A lot has changed for Marcus Trufant since he was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks with the 11 pick overall in the first round of the 2003 draft.

He’s financially secure, signing a six-year, $50.2 million contract in March

And he’s a married man now, exchanging vows with wife Jessica in March. The couple expects a child, a daughter, in November. Trufant already has a 2 ½ -year-old daughter, Karmyn.

“I feel like I’m turning into my dad in front of my own eyes,” joked Trufant after practice on Wednesday. “I’ve got a family, and I’ve got kids and all that kind of stuff.

“Right now it’s not all about self. I’ve got to think about my family and I’ve got to think about taking care of things. ... So it’s a change of priorities, but it’s a good feeling.”

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The 27-year-old is coming off his best season as pro, finishing with a career-high seven interceptions and earning his first trip to the Pro Bowl in his six-year career.

With all 11 starters back this year, and buoyed by the return of a veteran secondary with safeties Deon Grant and Brian Russell along with up-and-coming cornerback Kelly Jennings, expectations are high for a defense that only allowed 15 touchdown passes last season, a league low.

Seattle also finished tied for fourth in the league in interceptions with 20 and sixth in points allowed at 18.2 points a game.

Trufant believes his team’s defense will build on that success this season.

“We did well, but at the same time we can always do better,” Trufant said. “But now we know exactly what we need to do. We know different places in the defense where we can make plays, so we can go out and gamble and we can make that play. We trust one another, and we just have to go out and get it now.”

Just as Seattle’s defense has improved, Trufant has become one of the top-tier cover corners in the game.

Considered a bigger corner at 5-11, 200 pounds and a solid athlete, Trufant is playing with a lot confidence during training camp. Part of that is due to having help behind him in Grant and Russell, allowing Trufant to take more chances in pass coverage.

But also, Trufant’s maturity has shown in camp. He does a nice job of anticipating where the ball is headed on certain routes, getting a good break on the ball which results in either a deflected pass or interception.

And he seems to have a better grasp of how to position himself in pass coverage to make a play on the ball, or not allow a receiver to get to a spot on the field where the receiver can make a play. Those are the kinds of things you learn with experience in the league, and they’re the kinds of subtle shifts in positioning that can keep the offense from gaining a key third-down in a critical part of the game.

Trufant said he’d like to make a return to the Pro Bowl, but he’s more concerned about the Seahawks making another postseason run.

“I’d like to be in the conversation, but at the same time I’m here to win games overall, to help out the defense and to help out the team in any way possible,” Trufant said.

The Tacoma native also has stayed involved in the community through the Trufant Family Foundation, which works with organizations like the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and the Salvation Army. Trufant also makes appearances in local schools and donates money for scholarships to churches in the community.

“Every year I hope the foundation grows so I can do more and more,” he said.