Seattle Seahawks fans are most excited about the prospect of Shaquem Griffin, last year's third-round pick who was born without his left hand, breaking into their team's defensive rotation this season. As someone who knows best tells it, though, the development of Griffin's twin brother, Shaquill, could prove as instrumental to Seattle's chances of competing for the NFC crown this season.
With Shaquill Griffin's third season fast approaching, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll believes the progress he was expected to make a year ago will come to fruition this time around.
“His mentality is great, and I would think that maybe that jump he was counting on then might happen at this time,” he said of Griffin, per The Athletic's Michael-Shawn Dugar. “We’re expecting him to really do it and have a terrific season.”
Griffin was a third-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. He showed immense promise as a rookie, starting 11 games, grabbing one interception, and breaking up 15 passes. Tasked with a bigger role in 2018, he struggled to acclimate, generally faring unspectacularly during the regular season before being picked on over and over during Seattle's loss to the Dallas Cowboys in the first round of the playoffs. Griffin started all 16 games last season, finishing with 61 tackles, two interceptions, and eight passes defensed.
Shaquem Griffin, meanwhile, is poised to play a much bigger factor defensively this season after appearing almost exclusively on special teams as a rookie. The Seahawks are playing him at both strong- and weak-side linebacker depending on personnel groupings, a change that paid off during a promising offseason.
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