen began his college career as a receiver before switching to cornerback.
Woolen got to know Sherman when he stopped by for a few practices shortly before the season and says the two keep in touch via regular texts.
What does Sherman say?
“He just says, ‘Keep making plays,’’’ Woolen said.