Tariq "Riq" Woolen^[1] (born May 2, 1999) is an American professional football cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UTSA Roadrunners and was selected by the Seahawks in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL draft. Woolen made the Pro Bowl as a rookie in 2022.

Woolen grew up in Fort Worth, Texas and attended Arlington Heights High School. He was rated a three-star recruit and committed to play college football at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) over offers from North Texas, Houston, and Texas State.^[2]

Woolen redshirted his freshman season at UTSA.^[3] As a redshirt freshman wide receiver, he caught 15 passes for 158 yards and one touchdown.^[4] Woolen started the first three games of his redshirt sophomore season before moving to the cornerback position.^[5]

Woolen became a starter during his redshirt junior season and finished the year with 35 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks with four passes broken up and one interception.^[6] Woolen had 25 tackles, 5 passes broken up, and one interception as a redshirt senior.^[7] After the conclusion of his college career, Woolen was invited to play in the 2022 Senior Bowl.^[8]

At the 2022 NFL Combine, Woolen ran a 4.26-second 40-yard dash, tied for third-best in the Combine history and fastest for a player over six foot.^[9][10]

The Seattle Seahawks selected Woolen in the fifth round (153rd overall) of the 2022 NFL draft.^[13] He was the 21st cornerback drafted in 2022.

On May 6, 2022, the Seattle Seahawks signed Woolen to a four–year, $3.99 million rookie contract that includes a signing bonus of $332,216.^[14]

Throughout training camp, Woolen competed to be a starting cornerback against Artie Burns, Coby Bryant, Tre Brown, Mike Jackson, Justin Coleman, and John Reid.^[15] On August 31, 2022, the Seahawks unexpectedly traded Sidney Jones to the Las Vegas Raiders, although he was expected to return as a starting cornerback. Head coach Pete Carroll subsequently named Woolen the No. 1 starting cornerback and paired him with Mike Jackson.^[16]

On September 12, 2022, Woolen made his professional regular season debut and earned his first career start in the Seattle Seahawks' home-opener against the Denver Broncos and made one solo tackle during their 17–16 victory. On September 25, 2022, Woolen made four combined tackles (three solo), a pass deflection, and had his first career interception on a pass by Marcus Mariota to wide receiver Drake London during a 23–27 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.^[17] In Week 4, Woolen recorded five combined tackles (four solo), a pass deflection, and returned an interception on a pass thrown by Jared Goff to tight end T. J. Hockenson 40–yards to score his first career touchdown on the opening play in the second half of a 48–45 win at the Detroit Lions.^[18] In Week 5, he had his third consecutive game with an interception after picking off a pass thrown by Andy Dalton to wide receiver Tre'Quan Smith, while also recording four combined tackles (three solo), a pass deflection, and recovering a fumble as the Seahawks lost 32–29 at the New Orleans Saints. On October 16, 2022, Woolen made five solo tackles, a pass deflection, a fumble recovery, and had his fourth consecutive game with an interception on a pass by Kyler Murray as the Seahawks defeated the Arizona Cardinals 19–9 in Week 6. He became the only rookie over the last 10 years to have four consecutive games with an interception.^[19][20] He was named National Football Conference Defensive Player of the Week for Week 6.^[21] On December 4, 2022, Woolen collected a season-high seven combined tackles (six solo), set a season-high with three pass deflections, and had his sixth interception of the season on a pass thrown by John Wolford to wide receiver Kyren Williams during a 27–23 win at the Los Angeles Rams. He was named to the Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie Team and earned Pro Bowl honors.^[22][23] He started in all 17 games in his rookie season with a total 63 combined tackles (46 solo), 16 pass deflections, and tied for most interceptions in 2022 with six.^[24][25] He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team.^[26] Pro Football Focus gave Woolen an overall grade of 69.1 in 2022, which ranked 35th among 120 qualifying cornerbacks. He earned a coverage grade of 74.1 from PFF, ranking 25th among 120 cornerbacks.^[27]

The Seattle Seahawks finished the 2022 NFL season second in the NFC West with a 9–8 record, clinching a Wildcard berth. On January 14, 2023, Woolen started in his first career playoff game and made three solo tackles and a pass deflection as the Seahawks lost 23–41 at the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Wild-card Game.

He returned as a starting cornerback under defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt in 2023 and was paired with rookie first-round pick Devon Witherspoon. He was inactive for the Seahawks' 37–27 victory against the Carolina Panthers in Week 3 due to a chest injury. In Week 11, he made three combined tackles (two solo), tied his season-high of two pass deflections, and intercepted a pass thrown by Matthew Stafford to wide receiver Austin Trammell during a 16–17 loss at the Los Angeles Rams. On November 30, 2023, Woolen collected a season-high eight solo tackles and had two pass deflections as the Seahawks lost 35–41 at the Dallas Cowboys. He finished with 53 combined tackles (42 solo), two interceptions, 11 passes defended, and two fumble recoveries in 16 games and 16 starts.^[28] He received an overall grade of 67.1 from Pro Football Focus, ranking 53rd among all qualifying cornerbacks in 2023. His coverage grade of 75.0 from PFF was ranked 27th.^[27]

On January 31, 2024, the Seahawks announced the hiring of Baltimore Ravens' defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald as their head coach following the departure of Pete Carroll.^[29] Defensive coordinator Aden Durde chose to retain Woolen and Devon Witherspoon as the starting cornerbacks to begin the season.^[30]

On September 8, 2024, Woolen started in the Seahawks' home-opener against the Denver Broncos and made three combined tackles (one solo), two pass deflections, and intercepted a pass by Bo Nix to wide receiver Courtland Sutton during a 26–20 victory. He was inactive for two games (Weeks 6–7) due to an ankle injury.^[31] In Week 14, he collected a season-high eight combined tackles (five solo) and broke up a pass during a 30–18 win at the Arizona Cardinals. On December 22, 2024, Woolen had two combined tackles (one solo) and a season-high three pass deflections during a 24–27 loss against the Minnesota Vikings. The following week, Woolen recorded one solo tackle, a pass deflection, and had a game-sealing interception on a pass by Caleb Williams to wide receiver D. J. Moore in the last 20 seconds in the fourth quarter of a 6–3 victory at the Chicago Bears in Week 17. He finished the season with 46 combined tackles (32 solo), 14 pass deflections, and three interceptions in 15 games and 14 starts.^[32] He received an overall grade of 67.9 from Pro Football Focus in 2024.

• Career statistics from NFL.com · ESPN · Yahoo Sports · Pro Football Reference
• Seattle Seahawks bio
• UTSA Roadrunners bio