RENTON — Two Monday evenings ago, Richard Sherman was minding his own business when he received a text message from the Seattle Seahawks coaching staff.
Just like that Sherman had a new part-time position, and the Seahawks had another wrinkle to add to their defensive arsenal.
The text message asked Sherman, Seattle’s All-Pro left cornerback, to start learning how to play the nickel position, where he would be responsible for defending the inside slot receiver. And when the coaching staff asks, Sherman abides.
“Whatever my coach asks me to do, that’s what’s going to be done,” Sherman said.
Last Sunday’s game at St. Louis saw Sherman occasionally lining up in unfamiliar positions. According to ESPN.com, Sherman lined up at his usual left corner position on 36 of the 59 defensive snaps he was on the field for. That meant Sherman was lined up elsewhere 23 times, with the majority of those coming in the slot position. Sherman had spent a grand total of three practices at the position.
“I think it’s just understanding route concepts, understanding how they’re trying to attack you, understanding leverage,” Sherman said about the difference between playing in the slot and playing outside.
“I think being in the slot on third down, a lot of times that’s where they’re moving,” Sherman added. “They’re looking to make their plays.”
The Seahawks have been searching for the right fit with their nickel cornerback. Jeremy Lane, who served as Seattle’s nickel last season, is on the physically-unable-to-perform list because of knee and arm injuries sustained in last season’s Super Bowl, and he’s not expected to be available until midseason at the earliest. The Seahawks signed Will Blackmon during the offseason as a potential answer, but he was cut before the season began. Marcus Burley and rookie Tye Smith spent time there during the preseason, but neither saw the field on defense Sunday.
Enter Sherman.
“It’s presented us with an option, that we can match up according to the players that we’re going against however we feel we need to, and that’s a real good positive for us,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said about the move. “Putting Richard inside, it allows him to use all of the savvy and the instincts that he has. He’s a marvelous player in terms of awareness, and vision, and anticipation and all of that, and that position in there does call for those opportunities in zones and all kinds of different things that you do there.”
What makes the idea of Sherman lining up against the slot receiver particularly intriguing this week is the opponent. Green Bay has one of the best slot receivers in the NFL in Randall Cobb, who last season caught 91 passes for 1,287 yards and 12 touchdowns. With the Packers’ main outside threat, Jordy Nelson, out for the season because of a torn ACL in his knee sustained during the preseason, Cobb is now Green Bay’s primary aerial threat. Therefore, it may make sense for the Seahawks to match up their best cover corner against the Packers’ slot receiver.
Cobb is a modestly-sized receiver at 5-foot-10 and 192 pounds. That’s a typical size for slot receivers, who tend to be smaller than their outside counterparts. Sherman, of course, is known for being one of the bigger corners in the NFL at 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds. Therefore, Sherman is aware that covering slot receivers presents a challenge, not only in the type of routes run, but in the type of receivers covered.
“(Slot receivers) are smaller, quicker receivers,” Sherman said. “They have a little bit more room. I think they understand that. Their route combinations are a little bit different, obviously. Outside, a guy outside releases, there are only so many routes he can run. In the slot, if he inside releases, he has the whole route tree; outside releases, he has the whole route tree. So you have to be aware of that at all times.”
But the man who’s going to be facing Sherman this week, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, doesn’t think Sherman’s unusual size will be a problem for Sherman in the slot.
“It’s not really about the size with him, it’s about his football acumen and his ability,” Rodgers said. “There’s other guys who are his size. Most guys his size maybe can’t play in the slot as well, usually the slot defender is a smaller guy in stature. But Richard can do it all. You can’t really compare him to other guys with his vitals.”
And thus begins the cat-and-mouse game between the Seahawks and Packers, with Green Bay now having to guess where Sherman will line up defensively. Rodgers famously avoided Sherman at all cost when the teams played last September in Seattle, not throwing once to Sherman’s side of the field in the Seahawks’ 36-16 romp. Rodgers wasn’t as Sherman-averse in the rematch in the NFC Championship game, but his first pass Sherman’s direction was intercepted in the end zone as Seattle eventually won 28-22 in overtime.
Sherman wasn’t perfect in the slot against St. Louis last Sunday. He was beat by slot receiver Stedman Bailey for a key 22-yard completion during the overtime drive that led to the game-winning field goal — though it required a perfect throw from Rams quarterback Nick Foles to do it. But Sherman is certain to learn from the experience.
So will the Seahawks continue to give Sherman time in the slot? Carroll wasn’t tipping his hand.
“We’re going to use it as it fits,” Carroll said. “I think it’s a real positive for us, and we’ll investigate it every week and see how it goes, how it fits, and see where we want to use it.”
But regardless, it gives the opponents yet one more thing they must consider when facing the Seahawks’ defense.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/seattlesidelines, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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