The 2019 Seattle Seahawks will make the playoffs. I just know it. I can feel it in my bones. I can see it staring back at me in my coffee cup. Thus, I am giving twenty solid player related reasons why. This is number 18.

Safety Marquise Blair out of Utah, drafted 47th overall in the 2019 NFL Draft.

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Why will Blair make a big impact?

If I were to take the DNA of Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor and mix them in a blender, what would pour into my cup would be Marquise Blair. Simply put, he has the range of Thomas and the knock-you-into-next-week mentality of Chancellor. He might not be a starter right away, but I suspect he will still see the field a lot, especially in the matchups against wide-open offenses like the Rams and Cardinals. I also wouldn’t be shocked if he’s starting by the season’s end. He is the highest drafted defensive back taken by Seattle since Thomas was drafted round one in 2010, and that says something to me. That says Seattle saw something special in this guy and they wanted him badly, and if you look at their division opponents, it makes a ton of sense.

During this last Super Bowl, the New England Patriots stymied the high powered offense of the Los Angeles Rams by taking away the miss-direction plays. The miss direction is what the Rams’ offense is predicated on. Their offense is all about confusing the defense, but they only run so many different plays out of it, but they show a ton of different looks and motions. To defend it, tackling in the open field is key. What the Patriots did was to put extra safeties on the field to contain the edges. That took away LA’s ability to attack the perimeter’s with miss direction, and forced them to attack more north and south. What was key for New England was having smart sure tackling safeties and who could also cover.

Enter Marquise Blair. He was an extremely dedicated run defender in college with the fast range of a free safety. I believe that this pick is everything about beating the Rams, and seeing Seattle double down at safety again in the middle round with Oregon’s Ugo Amadi spoke volumes to me because that guy has a fairly similar skill set; strong against the run, and rangy in coverage.

Does this mean the LOB is back? Maybe. I don’t know. Doesn’t matter. Don’t even care.  They will be much deeper at safety this year than last year, and personally, I would be cool to let the whole LOB thing die, and let these guys on this defense create their own mark and moniker.

This guy, though, I fully expect to blossom into a player that fans will get genuinely excited about. When Pete Carroll takes a defensive back early, he’s seeing something special. Outside of Thomas, they are have more than been comfortable waiting until the later rounds to find their guys. Carroll wanted this guy.

Cannot wait to see what he does.

Go Hawks.