To anyone outside of the Virginia Mason Athletic Center, the Seattle Seahawks' August acquisition of D.J. Reed was probably more of an afterthought than a move that seemed like it would make a significant impact in 2020.

After all, Reed was in the early stages of his recovery from a torn pectoral when the Seahawks claimed him. The San Francisco 49ers had just waived him with an injury designation, presumably figuring he would go untouched since he wouldn't be available for several months.

Seattle general manager John Schneider and his scouting department might have been the only ones who imagined Reed emerging as a playmaker for the Seahawks' defense, a trend that continued with his interception and three passes defensed in their 20-15 win at the Washington Football Team on Sunday.

But the Seahawks didn't even think it would happen like this -- with the diminutive Reed filling in as a starting cornerback and making a strong case to stay there.

"This is John Schneider working his magic," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. "I can't tell you enough. John has done this so many times. He realized that there was going to be a big loop in there where we wouldn't have him available. We could take him off -- he's a really good player -- we could take him off their roster and put him on our roster and wait it out with the thought that if we needed him down the stretch, he would be available as a nickel and potentially other places.

"We really didn't think about him being a starting corner when we brought him in. We thought he would be a great nickel. He played terrific at the nickel spot, and so we have that in him, as well."

Reed filled in for Ugo Amadi at nickelback when he came off the non-football injury list in Week 8 and picked off San Francisco's Jimmy Garoppolo in his Seahawks debut. Reed played that position the following week. Since then, he has started four of the past five games at cornerback, first on the left side and more recently on the right as Shaquill Griffin, Quinton Dunbar and Tre Flowers have dealt with injuries.

Reed's performance Sunday might have been his best. He jumped in front of a deep throw from Dwayne Haskins Jr. in the third quarter for his second interception of the season. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Haskins was only 2-of-8 for 19 yards, zero touchdowns and that interception when Reed was the nearest defender in coverage. His three passes defensed were a season high.

Reed said he went into the game "pissed off" knowing Washington would test him repeatedly by throwing to Terry McLaurin.

"I love it out there," Reed, a 2018 fifth-round pick out of Kansas State, said of playing on the outside. "That's what I've played my whole life, played it in college at a high level. So being 5-9, it's a statement for me, because corners that are 5-9 are not corners anymore; they play in the slot. So every time I play on the outside, I feel like I've got to make a statement."

Corners like that are especially rare in Carroll's defense, which has long preferred players with height (at least 6 feet tall) and length (32-inch arms or longer) on the outside. Reed hardly looks like Richard Sherman or Brandon Browner -- or even Griffin or Dunbar, for that matter -- but is getting it done nonetheless.

"He's just a different style player," Carroll said. "His feet are just lightning fast, and his athleticism is just -- he's so sudden.

"He has to stay out of situations where he gets pushed around or shoved around [at] 183 pounds, but he knows how to do it. I'm really fired up about his play."

Carroll harkened back to his early coaching days as an assistant at NC State, where his affinity for oversize cornerbacks began. There he coached a 6-foot-2 cornerback named Perry Williams, who later enjoyed a long NFL career. Another corner there was only about 5-foot-7.

"Both those guys played back in the day," Carroll recalled. "That's where all of our corner play, the source of it started. They come in different shapes and sizes. We just have to be open to it and not be stubborn that everybody has to be like, whatever, this mold. It couldn't be more obvious. Look at our quarterback."

Reed's emergence as a more-than-viable option on the outside will give the Seahawks some flexibility this offseason with Griffin and Dunbar playing out the final years of their contracts. In the meantime, Carroll said Reed "has the lead to hold that spot at least going into this week," even with Dunbar and Flowers potentially coming back from IR.

"He's playing good football," Carroll said of Reed, who also has returned kicks for Seattle. "I like all the activity and the consistency that he's shown, and he's tackling pretty well. He's just a playmaker."

Dunbar and Flowers might give the Seahawks better matchups against some big receivers, but Reed's play will make it hard to keep him off the field. According to NFL Next Gen stats, he has allowed a lower passer rating as the nearest defender (77.9) than Dunbar (107.3), Flowers (106.7) and even Griffin (93.6), who made the Pro Bowl as an alternate last season.

"Just with this torn pec, I be telling myself sometimes like, man, I wasn't even supposed to be playing this year," Reed said. "Like if nobody would have picked me up -- it was the Bills, Texans and the Seahawks -- if they would not have shown interest, I would be at home right now and nobody would know what I'm capable of. But it's crazy how God works, because I knew I was capable of this. I did it in college, and I knew I could do it in the league."