From Waiver Wire to Emerging Star, Josh Jobe Thriving With ‘Complete Game’ in Seahawks’ Secondary

RENTON, Wash. - Up by 14 points inside two minutes to play at Acrisure Stadium, the Seattle Seahawks only needed a few finishing touches from their defense to seal their first victory of the 2025 season against the Pittsburgh Steelers in a tough road environment.

With the Steelers past midfield and looking to put points on the board in quick fashion, quarterback Aaron Rodgers took the shotgun snap from a trips right formation and after a two-step drop, he targeted his first read in ex-Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf, looking to connect with him on a backside fade along the sideline to both move the chains and quickly stop the clock.

But matched up one-on-one against his former teammate on the backside of the trips look, Josh Jobe had other plans.

Staying in phase with Metcalf after swinging his hips open after his initial backpedal step, the veteran cornerback hung tight to the speedy Metcalf, staying in contact and playing with legal physicality as the receiver gave away his intentions of a back shoulder throw with his eyes. Reading him like a book, Jobe extended his left arm into the passing lane at the last moment to force a first down incompletion, setting the stage for safety Coby Bryant to call game with an interception and finish off a 31-17 victory.

“I like his attitude, knowing what he wanted to work on going into the offseason, having a plan for it, and attacking it,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said of Jobe prior to Wednesday’s practice. “Playing the ball late in the down has been really good, and that's easier said than done.”

This time a year ago, following his release from the Eagles, Jobe wasn’t even on the Seahawks’ active roster and spent his first several weeks in town on the practice squad without any expectations. But since his arrival, the reliable defender has endeared himself to Macdonald and his staff with his “complete game,” including a strong work ethic, high football IQ, technical prowess, and toughness to play the run as an every down cornerback.

After thriving as a reclamation project last season with an interception and five pass breakups in 10 games for Seattle, the soft-spoken Jobe has now transformed into an unforeseen budding star in Macdonald’s scheme, coming through with impactful plays such as his pass breakup against Metcalf week after week. Every time he hits the field, something good seems to happen, and those efforts have earned him more opportunities along the way.

Through the first two games, few players have gotten off to a better start than Jobe, who has seized his latest opportunity to play extensive snaps with suffocating coverage and physical run defense. Targeted nine times, he has allowed just two receptions - a 22.2 percent completion rate - for eight yards with an interception, pass breakup, and a league-best 0.0 passer rating against, turning into a no-fly zone that seemingly popped up out of nowhere underneath the FAA’s unsuspecting nose.

Among qualified cornerbacks thus far, Jobe ranks in the top three in receptions allowed, yards per reception, and completion rate while being on an island by himself allowing one reception per 36 defensive snaps. He sits just outside the top 10 in Forced Incompletion Rate. According to Pro Football Focus, he also ranks first in advanced coverage grade (2.601), which is derived from Expected Points Added (EPA) per target and coverage grade among other factors.

From an advanced metrics standpoint, Jobe has stood out as one of the NFL’s best shutdown corners as well, ranking in the top 10 in Completion Rate Allowed Over Expectation (CROE; -29 percent) and coverage EPA (-7.8), per NFL Next Gen Stats.

How could a former undrafted signee who was jettisoned voluntarily by another NFL team to become a lockdown cornerback simply with a change of zip code? What’s the secret behind unearthing a gem off the waiver wire?

As he has seen with several current Seahawks who are wired with the correct DNA and mindset to flourish in his system, Macdonald believes it all comes down to the tiny details, as the 27-year old Jobe has stayed incredibly motivated regardless of his success with sights on continuing to elevate his performance. He wasn’t satisfied with his play a year ago and his desire to improve has manifested between the lines with him emerging as more than just a role player.

“It's just a constant, to me, what I'm seeing from a lot of our guys, what takes you to the next level because once you get to a certain level, it's hard to keep leveling up. It takes a lot of work to get that incremental gain,” Macdonald explained. “So stay the course, staying hungry about finding things to get better at, staying determined with that type of stuff, maybe you get to a plateau, but you have to work through all those things. It's that constant attention to detail that I think lends himself to be able to improve consistently.”

Going into a Week 3 home date with the Saints, Jobe shouldn’t have to worry about seeing a decrease in snaps, regardless of whether or not Devon Witherspoon returns from a knee injury this week. After the season opener, Macdonald made that abundantly clear by acknowledging he would always be a “big part of the game plan,” seeing a ton of playing time as a boundary cornerback in nickel and dime sets that he has rightfully earned.

At this point, if there’s a question about Jobe, it’s whether or not he has overtaken Riq Woolen for the No. 2 cornerback spot, which carries both short and long-term ramifications for the Seahawks. With both players set to become unrestricted free agents in March, Jobe usurping Woolen as the primary boundary cornerback opposite of Witherspoon in base or “big” nickel formations with safety Nick Emmanwori in the slot could be telling as to the franchise’s plans for who they intend to re-sign.

In fact, Jobe’s emergence coupled with Macdonald and the staff’s reverence towards him for his attitude and work ethic could potentially coincide with a rare in-season contract extension from general manager John Schneider, who has rewarded former undrafted players with midseason deals in the past. While that wouldn’t necessarily mean that extending Woolen wasn’t a possibility either, it would seem to be an indicator that they weren’t sold on that idea either.

For now, Seattle will undoubtedly keep riding the hot hand and after confidently matching Jobe up against Metcalf last weekend, expect to see him sparring against New Orleans’ top target in Chris Olave this weekend. If he turns in another dynamic performance, Schneider may get the checkbook open to lock up an unlikely foundational piece for Macdonald’s secondary.