Two weeks ago, Josh Jobe was a little-known practice-squad cornerback on the Seattle Seahawks.
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On Sunday, Jobe earned the unlikely distinction of becoming the first player to intercept Buffalo Bills star quarterback Josh Allen this season.
And now, could Jobe be pushing Tre Brown for the third cornerback role?
When asked during media availability on Monday whether Brown would regain his starting job as the No. 3 corner this week as he returns from injury, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald indicated the spot is an open battle.
“It’s a competition,” Macdonald said. “It’s a competition.”
Brown, a 2021 fourth-round draft pick, held the third cornerback role for Seattle’s first six games before suffering an ankle injury in a Week 6 loss to San Francisco.
Brown then missed the Seahawks’ Week 7 win over Atlanta and remained on the team’s injury report ahead of Sunday’s Week 8 matchup against Buffalo. After not practicing last Wednesday or Thursday, he was listed as a full participant in Friday’s practice and carried a questionable status into the weekend.
Brown ended up being active on Sunday, but didn’t play a snap in Seattle’s 31-10 loss to the Bills. Jobe started instead, serving as the third cornerback behind entrenched starters Devon Witherspoon and Riq Woolen.
“Tre was ready to go, but he hadn’t practiced as much, so we’re gonna work through who’s starting at corner moving forward here,” Macdonald said Monday morning during his weekly appearance on Seattle Sports.
The potential candidates
With the Seahawks playing a healthy dose of nickel coverage in Macdonald’s defense, they often have three cornerbacks on the field. In those instances, Woolen typically remains on the outside and Witherspoon slides inside to nickel, while the team’s third cornerback mans the other outside corner spot.
Heading into the season, Brown appeared to have a firm hold on that third corner spot.
After being drafted out of Oklahoma as a fourth-round pick in 2021, Brown’s first two seasons were disrupted by injuries, limiting him to just 11 total games. But he stayed healthy last year and had a solid season, making seven starts and totaling two interceptions, six pass breakups, a sack, two tackles for loss and two forced fumbles.
Brown hasn’t quite matched that level of play this year. He has one pass breakup in six games and has allowed 11 catches on 17 targets for 169 yards and two touchdowns, according to Pro Football Focus.
Brown’s performance and ensuing injury appear to have opened the door for a competition. At the moment, with veteran cornerback Artie Burns on injured reserve with a toe injury for at least another two games, the other top candidates for the third corner spot are likely Jobe and rookie fifth-round pick Nehemiah Pritchett.
Jobe, a third-year undrafted pro out of Alabama who started three games for Philadelphia last season, signed with Seattle’s practice squad on Aug. 29. Due to injuries, he has been elevated to start each of the past two games. He has an interception and three pass breakups over that span, while allowing six catches on 12 targets for 113 yards, according to PFF. He also has committed three penalties.
JOSH JOBE INTERCEPTS JOSH ALLEN. pic.twitter.com/4TL86AvS8E
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) October 27, 2024
Jobe’s interception on Sunday came in the second quarter, while matched up on the outside against five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Amari Cooper. Cooper briefly slipped on his route and Jobe took advantage, using the misstep to cut off Cooper’s route and jump in front for his first career interception, which he returned 33 yards to the Buffalo 7-yard line. It ended Allen’s streak of 300 consecutive pass attempts without a pick.
“It was a lone kind of bright spot in the game,” Macdonald said. “… Josh had great technique on that play. And then when he had the opportunity, he took advantage of it. So that was great.”
Having already been elevated twice from the practice squad this season, Jobe can only be elevated once more before Seattle would have to add him to the 53-man roster in order to play him.
Pritchett, meanwhile, helped fill in after Woolen went down with an injury in Week 5 that sidelined him for the next two games. Pritchett came up with a key third-down pass breakup in that Week 5 loss to the Giants and made his first career start in Week 7 against Atlanta, but was inactive on Sunday due to an ankle injury. In his four games at cornerback, he has allowed eight catches on 13 targets for 105 yards and a TD.
Burns, who is eligible to return by Week 12 at the earliest, was expected to be Seattle’s No. 4 cornerback prior to suffering an injury in the preseason finale. After opening the season on the practice squad, he was elevated for the Week 6 game against San Francisco, but suffered a toe injury that landed him on IR. In his lone game, he had two pass breakups and allowed two catches on four targets for 22 yards, according to PFF.
Jobe has a 56.9 PFF defensive grade this season, while Brown has a 52.0 grade and Pritchett has a 30.4 grade. Burns had a 68.6 grade in his lone game.
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