How Kam Chancellor’s return impacts the Seahawks

The Seahawks’ defense received some great news today—Kam Chancellor has ended his contract holdout, and will return to the team.

What kind of impact will the safety’s return have on the 0-2 Seahawks?

Chancellor plays with consistency, averaging a +8.4 overall grade in the last four seasons. In the last two seasons, he has been ranked in the top 10 in run-stops by safeties, and also only allowed 8.4 and 8.6 yards per completion, both top-12 figures. It’s extremely rare to find defenders who can contain both the run and pass as Chancellor can.

In 2014, the former Virginia Tech star wasn’t healthy until the second half of the season, and his grades reflected it. He graded at -1.6 after Week 11, ranking 40^th of 85 safeties (minimum 25 percent snaps played). Once fully healed, he went on a tear, finishing with a position-best +11.1 (playoff games included). Accolades in that span include top-five coverage- and run-defense ratings, the third-most defensive stops (22), and 10th-best yards per completion allowed (7.3). Keep in mind that he did all of this even though he was targeted 34 times, second-most among all safeties.

The Seahawks are off to a 0-2 start; while some think the sky is falling in the Emerald City, having Chancellor back at safety is good news.