When the Seahawks took cornerback Tariq Woolen in the fifth round of this year’s draft, there wasn’t a lot of talk about him making an immediate impact on the team’s defense but plenty of people are talking about him now.
Woolen won a starting job coming into the season and he’s proven to be a playmaker for the Seahawks. Woolen has intercepted passes in each of the team’s last four games — one of which he returned for a touchdown — and he’s recovered fumbles the last two weeks.
The two takeaways last Sunday led to Woolen being named the NFC defensive player of the week on Wednesday. Later in the day, Woolen was asked if he’s surprised by how quickly he’s made a name for himself in the NFL.
“Honestly no, but yeah at the same time,” Woolen said, via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. “I knew that hard work never goes unnoticed. You just keep putting in work, keep doing what you are doing and willing to get better and something great is going to happen.”
Woolen called the defensive player of the week a “steppingstone” for bigger things to come and his first six games as a professional suggests those things should be on his path.
