McDougald has been best player on Seahawks’ defense this season

By Gregg Bell / The News Tribune

SEATTLE — High above the south end zone of CenturyLink Field, Kam Chancellor raised the “12th Man” flag before the Seattle Seahawks’ game against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

Down on the field, his replacement kept raising his game.

Bradley McDougald’s play is not as eye-catching. He doesn’t deliver the mammoth, highlight-reel hits that made Chancellor a Seattle legend and the soul of the Seattle defense.

But in his first three games replacing Chancellor full time as Seattle’s starting strong safety, McDougald has been a rock. Through three games, he’s been the most consistent and productive player on Seattle’s rebuilt defense.

“Bradley’s outstanding,” Seahawks defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. said.

Left wondering where they’d be without Chancellor — who suffered a career-ending neck injury last season — the Seahawks actually are producing more turnovers and third-down stops through their first three games with McDougald in the center of their defense than they did with Chancellor there through their first three games last season.

Seattle is tied for second in the NFL with eight turnovers. McDougald has been responsible for almost half of those, with two interceptions and a forced fumble. Last season the Seahawks had two takeaways in their first three games.

This is how outstanding McDougald has been for the Seahawks (1-2):

— He leads all NFL strong safeties with 17 solo tackles. In fact, every one of his tackles this season has been a solo tackle. McDougald’s stops often have been in the open field, with little margin for error.

— Several of his tackles have come on third down, ending opponents’ drives; Seattle has held foes under a 33-percent conversion rate on third downs (12-for-37). This time last season, opponents had converted 15 times on third downs.

— McDougald has two stops behind the line of scrimmage and four passes defensed. His two interceptions came in the opener at Denver on Sept. 9.

He’s even part of a feat that no team in the NFL had pulled off since Gerald Ford was president. McDougald, cornerback Shaquill Griffin and free safety Earl Thomas each have intercepted two passes in a game this month. The last time a team had a two-interception player in each of the first three games of a season was the 1976 Washington Redskins.

And McDougald chased down Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott from behind and forced a fumble Sunday that Justin Coleman recovered in the fourth quarter to secure Seattle’s first win.

Not bad for a player cast off by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year.

Seattle signed McDougald to a one-year contract worth $2 million in the spring of 2017. Then, as it became obvious Chancellor wasn’t going to play in 2018, they re-signed McDougald this spring for three years and $13.95 million.

“When we first evaluated him, he was really active,” Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said “He was able to do a lot of stuff. We didn’t realize how good of a cover guy he is. He’s a really good cover guy in one-on-one coverage versus receivers and tight ends. He’s got a real sense for it, and we’ve been able to feature that early on.”

McDougald credits his success to Chancellor. He said his predecessor is a constant source of critique and advice.

“As a matter of fact, I still meet with Kam,” McDougald said last month. “I still try to get up with him as much as possible. He’s living a different life right now, so I try to respect his time. But, as much as I can soak in from him, I still try to. I still try to pay heed to the man who paved the way.”

Last season, McDougald filled in both for Chancellor at strong safety and also for Thomas at free safety when Thomas missed two games in early November. In doing so, he increased his value to a team that often requires its safeties to switch roles depending on down and distance.

They won’t say it, but the Seahawks likely re-signed McDougald as a possible replacement for Thomas, whose contract ends after this season.

The Seahawks drafted hard-hitting Michigan strong safety Delano Hill in the third round in 2017 to potentially be Chancellor’s heir. That was a month after they signed McDougald. The idea then was Hill would be the future strong safety, and McDougald or 2017 fourth-round pick Tedric Thompson would be the eventual cover safety (usually the free safety in Seattle’s main, single-high coverage schemes).

But McDougald has been such a good tackler at strong safety, the Seahawks have been able to play him closer to the line of scrimmage, like a linebacker, against the run — just like they did with Chancellor. And McDougald has been so dependable and adaptable in coverage, Seattle can’t afford to take him off the field. Hill and Thompson remain stuck on the bench.

And McDougald is still just 27. He was recruited by Ohio State out of Dublin Scioto High School in the Columbus, Ohio, suburbs. He switched his scholarship commitment to Kansas because he wanted to play wide receiver and the Jayhawks said he could. By 2011, two years into his career at KU, he was back at safety.

Smart move.

“He’s really smart. … He’s like a coach on the field,” Norton said. “And his ability to tackle in the open field, his ability to match up on different receivers and backs, really gives us great versatility.”

Some around the NFL are starting to talk about the Seahawks once again having the best safety tandem in the NFL — even without Chancellor.

“I think the games last year helped us,” McDougald said of playing with Thomas. “We kind of have a little bond, a little chemistry. You’ve been in the system for so long and you’ve done the same things for so long, you kind of have it down. I needed the reps in camp. But with Earl, he sat out and he’s still able to come in and still able to do his job …

“Just playing with him, I know where he’s going to be at, I expect to know where he’s at. And the other half of it (is) just me doing my job. That’s most important.”