The Seahawks have added some help to their secondary by selecting Oklahoma cornerback Tre Brown with the 137th overall pick of the NFL Draft in the fourth round on Saturday.
Brown, a three-year starter at Oklahoma, played in 51 career games with 33 starts for the Sooners. He played mostly on the outside for Oklahoma but did play some in the slot during the Senior Bowl process.
Brown is smaller than the typical mold the Seahawks usually have for their cornerbacks. at 5-foot-9 3/4 and with 30 3/8-inch arms, he's both shorter in height and has shorter arms than the traditional Seahawks cornerback. However, Brown has shown to be a physical presence despite his lack of prototypical size and he's gone against NFL receivers such as CeeDee Lamb and Marquise Brown in practice throughout his career at Oklahoma.
Brown joins D.J. Reed, Tre Flowers, Ugo Amadi, Ahkello Witherspoon and Marquise Blair at the position for Seattle as they try to cover the loss of Shaquill Griffin to the Jacksonville Jaguars in free agency.
The Seahawks had held the 129th overall pick earlier in the round, but traded it to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The move dropped them eight slots down the draft order and gave them a sixth-round pick as well, No. 217 overall. They now have four total selections for the draft with two remaining, including pick No. 250 in the seventh round.
Dane Bruger's scouting report on Brown for The Athletic: "A three-year starter at Oklahoma, Brown was an outside cornerback in defensive coordinator Alex Grinch’s scheme, playing both man and zone. He put together a solid career in Norman and routinely produced in the biggest games, most notably in three Big 12 Championship Game victories with a sack-safety in 2018 (Texas), three pass break-ups and a touchdown-preventing chase down in 2019 (Baylor) and game-sealing interception in 2020 (Iowa State). With his long speed and short-area quickness, Brown works hard to stay within arm’s length and crowds the catch point, taking it personally when a completion happens on his watch (37.4% completions allowed over the last two seasons). He shows a natural feel for break points and route depth, but his eagerness to make plays and lapses in technique will lead to false steps. Overall, Brown is undersized and his aggressive nature is a double-edged sword, but he can flat out fly with the route recognition and athleticism to make plays on the football. He projects as an NFL-quality nickel corner."
Photo Credit: ARLINGTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 19: Tre Brown #6 of the Oklahoma Sooners intercepts a pass intended for Xavier Hutchinson #8 of the Iowa State Cyclones in the fourth quarter of the 2020 Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship football game at AT&T Stadium on December 19, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)