RENTON, WA - For a second straight offseason, the Seahawks have undergone a substantial transformation at the cornerback position, including allowing two-year starter D.J. Reed to leave as a free agent to sign with the Jets.
But while Seattle finds itself breaking in several newcomers such as incoming rookies Coby Bryant and Tariq Woolen, first-year defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt has a veteran presence to lean on in the secondary who has prior experience playing in the new scheme he's working on implementing this spring. And oddly enough, Artie Burns has never played a single game for the franchise.
Joining the Seahawks as a free agent on a one-year deal back in March, Burns has jumped in head-first with his new team, receiving the majority of first-team reps across from fellow veteran Sidney Jones in organized team activities. This trend continued in Thursday's fourth practice and the former Miami standout turned in one of the signature plays of the afternoon during the team's final 7-on-7 drill in the red zone.
Playing opposite of Jones, Burns played as tight of coverage as cornerbacks can in limited offseason practice and managed to get his hand in front of Cade Johnson for a pass breakup to deny the second-year receiver a touchdown. Congratulating him for the big play during the tail end of a 7-on-7 drill in the red zone, teammates swarmed him in the end zone, with several giving him a slap to the helmet in approval.
Thanks in part to his previous ties to new associate head coach Sean Desai, who coached him as the Bears defensive coordinator last season, Burns has emerged as an early front-runner to win a starting job in the Seahawks' secondary. While the calendar has yet to flip to June and starting jobs won't be determined until training camp, he's off to a quick start and his familiarity with the scheme has been a boon for Hurtt and his staff thus far.
"It's been really good," Hurtt told reporters after Tuesday's practice. "Talking with Sean [Desai], what he's really impressed with Artie is how much more comfortable he is in year two of the system. He's really kind of grabbed that and ran with it."
As Hurtt alluded to, Burns hasn't necessarily played extensive snaps in the Vic Fangio-style defense Seattle is in the midst of installing. After signing with Chicago as a free agent in 2020, he tore his ACL during training camp and missed the entire season. Last year, he didn't log a single defensive snap until Week 11 and finished the season with only 254 defensive snaps in 11 games. He hasn't played much football since departing Pittsburgh after four inconsistent seasons in the Steel City.
But when Burns finally received a chance to start in November, the former first-round pick seized the opportunity and made the most of it, playing arguably the best football of his six-year NFL career. Earning an 85.1 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus, he recorded five pass breakups, allowed only one touchdown, and opposing quarterbacks posted only a 54 percent completion rate and an 89.8 passer rating against him in six starts.
Interestingly, Burns' best game came against the Seahawks in Week 16 when he generated a pair of pass breakups and held his own matched up against DK Metcalf in the snow, allowing one reception for zero yards on two targets to the star wideout as the Bears pulled off a stunning comeback at Lumen Field.
Possessing good size (6-foot, 197 pounds) with 33 1/4-inch arms and 4.4 40-yard dash speed, Burns fits the mold of the prototypical cornerback that Seattle has preferred on the outside in the past. While coach Pete Carroll and his staff have bucked that trend in recent years with smaller corners such as Reed and Tre Brown seeing extended action, the team has remained active looking for players at the position with plus-size, length, and athleticism.
Given his prior knowledge of how Desai operates schematically in the secondary, even if he wasn't fully comfortable with the defense a year ago, Burns has a clear advantage over many of his counterparts heading towards training camp. With the player benefiting from a normal offseason without rehab this time around, Hurtt has already seen that playing out on the field in the early stages of OTAs.
"Now he's healthy, so now he has a full offseason under his belt. It's great having Artie here," Hurt remarked. "He's a Miami guy - I love Hurricanes - so it's good having him in the building. But he's doing a really nice job."
As Seattle transitions towards next week's mandatory minicamp, as Hurtt reiterated in calling OTAs the "underwear Olympics," practices in May and June won't determine who starts in Week 1. With Brown potentially set to return to the field for the start of training camp and both Bryant and Woolen in the mix to vie for snaps right away, there will be plenty of competition for playing time in coming months and a starting job won't simply be handed to him because of his experience with Desai.
But the next few weeks will remain important as players continue to learn a new system and if he can execute Carroll's famous kick-step technique and keeps making plays on the practice field, Burns has an excellent chance to maintaining a hold on his starting job deep into the summer when the Seahawks battle the Broncos on Monday Night Football in the season opener.
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