March 13, 2026
Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images
There's much to like about Riq Woolen's fit in the Eagles' defense, but also some concerns.
The Eagles have been searching for a consistent starting cornerback tandem but in 2026 will be starting their third different pair in the past three seasons.
Free agent signing Riq Woolen signed a one-year deal early in free agency and will start opposite All-Pro CB Quinyon Mitchell in nickel packages, essentially making him this year's version of Adoree' Jackson, except that Woolen is much younger and has better measureables, so there's more upside.
In a few text messages with an NFL personnel executive, I asked for a scouting report on Woolen. This executive was assigned to watch Woolen's tape for his team's free agency plans.
In general, the high-ranking scout believed the Woolen signing represented good value for the Eagles and described Woolen as cornerback who excels in press-man coverage but also struggles with the mental aspect of the game, and surprisingly for a tall, long corner, Woolen struggles to defend the deep ball.
The scout also mentioned Woolen's propensity for penalties. Woolen led the Seahawks last year with nine for 104 yards, including three taunting penalties, which validate the reputation Woolen has – and talked about at his Eagles introductory press conference – for not being focused. His 104 total penalty yards were the seventh-most of any NFL player.
I re-watched two Seattle games on NFL Pro's All 22 – the NFC Championship and Super Bowl – to find the best examples of the scouting report we had on Woolen.
Before we dive into the All-22, a few important notes:
• Woolen, like Adoree' Jackson with the Eagles, typically didn't play on base downs. He subbed in as the outside corner for conventional nickel packages (3 CBs, 2 safeties) or big nickel/dime packages (3 CBs, 3 safeties), with Devon Witherspoon moving inside. Woolen played a career-low 78 percent of defensive snaps in 2025, down from 90 percent in 2024 and way down from 98 percent his rookie season.
• Woolen played 69 percent of the defense in the Super Bowl against New England, his fewest snaps of the playoffs. Per NFL Pro, he was targeted six times, allowing 79 yards and a 149.3 passer rating.
• Woolen played 85 percent of the snaps against the Rams in the NFC Championship, which is fascinating because the Rams played so much 12- and 13-personnel, which usually forces teams to respond with base defense. But the Seahawks were confident they could stop the run in their sub packages. (They were wrong – the Rams ran for 114 yards and averaged 5.18 YPC – but won anyway). Woolen was targeted six times by Matthew Stafford, allowing three receptions for 57 yards and two touchdowns for a 122.9 passer rating against.
As the scout noted, Woolen is best when he can play up on receivers and use his long arms – almost 34 inches! – and big body to redirect them or close passing lanes. Woolen almost always played the field side – where teams typically play their No. 2 corner – while either Josh Jobe or Devon Witherspoon played the boundary.
Given Woolen's weaknesses, it remains to be seen if defensive coordinator Vic Fangio will trust Woolen to play man-press coverage, but Fangio did play more man defense overall in 2025 than in 2024.
In the second quarter against the Patriots, Woolen's coverage (top of the screen below) helped lead to a sack on Patriots QB Drake Maye:
Maye appeared to be trying to work the backside dig to WR Kayshon Boutte after his first reads on the right were taken away, but Woolen had Boutte smothered 15 yards downfield – although he did get a little handsy, causing Boutte to lose his footing a little. Maye held onto the ball and got dropped.
In the NFC Championship, Woolen matched up often against Rams WR Puka Nacua, one of NFL's most physically imposing pass catchers. But Woolen showed early that he wouldn't be afraid to get up on the NFL leader in receiving yards and match Nacua's physicality (bottom screen).
Woolen put a good initial jam on Nacua and then stayed in the All Pro's hip pocket on the in-breaker. He was handsy for the entire route, but the refs left them play on that one.
Another good, physical rep vs. Nacua, this time from a rare slot snap (bottom of screen):
Too bad Woolen got hit with a taunting penalty after for flexing a bit too hard at Nacua after the breakup.
But the point is that Woolen's style of play will fit well with Mitchell's and DeJean's and in Fangio's defense.
Super Bowl champion Seattle made its living off zone coverage and two-high safety looks, which is the type of defensive structure Fangio also prefers. From that perspective, the fit makes sense. Woolen also comes from a Seattle defense that communicated at a really high level.
In the second quarter of the Super Bowl, on 2nd-and-20, Woolen was initially lined up across Pro Bowl WR Stefon Diggs to the field side but Diggs motioned inside slot receiver WR Mack Hollins presnap, forcing a change in coverage reponsibilities; Hollins became the outside receiver, Diggs the slot.
Woolen and Witherspoon had to switch off just before the snap (bottom of screen):
It was a clean switch, with Woolen blanketing Hollins downfield leveraging him toward the help safety. Maye had Diggs open between the LB and S level while he climbed the pocket but took off for an 11-yard run instead.
Later, Woolen showed the importance of taking the right depth in zone along with the concept of carrying and delivering a receiver in this rep against Boutte (bottom of screen):
Notice that Woolen was in an immediate outside leverage posture with the help safety behind him. Even after he passed off Boutte around the 35-yard-line, he continued to get depth to narrow the space between himself and S Cobe Bryant. Maye again had nowhere to throw and took a sack.
Tall, long-limbed corners like Woolen typically struggle with sharp-breaking routes because bigger-bodied defenders are usually stiffer in the hips and have trouble throttling down – Kelee Ringo, for example – but Woolen for some reason is the opposite; he's generally good on in- and out-breakers but struggles against the deep ball.
Here's a deep ball rep vs. Nacua from the NFC Championship he'd like to have back (bottom screen):
You could say this was an issue with flipping his hips, as Nacua's slightest inside-out move got Woolen turned around and unable to recover, allowing an easy TD pass for Stafford.
Here's one from the Super Bowl that, for maybe a second, gave the Patriots a glimmer of hope (top screen):
For starters, Woolen for some reason was late to get in position across from Hollins. He's usually the the field corner, and Hollins was split wide to the field side, so it seems odd that he'd be late to get into position.
After Maye heaved the ball to the left corner of the end zone, Woolen got spun around near the 10-yard line even though Hollins kept the same stride. Woolen recovered quickly but not before the 6-foot-4 former Eagles WR was able to get a clean look and pluck the football out from thin air.
Playing Woolen only in sub packages allowed Seattle to have better run personnel on the field for base downs. Fangio will likely do the same. Woolen's run defense can best be described as average.
If the run isn't in his direction, he's not going all out. Here are two examples (bottom screen):
But ... you gotta give him credit for great instincts, like when he pushed his own teammate into a ball carrier to make a tackle:
Give him the assist!
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