New Seattle Kraken head coach Dan Bylsma didn’t always see himself wanting a head NHL job again after a rocky stint in Buffalo, but success with AHL Coachella Valley reignited Bylsma’s desire for another opportunity.

RENTON, Wash. – Just one year ago, Riq Woolen’s sophomore season with the Seattle Seahawks got off to a rocky start, as he suffered an unusual knee injury between plays early in OTAs.

Trying to play through the discomfort, Woolen wound up sitting down on the practice field during the next rep knowing something wasn’t right. Only a few days later, he traveled to Texas and underwent arthroscopic knee surgery, which caused him to miss the rest of OTAs and the beginning of training camp on the PUP list before being activated in August.

After missing most of the offseason, Woolen wasn’t able to come close to recapturing his Defensive Rookie of the Year finalist form in 2023, seeing his production dip across the board. He finished with 10 fewer tackles and four fewer interceptions after tying for the league lead as a rookie, failing to make the Pro Bowl and struggling to finish tackles, at one point getting benched in favor of veteran Mike Jackson late in the season.

Now healthy following a disappointing second year, at least by the lofty expectations he set for himself as a rookie, Woolen has an extra hop in his step at Seattle’s OTA practices this year. Entrenched at the right cornerback spot with the first-team defense next to rising star Devon Witherspoon, new coach Mike Macdonald loves what he’s seen from the long, athletic defender thus far and he’s holding him to a different standard with hopes of bringing out his best in 2024.

“I think Tariq is in a great spot. Great spot,” Macdonald told reporters after Seattle’s first open OTA session. “We had a great conversation today. Expecting big things from him, just like everyone else on the defense and on the rest of the team. We’re going to be pushing them because there is greatness in there.”

Looking back at last season, Woolen’s lack of ball production stood out first and foremost, as he failed to capitalize on his opportunities to create turnovers. Unlike his rookie season where he seemed to pick off everything in his zip code, per Pro Football Focus, he tied for second in the NFL among cornerbacks with three dropped interceptions, letting several potential interceptions bounce off of his chest or hands and leading to frustration from the player.

To the chagrin of former coach Pete Carroll and his staff, Woolen also took a step back as tackler, often seeming to make business decisions when presented with the chance to make a play in the run game. Receiving a dismal 37.3 run defense grade from PFF, he tied for the league lead among corners with 10 missed tackles and posted a league-worst 50 percent missed tackle rate.

Dealing with a shoulder issue that bugged him for much of the season after exiting early in a Week 2 win over the Lions, the Seahawks benched Woolen early in a home loss to the 49ers on Thanksgiving, with Carroll telling reporters he wasn’t healthy enough to do his job. A few weeks later, Jackson stepped in for him in the starting lineup, with the coach again referencing his health as the reason for his benching.

In Woolen’s defense, if he was dealing with a bum shoulder and didn’t have proper time to heal in the middle of a season, that would have made tackling a far more difficult endeavor and it certainly would have been painful. Still, it was clear Carroll was irked by his poor performance against the run, and Jackson played well in his stead.

From a big picture standpoint, however, while Woolen didn’t come close to repeating his fantastic rookie season, there’s reason for optimism that he can rebound heading towards 2024 and beyond by looking deeper into his numbers from a year ago.

In coverage, even with just two interceptions after tying for the league lead in 2022, Woolen nearly equaled his rookie production with nine pass breakups and cut receiving yardage allowed from 549 to 391. Per PFF charting, he ranked in the top-10 among corners in yards allowed per reception (9.5), forced incompletion percentage (18 percent), and pass breakups. He also improved in the touchdown department, giving up only three in coverage after surrendering five as a rookie.

Playing in Macdonald’s aggressive scheme, Woolen’s ability to press receivers and take away the deep ball with sub-4.30 speed should make him an ideal candidate to thrive on the boundary. Being healthy will work wonders as well, as being on the field in OTAs should ensure he has the proper on-field time to master a new defense and develop chemistry with new teammates such as safeties Rayshawn Jenkins and K’Von Wallace.

Of course, Woolen will have to show marked improvements as a tackler, or as Carroll did a year ago, Seattle may have to turn to another option such as Jackson or Tre Brown if he can’t demonstrate progress as a run defender and exhibit the mental toughness the new staff demands. The team also invested a pair of day three draft picks in Auburn cornerbacks Nehemiah Pritchett and D.J. James, further bolstering the position to help turn up the heat on him.

Based on what Macdonald said last Wednesday, with extra competition in the mix, the Seahawks expect him to make that jump as a better all-around player. With an elite combination of speed, length, and ball skills, as demonstrated two years ago, he has all of the physical tools to be a perennial All-Pro and with plenty of talent around him in the secondary, his ceiling remains beyond the clouds and the race is on to help him reach his immense potential.

SEATTLE – Bryce Miller allowed two runs over six innings to pick up his first win since April 17, and the Seattle Mariners used a big first inning against Houston starter Framber Valdez to hold on for a 3-2 win over the Astros on Monday night.

Seattle scored three times in the first off Valdez and then leaned on its pitching to make the early lead stand up. Miller did his part and then turned it over to relievers Trent Thornton, Gabe Speier and Andrés Muñoz to close out the victory.

Muñoz got three outs for his 11th save.

Miller (4-5) had lost his last four decisions, including his past three starts. In his four previous May starts, Miller allowed 15 earned runs after yielding just eight runs over six starts during the first month of the season.

But he seemed to rediscover a bit of his dominant form from that first month, striking out six and walking a pair. Miller said part of the success was noticing batters being more aggressive on his pitches early in counts, forcing him to be better with his location.

“For me (it’s) just trying to make sure I’m still getting ahead, but with certain hitters in the lineup not making a mistake just trying to get ahead,” Miller said. “Being aggressive on the corner early and then working off of that.”

Miller cruised through the first four innings and retired 12 straight after issuing a walk to Kyle Tucker, the second batter of the game. But he ran into trouble in the fifth when he gave up three straight singles, the last coming from José Abreu, which scored Jake Meyers. Victor Caratini’s sacrifice fly plated another run and after Jose Altuve doubled, Miller escaped the jam by getting a groundout from Tucker.

Miller again pitched out of trouble in the sixth, putting two runners on before Jon Singleton flied out to the warning track in right-center to end the threat.

Abreu was recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land ahead of Monday’s game and his single was his first big league hit since April 27. The 2020 AL MVP was batting .099 when he accepted an assignment to the minors on May 1.

All of Seattle’s offense came early. Meyers made a terrific sliding catch to rob Cal Raleigh of extra bases but it still resulted in a sacrifice fly. Ty France and Mitch Haniger followed with two-out RBI singles as Valdez faced eight batters in the first inning. He needed 43 pitches to get through the first two innings, but Seattle was unable to add on.

“We had all kinds of traffic and we had some good at-bats when we did have traffic out there. Unfortunately, sometimes the ball doesn’t land on the grass like you want it to,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said.

Valdez (3-3) allowed just two baserunners over his final four innings on the mound and was able to get through six. He permitted six hits, struck out four and walked three.

“I thought it took him a little bit of time for his sinker to be down and to execute. He just wasn’t executing his pitches like he wanted to,” Houston manager Joe Espada said. “Then after that he settled in and he threw a heck of a game.”

UP NEXT
Astros: RHP Hunter Brown (1-5, 7.06) allowed just two hits and two runs over six innings in his last start but suffered his fifth loss.

Mariners: RHP Luis Castillo (4-6, 3.31) lost his last time out giving up two runs over five innings against the Yankees.

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