Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks are entering Year 1 of the post-Russell Wilson Era. The quarterback situation in Seahawks training camp is a mess right now, but there is some good news. There are several defensive players on this Seahawks roster who are pleasant surprises through the first two weeks of practices.

These players include a young player at a premium position, an impressive rookie, and a much-maligned and highly paid veteran who looks like he may excel in a new role.

These are the three pleasant surprises standing out in Seahawks 2022 training camp.

Seahawks training camp surprises

3. OLB Darrell Taylor

Darrell Taylor, the Seahawks' second-round pick out of Tennessee in the 2021 draft had a solid first season. He started five games, played 46% of the team’s defensive snaps, and recorded 6.5 sacks. This season, it looks like the edge player might be ready to take the next step and become an elite pass-rusher.

Taylor is tearing up Seahawks training camp, and according to Tacoma New Tribune’s Seahawks beat writer Greg Bell on Twitter, he is “a problem for 1st and 2nd-team RTs, TEs during this Seahawks training camp. Just faster off the edge, flying into the backfield with relative ease onto the QB.”

He also got in a fight with the Seahawks' $72 million wideout DK Metcalf. So it hasn’t been a perfect camp. But overall, Taylor is impressing with his skills and competitiveness.

2. CB Tariq Woolen

Tariq Woolen was one of the sleeper defensive backs in the 2022 NFL Draft. The 6-foot-4 cornerback ran a blazing 4.26 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, the third-fastest mark ever.

The Seahawks drafted the University of Texas at San Antonio player in the fifth round of the draft, and it looks like the franchise may have a major steal.

Woolen is flying all over the field, running step-for-step with WR Marquise Goodwin (who was a world-class sprinter in college and a 2012 U.S. track and field Olympian), and picking off all the quarterbacks on the Seahawks.

That last part may not be all that impressive, but the rest is. We all remember the Legion of Boom with its big, fast, physical defensive backs. Woolen may be a perfect fit as Pete Carroll tries to create the Legion 2.0.

1. S Jamal Adams

In 2020, the New York Jets traded the Seahawks safety Jamal Adams (and a 2022 fourth-round pick) for the team’s 2021 and 2022 first-rounders and a 2022 third. What have the Seahawks got with Adams on the roster?

The answer is not as much as Pete Carroll hoped.

Adams has 9.5 sacks (with none last season) and just two interceptions (with none in 2020). Although he made the Pro Bowl in 2020 (mostly on reputation), the DB has become one of the biggest trade busts in recent NFL history.

That could change in 2022, though, as the coaching staff is utilizing Adams differently than in the last two seasons in Seahawks training camp. The team is using two other DBs on Seattle's roster (Quandre Diggs and Josh Jones) as safeties and playing Adams at weakside linebacker.

This position switch allows Adams to do what he does best — run, hit, and blitz — while also allowing Pete Carroll’s defense to have an LB with excellent cover skills for the position. The move could not only make the Seattle defense more fearsome this year but also vindicate the Jamal Adams trade.