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Josh Jobe may be one of the more understated members of Mike Macdonald’s Dark Side defense. He and Drake Thomas don’t do a buttload of interviews or talking, but they are both dudes who quietly get the job done and hustle to the ball on all occasions.
Jobe is a guy that competed, wire to wire. He seemed to play a lot of back side press man coverage and did that well. It’s possible that if he were a louder personality like some of the other guys on the team, he might get more love and attention. Nonetheless, he deserves it.
Of the Seattle Seahawks’ five most targeted DB’s during the regular season (Jobe, Riq Woolen, Nick Emmanwori, Devon Witherspoon, Ty Okada) Joshua racked up the lowest completion percentage of the bunch: 49.5%. The other two corners (Riq and Spoon) were sitting at 54.2% and 69.5%, respectively.
Then there was the Super Bowl, a triumphant and jubilant moment for Seattle.
Josh Jobe balled out on the biggest stage possible.
There was a play late in the first quarter where Mike Macdonald showed blitz from the MLB (Ernest Jones IV) walked right up between the four defensive linemen, then dropped that player as well as an EDGE rusher to the field side to put a roof over the short route in a stacked set. Then, on the other side, he sent a Slot and FS blitz. It forced a dump-off that was violently tackled for a loss.
Jobe was the player who made that tackle, and he made it with some straight-up authority after shedding the receiver. It was such a fast and decisive action, that J.J. may have even known what the hot route is, just by New England’s tendencies. It was the 2nd of three consecutive plays that went backwards for the Pats.
Even if it is the mastermind of Coach Macdonald that can supply tips on scheme and tendencies, it still takes physical execution from his players. That is one of the reasons that Josh Jobe has such a substantial role on defense as it is.
While Riq Woolen is a gifted coverage specialist, he has struggled at times in run support. Jobe does not, and it has slowly earned him a larger and larger piece of the pie.
Mike Macdonald said this about Josh Jobe (who had an INT) after a heartbreaking loss to the San Francisco 49ers to start the season in Week 1: “Josh is ready to go. He’s always going to be a big part of the game plan. He’s competing for more snaps. And I thought he played tremendous football game: played physical played smart, played disciplined, finished his plays right. I thought he played a great game”.
Check out this beautiful (and NSFW) highlight reel of a cornerback and tell me it doesn’t get you hyped:
If I’m a coach, I don’t want to see Jobe get kicked out of the Super Bowl, but I absolutely love seeing the fire and fight in my CB2 against a celebrity WR.
With Josh Jobe acting as a shining example of a player who was able to go from UDFA to Super Bowl starter by putting his head down and working, it’s easy to see him being resigned as a program guy. He’s at least a corner who knows the scheme, will play hard, and may not get as fat of a contract as an every-down starter might get… but he could even morph into that in his third year in Coach Macdonald’s system.
If Woolen’s agent is hinting that Riq “the Freak” is out, do you want to lose two of your top three cornerbacks just as your defense is truly hitting its stride? I don’t care (yet) that the 29-year-old Marlon Humphrey is trying to sneak into the championship parade and onto a contender.
The more likely scenario seems like it would be that Jobe resigns for a two-year pay bump, and Seattle (the team with the 6th-most cap space next year) still goes out and selects another CB high in the draft. Nehemiah Pritchett has been in the incubator, Devon Witherspoon will probably get PAID soon, and Macdonald was around in Baltimore when it seemed like they took a corner every single year in the draft.
Ultimately, the open market may have a lot to say about who does and who doesn’t resign with the reigning world champion Seattle Seahawks. Especially if they don’t make Jobe a top priority before the new league year begins.
The ‘Hawks may have a good chunk of cap space, but they also have a bunch of free agents, so this offseason will be a fascinating one.
Would you rather have Jobe, sign an older and proven player like Humphrey, a reclamation project like Cordale Flott, draft a young player very high or give Pritchett a larger role? The Seahawks will be showing us what they think of different players and who to prioritize for another run very soon.