Seahawks rookie Tariq Woolen has made a huge impression. He's just getting started

By Eric D. Williams
FOX Sports NFC West Writer

Clint Hurtt is an imposing physical presence. So one can imagine the reaction from cornerback Tariq Woolen when the rookie greeted the burly defensive coordinator during his pre-draft interview at the NFL Scouting Combine earlier this year.

"I remember seeing Coach Hurtt, and I was like ‘Dang, this must be Coach Pete (Carroll)'s bodyguard or something,'" joked the rangy Seattle cornerback, talking with reporters this week.

However, Hurtt was just as taken aback with the stature of the 6-foot-4, 205-pound Woolen when the two first met in Indianapolis.

"The first thing you say when you first see him is, ‘That's a pretty damn big corner right there," Hurtt told reporters this week. "He was impressive, obviously, going through the interview process.

"You were curious because he was pretty new to the position, so you didn't know what his football IQ was, but he was an impressive kid. I'm glad a lot of people missed out on him when we landed him."

Woolen turned heads at the combine by running a 4.26-second 40-yard dash. Two months later, the Seahawks selected the UTSA defensive back in the fifth round of the .

He later raised eyebrows during training camp by holding his own against Pro Bowl receivers DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett during one-on-one and team drills. And that cocksure attitude has carried over to games for Woolen. He has corralled interceptions in four straight games.

In a win over the Arizona Cardinals last week, Woolen totaled five tackles, one interception and one fumble recovery, becoming the first rookie since the league merger to record both an interception and a fumble recovery in consecutive games.

For his effort, Woolen won NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors, joining Uchenna Nwosu as the second Seattle player to win the award this season.

Woolen hopes it is one of many honors to come.

"Shoot, it feels pretty good," Woolen said about winning the award. "I want to be Player of the Week, Player of the Month, Player of the Year — whatever. This is just one stepping stone to reach even more of those, and it gives you even more confidence to go out there and do what you do"

According to Next Gen Stats, Woolen has a 36.9 passer rating as the nearest defender this season. He has allowed 15 receptions for 182 receiving yards, with four interceptions on 27 targets.

Hurtt believes this is just the start of Woolen blossoming into a dominant football player the cornerback position.

"He still has a lot of ball to learn," Hurtt said. "He's still gaining and gathering information, but I think he has a very natural innate feel for the game and what's going on, especially because he played on the other side of the ball.

"He has a feel for releases, stems, and things of that nature, so he can stay on top of routes, and when to take his shots. Some of the breaks, if you watch the film, and you see the challenges that he's making on routes, the shorter ones, he knows more than maybe what people are giving him credit for."

Woolen's play has garnered similarities to another long, rangy corner from Seattle's Legion of Boom days in Richard Sherman, who serves as a mentor for the receiver-turned-cornerback. 

"He runs 4.2, so there's nobody that's going to outrun him," Sherman said in his podcast. "He's jumping up into the air. He's got long arms. He's got good hands. He's going to bring it down. That's four in four weeks. He's looking like the Defensive Rookie of the Year."

Woolen has not only caught the eye of former Seattle players, but NFL draft analysts who liked his size and speed at when they first saw his raw potential at the Senior Bowl in January.

"He was a bit of a straight-line athlete," Fox Sports analyst Bucky Brooks said on his Move the Sticks podcast. "When you're trying to project a guy that is 6-4, 200-plus pounds against guys who are smaller that can move around, it looked different. When you put Tariq Woolen beside a nickel back who's 5-8, the footwork looks different, you don't look as smooth, fluid and athletic.

"However, that size is coveted on the perimeter because so many wideouts who have dominated the game are just basically big-boying guys on the outside and moving people off the football. They know all of the subtle tactics to create space without getting OPIs (offensive pass interference). You need someone who's a bigger, super-sized corner to be able to handle that presence on the outside. Tariq Woolen has exceeded expectations."

Daniel Jeremiah of the NFL Network said Woolen could end up being the steal of this the draft.

"I thought he had toughness, but thought there were some missed tackles there," Jeremiah said. "And he didn't get a lot of opportunities to make plays on the ball. I am absolutely kicking myself. This dude has four picks. He's got height, weight and speed. You see toughness in there, and then knock on him is, ‘Well, he didn't get many opportunities.' That's not his fault. That's poor on my end."

Woolen is getting the opportunities now, and he's capitalizing on them. He's one of six players from Seattle's draft class making an impact this year, along with offensive tackles Charles Cross and Abe Lucas, running back Kenneth Walker III, slot defender Coby Bryant and edge rusher Boye Mafe.

But Woolen has earned the most attention and accolades so far from this rookie class.

"He's young," Seahawks coach Carroll said. "He is a young man out there doing it, and he's just enjoying the heck out of it. He's having a blast, and he's not overthinking things. He's not overtrying. He's just playing ball.

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.