NFL Rumors: Seattle Seahawks Creating New Position For Brandon Browner

NFL rumors are swirling around Brandon Browner. When the veteran decided to go back to the Seattle Seahawks earlier this year, the assumption was that he would become the starting corner back opposite Richard Sherman. It’s a role that he once held for the team. However, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll has something else in mind. According to NFL, Browner will be playing more of a hybrid role on defense this upcoming season. It’s a new position being created for him.

Even though he is considered one of the best defensive minds in the NFL, Pete Carroll is always studying. He wants to learn new ways of doing things. That’s the formula for continued success in the National Football League. Carroll recently revealed that he studied how Bill Belichick used Brandon Browner when the latter was playing for the New England Patriots. He wanted to see things from a different perspective.

Pete Carroll noticed that Bill Belichick did not utilize Brandon Browner as a typical corner back. That was something that the Seattle Seahawks did whenever Browner was still around. Instead, Belichick utilized him all over the middle of the field. At 6’4?, 220 pounds, Browner is much bigger than your prototypical corner back, so the New England Patriots oftentimes used him to defend tight ends in the middle. He also lined up at safety at times.

With the NFL become more and more of a passing league, a lot of safeties are being utilized at linebacker. The Los Angeles Rams, for example, are using Mark Barron at weak side linebacker next season. He had been playing safety for most of his career. The goal is to become better at pass coverage. By having a natural defensive back playing linebacker, it makes the task a little easier. Of course, you need players who aren’t afraid to hit, which is not a problem for Barron and Brandon Browner.

A potential reason why Pete Carroll is having Brandon Browner making the positional change is the fact that the latter might not be equipped to play the typical corner back position anymore. While playing for the New Orleans Saints last season, Browner at times looked like a detriment to the defense. Wide receivers would oftentimes blow right past him at the line of scrimmage.

With Brandon Browner being a hybrid role player, the Seattle Seahawks appear set to go with Jeremy Lane as the starting corner back opposite Richard Sherman. DeShawn Shead should receive a good amount of snaps behind Lane and Sherman. Browner will also be utilized from time to time as a corner back. It will be limited duty, though. Pete Carroll seems really intent on using Browner inside the box.

If there’s a weakness within the dominant Seattle Seahawks defense, it’s their inability to cover ultra-athletic tight ends. Guys like Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots and Greg Olsen of the Carolina Panthers love feasting on the Seahawks defense. Pete Carroll is hoping that Brandon Browner is the solution to that problem. He’ll have plenty of practice as Seattle has a really good tight end in Jimmy Graham. The former New Orleans Saints star can give Browner a challenge every day in practice.

The Legion of Boom is one of the most feared defensive units in the NFL. Jeremy Lane, Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, and Kam Chancellor can change the tide of a game by forcing teams into abandoning the passing game. If Brandon Browner can become a star in his new role, then the Seattle Seahawks become more of a threat to win another Super Bowl.

[Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images]