Sheldon Rankins probably won’t fall to #26 — but it’d be great if he did…
Here’s the premise…
— 100 players
— Realistic options only (no Laremy Tunsil)
— Players we have discussed
— Players that visited, met or worked out for the Seahawks
Some other things to consider…
— The round-by-round breakdown is just a guide
— Physical ideals & red flags were considered
— The Seahawks pick late in each round so they might take players a round early
— The UDFA’s listed are also potential 6th and 7th round picks
— TEF qualifiers on the O-line we identified are highlighted in green
First round (the ideal/dream scenaro) (1)
Sheldon Rankins (DT)
Fringe first/second round (12)
Vernon Butler (DT)
Jonathan Bullard (DT)
Kevin Dodd (DE)
Shaq Lawson (DE)
Emmanuel Ogbah (DE)
Reggie Ragland (LB)
Derrick Henry (RB)
Germain Ifedi (OL)
Jason Spriggs (OL)
Ryan Kelly (OL)
Keanu Neal (S)
William Jackson III (CB)
Second round (10)
Kenneth Dixon (RB)
Braxton Miller (WR)
Sterling Shephard (WR)
Kyler Fackrell (LB)
Bronson Kaufusi (DE)
Chris Jones (DT)
Shon Coleman (OL)
Le’Raven Clark (OL)
Nick Martin (OL)
Artie Burns (CB)
Third round (17)
Connor McGovern (OL)
Joe Haeg (OL)
Joe Dahl (OL)
Tyler Ervin (RB)
Paul Perkins (RB)
Devontae Booker (RB)
Kenyan Drake (RB)
Willie Henry (DT)
Hassan Ridgeway (DT)
Jihad Ward (DT)
Javon Hargrave (DT)
Charles Tapper (DE)
Eric Murray (CB)
Darryl Worley (CB)
Joshua Perry (LB)
T.J. Green (S)
Sean Davis (S)
Round four (10)
Devon Cajuste (WR)
Ben Braunecker (TE)
Justin Simmons (S)
Miles Killebrew (S)
Ronald Blair III (DT)
Deiondre Hall (CB)
Keivarae Russell (CB)
C.J. Prosise (RB)
Jordan Howard (RB)
Dak Prescott (QB)
Round five (7)
Ricardo Louis (WR)
Moritz Boehringer (WR)
Jonathan Williams (RB)
Keith Marshall (RB)
Kevon Seymour (CB)
Travis Feeney (LB)
B.J. Goodson (LB)
Round six (6)
Joel Heath (DT)
Kenny Lawler (WR)
Jordan Payton (WR)
Daniel Braverman (WR)
Blake Countess (CB)
James Bradberry (CB)
Round seven & UDFA (37)
Rees Odhiambo (OL)
Hal Vaitai (OL)
Alex Redmond (OL)
Marcus Henry (OL)
Torian White (OL)
Justin Murray (OL)
Lene Maiava (OL)
Liam Nadler (QB)
Keenan Reynolds (QB/RB/WR)
D.J. Foster (RB/WR)
Zac Brooks (RB)
Devon Johnson (RB)
Darius Jackson (RB)
Paul McRoberts (WR)
Marquez North (WR)
Jay Lee (WR)
Jaydon Mickens (WR)
Dez Stewart (WR)
Brandon Swindall (WR)
Davonte Allen (WR)
Hakeem Valles (TE)
Terenn Houk (TE)
George Fant (TE)
Alex Balducci (DT)
D.J. Reader (DT)
Justin Zimmer (DT)
David Onyemata (DT)
Trent Corney (DE)
Alex McCallister (LB)
Christian French (LB)
DeAndre Elliott (CB)
Rashard Robinson (CB)
Brandon Williams (CB)
William Parks (S)
Andrew Adams (S)
Taj Letman (S)
D.J. Hunter (S)
Rob, I think McGovern/Haeg/Dahl are rd.2 or fringe rd 2 at least.
I wasn’t going to do a ‘fringe’ for each round though — and it states at the top they will likely consider taking prospects a round early to get ‘their guys’.
Thanks Rob!
Some say it is a reach to take player “x”…. I say, if he is the guy they really like, take him.
That’s what they said about that 5th round Guard they took in the 2nd round a couple of years ago…I can’t remember his name 🙂
You joke, but I’ve been astonished at some of the naivete expressed by some of these personnel guys. Rob has explained the Britt situation, which makes more sense once you’ve severely limited your prospect pool, but sometimes I just shake my head at this stuff.
If you want to say the value was so high that you couldn’t risk waiting until a later pick, fine, but some of these guys literally say things such as if the player works out it was the right pick.
This is going to be a great guide to have up during the draft next week. Thanks Rob.
Regarding Travis Feeney, 5th round? Did we get word on his medical? I believe you had him as high as a potential 1st rounder at some point. I know he didn’t participate in his pro day, but wondering if something else has come out about him or if it’s just a history of injuries that push him that far?
Also, I’m sure this is in one of your posts, but is there a big discrepancy between Ryan Kelly and Nick Martin, in your opinion? I’m really beginning to think they go with one of these guys and wonder if they trade out of the 1st to pick up Martin in the 2nd.
Nothing on Feeney — I was deliberately conservative here just because of the injuries. He could go much earlier based on talent/upside.
Personally I prefer Nick Martin and I’d least say it’s very close. Neither passed the TEF test formula and IMO it would be a departure from previous draft philosophy to take either. I think they might look for greater upside early.
Having Martin and Dahl partner up again would be interesting. I wonder if the center position can be more heavily slanted towards a technique guy since they OFTEN help with double teams with one of the guards on either side. I know McGovern is definitely more athletic when compared to Martin, but Martin held his own against all the talent at the Senior Bowl against a lot of guys that will be drafted and playing in the NFL.
I’m a huge Nick Martin fan — but I think the way the game is going center will need to be more explosive than ever. I think that’s why they moved Sokoli there.
yep, just saying I definitely wouldn’t be upset if that was they way they ended up going. I think those two starting together would form a group interior presence for Wilson to grow behind. Just like Brees has seemed to always have good C’s and G’s to help hold the middle of the pocket up, I can only imagine what Wilson would do with some of that stability in front of him.
After watching McGovern’s pro interview, I really believe he could play center in the NFL. Both the fact that he said he can, and then his overall attitude of proper preparation (and how backed that up in building his strength training/combine numbers).
Wouldn’t mind Martin at all.
Coleman, too.
NICE! I just printed a copy off. It will be useful and fun during the draft.
How Did You Print it ?
I’m not sure how 503hawk did it, but I would copy and paste the list, then put it on an e-mail to myself or pdf file and then print it.
Okay thanks and Rob If your reading this since you have our emails could you email me this list?
Sorry for taking so long to respond… You can do what willeye mentioned, or I just hit print, then print preview, then print again. Turned out nice, but I have to admit, we need to chip in so Rob can set up spread sheets! ?
That kind of number crunching stuff is really valuable
Dream scenario for me by round:
Rankins
Coleman
McGovern
Ervin
Cajuste
Feeney
White
Robinson
North
Sounds pretty good.
Sign me up too!
WOW!!! That would be an awesome draft!
Dream Scenario I agree. That draft would almost not be fair to the rest of the league.
Probably why Rob caveats that they may need to take guys a round early a la McGovern in 2 and Ervin in 3 etc
This would be perfect. The crazy thing is looking around at other info and according to mass media, this could be possible even though Rob has educated us to know better
Here’s mine (no fair taking Rankins in the 1st, btw):
1. Shaq Lawson
2. Chris Jones
3. Joe Haeg
4. Devon Cajuste
5. Jonathon Williams
6. James Bradberry
7. D. Onyemata
I’m rolling the dice on our OL and hoping Haeg can compete at RT.
Say rankins is gone….do you slip somebody else in there for the first pick or do you go ahead and make sure you get all the guys by drafting them a round early? Honestly I’d be cool with getting everybody on this list even without rankins
HaHa I did the same thing before I looked at yours, here’s mine.
1) Rankins
2) Coleman
3) McGovern
3) Erwin
4) Killebrew
5) Feeney
6) Heath
7)North
7) Robinson
Can’t tell you how much I enjoy these posts. Thanks a ton!!!
A day or two before the draft will you put out a final mock with who you think will get drafted so if they do you can say you predicted correctly? I’d like that.
If we trade our #26 overall pick for an early 2nd and say a 4th or 5th, I’d love nothing more than with our two 2nd rounders to be Defense:
Butler/Fackrell
Bullard/Kaufausi
Keanu Neal/Chris Jones
Give me any combinations of these six would surely excite me. The back half of last season made me believe that the OLine is in good hands, most of our problems were up the middle and it started to correct itself with Patrick Lewis. Need to subsidize our impact positions financially from our OLine, meaning the days of $60mil contracts for any OLine positions are probably over.
I gotta say Neal/Jones really excites me too.
Would love that combo!
I feel the same way, this a defensive run first team and they use the TEF so they don’t have to draft offensive linemen like McGovern in the second round because Cable is a hell of a coach. Why get the 2nd most explosive prospect in the draft in McGovern on oline in the second round when you can wait to get Dahl or Redmond in the 5th or sixth and those 2 guys are like the 5 and 6 most explosive offensive linemen not very far from McGovern? They will be looking for depth on the oline not an immediate starter and you don’t see depth guys taken in rounds 1-4 IMO. They will be looking for difference makers on defense and at RB and maybe splurge on a 1st round pick on a tackle prospect that can play LT/RT/LG because let’s face it the Hawks field 3 tackles(LT, RT, and LG), 1 guard(RG), and a center. That’s why it’s rare to see them draft a pure guard and I think they have their RG in Mad Dog set up for the next 3 years because they took him last year to replace Sweezy and get a redshirt year under his belt. Cheers!
Don’t forget the long snapper in FA.
Jimmy Landes (Baylor)
Jeff Overbaugh (SD State)
Reed Miller (Stanford)
John DePalma (West Virginia)
Nathan Theus (Georgia)
Taybor Pepper (Michigan State)
Reid Ferguson (LSU)
The Hawks went to the pro days of Overbaugh and Landes.
These are the consensus top 7 from a couple of sites that I’ve found.
Thanks so much for this resource, Rob. Quick q: why do you see Ragland being someone to monitor? Isn’t he a slower LB? Wouldn’t he be redundant?
He visited with the Seahawks so I included him as stated at the top of the piece.
He did run a very explosive short shuttle which probably caught their eye. Tough guy too.
He’d probably be able to play SAM, or maybe WILL and KJ goes back to SAM? I don’t see the value though, they would probably have to spend their 1st on him, and his snaps would be limited due to the amount of nickel defense played.
Or is Seattle getting info on another ‘Bama RB?
Pulling a Rice 2013?
Could be, would make sense. He would know best at just how difficult it is to bring the Bama running backs down. Maybe they want his advice on how tough a runner Henry is too?
Or Kenyan Drake.
They seem to target backups at crowded positions.
Haha.
That’s what I was saying.
Info on another ‘Bama RB would be Drake. Hence, the Rice TE situation of 2013.
Obviously 😀
Their interest in Ragland makes no sense to me, especially with the transition of Frank Clark to more of Irvin’s old role.
Looks like Frank Clark has been moved back to DE. Apparently there was some kind of roster error posted.
Round 1 (in order of preference):
Butler
Bullard
Spriggs
Ifedi
Other players on my draft wish list (in no order): Fackrell, Boehringer, Brandin Bryant, Justin Zimmer, Tyler Ervin, Nick Vannett, Keanu Neal, McGovern. There may be a few others, but those are the prominent ones.
I’m with ya, but if no Butler (and Rankins) I say trade down and value up.
Thank you Rob for the reference, especially on the late rounders. I love having favorites and doing an analysis on their measurables and watching their tape. However, since we don’t have access to their interviews and to their workouts it is all just a bunch of us draft nerds speculating. The closer it gets to the draft, the more I focus on late rounders just to see if I can single out a couple of guys the Seahawks actually end up picking. Thanks for giving me a list of guys to look into before I make the final mock. Cheers!
Great list.
Interesting to see that Will Fuller didn’t make the list
There are a few I left off. I think Fuller will ultimately go 22-35 and doubt SEA makes that move.
Awesome stuff, as always, Rob!
Couple more off the radar DL guys to watch out for in a well-written article over at Fieldgulls:
http://www.fieldgulls.com/2016/4/21/11462310/unheralded-draft-prospects-part-i-seahawky-defensive-linemen
Oh, and you are referenced in it too!
He’s got one of my 2 sleepers in it.
So. Miss CB Kalan Reed and NC St DE Mike Rose.
Rose is very ‘Seahawky.’ Intangibes, length, production. He’s gonna end up a steal
Love Reed, jnsane productjon. Where do you see hjm playjng at the next level?
I see him as a Chris Harris, jr. clone.
He doesn’t have much production and I haven’t done any tape yet, but just by his measurables I’ll toss in Mich. St. DE Lawrence Thomas for now as a possible UDFA DE/DT hybrid project.
Thomas is actually pretty good.
Could be a great project in the UDFA ranks.
Agree
Great List Rob. Very comprehensive. Only two players with which I disagree strongly:
–Where’s Brandon Shell? He was a top performer on the TEF scale, is a great run blocker and has potential as a pass blocker. The biggest knock against him is that his team was atrocious last season. I’m fully convinced that either he or Shon Coleman will be a Seahawk before the end of day 2.
–Jihad Ward will be long gone before round 3. He was invited to the draft and declined in order to attend classes. You don’t get invited to the draft unless the league knows you’ll be gone by mid Second round. And of all the teams that could have told Goodell to bring him to the event, the Seahawks are one of the only ones that make sense to draft a prospect like him so highly. I’m not saying they’ll take him, but they certainly should be considered a possibility.
Ward’s combine wasn’t very good, I don’t see them liking him that much.
— Brandon Shell had a 2.91 in TEF.
— This isn’t a guide necessarily on where people will go — more a guide on where SEA might be prepared to take them. And I noted at the top of the article they might take guys a round early.
However much like Ifedi, when you account for Shells weight and or arm length he matches up pretty well.
2.91 TEF, 94.4 WTEF, 3.35 TEF+
being 324 lbs with 35.5″ arms makes him very similar to Ifedi no?
Shell’s 2.91 TEF vs Ifedi’s 2.97 — but Ifedi has 36 inch arms so I’m willing to concede the one bench snap that gets him to 3.00. Shell’s arms over an inch shorter so not willing to concede the several snaps he’d need.
His athleticism might, but Shell is purel a guard at the next level.
Lateral movement is awful, stiff.
Watch how explosive Ifedi is off the snap. It’s unreal. It seriously compares to Bennett’s snap anticipation.
Rob, my bad, you’re right 34.75 inch arms on Shell, misread the spreadsheet…
Terrific reference for the draft! Thanks very much! One question, is Joshua Garnett disqualified because of his TEF score?
Yes — I included some sub-3.00’s in TEF because we studied them closer (Nick Martin, Ryan Kelly) but didn’t want to include too many.
Ryan Kelly was listed as a top 5 riser heading into the draft… he was considered the best center and the drop off after him was quite pronounced. Latest “intel” is he will be gone by #31 pick.
I’m not convinced he will go R1 but we’ll see. It would be a complete departure from their previous draft history for SEA to draft Kelly.
Thanks for the research and analysis.
I’m intrigued by Husky running back Dwayne Washington as a possible UDFA. Lots of potential there health permitting.
Cheers!
Apart from his 40, Shalique Calhoun seems to be an athlete with size and decent production. Just curious where you see him fitting into any potential Hawks’ draft plans?
10-yard split was very poor for his size and that might be an issue for them.
Boom/bust, inconsistent, has a great highlight reel. Not a Rob favorite.
No Jordan Jenkins huh? He’s has some impressive numbers physically, played in the SEC, and has some good tape. Must be a turd? Haha
Jenkins is good. Gritty, tough, versatile. Would be solid in the mid rounds, a steal lower.
I saw him on tape a bit and he caught my eye, I think there will be a shake up with personnel at linebacker with rumors of marsh,Clark, Morgan, and Pierre-Louis competing for 2 spots and I think Clark gets a spot because of his potential, physicality, and skill set and I think they bring in Fackrell, Jenkins, or maybe Jatavis brown to try and get the most out of the Sam for life after Irvin. I honestly think that’s the position they can get a ton of value out of because it’s like the DT in the Hawks scheme, they just need an athletic run stuffing 2 down backer because they will just add to the Dline rotation to replace Irvin’s production in the nascar. Perry would be dope too like at 56, 90, or 97. Cheers!
They do target premier names’ backups
Norwood, Willson
It’s why I can see such high interest in Rashard Robinson of LSU and Kenyan Drake.
Low wear, Good coaching
Rob, what are your thoughts on Ebuka Onyemata, DE, Manitoba? Is it too small of a school/not good enough competition for us to consider him. Looked like he man-handled most of the people he went against at the east west shrine game…
Not seen any tape — only seen the impressive workout numbers.
Small school, good character. I believe he is relatively new to the game.
Word is the Falcons have said they are willing to trade down from #17. If Rankins falls, pull the trigger.
I think you might have to give up our second to get to 15, assuming he gets past Oakland.
Leonard Floyd has been mocked to the Falcons all over the place. If they trade down, they risk losing their shot at him.
Floyd looks like he won’t get out of the top twelve picks.
Thanks again great list to just print and monitor / scratch off as we go through draft. Going to do my own little Hawks big board off this list before draft for fun.
Trev, looking forward to it!
Anyone you would add to Robs list? Particularly in the 7th / UDFA range. You always have some gems up your sleeve!
Yeah.
He pretty much nailed it though.
There’s Arizona St WR Devin Lucien, Bowling Green QB Matt Johnson, Udub FB/DL Taniela Tupuo, Portland St EDGE Sadat Sulleyman (just heard about him), NC St DE Mike Rose, Kentucky DT Corey Johnson.
So not much of a difference honestly.
Thanks Vol!
Thanks as always Rob, you are the best there is.
I’m hoping everything’s ok with CHawkTalkerEric – haven’t seen him on here for a while but he is one of my favourite contributors.
Right?
That’s my brother from another mother.
I miss dude.
Same here. U out there, bro?
We had a similar concern with you V12 last year – something about you needing a cable or charger or something I think. It’s crazy how Rob has facilitated such a family here!
That’s one hell of a memory man.
Yeah, I feel very privileged to be a part of this community.
Love you V12 and CHawkEric! You two are my favorites besides Robbie. I brought this up as the last post on the last blog. Doesn’t Vernon Adams seem like the perfect backup to Russel? Same size, moneverability would have the same game plan in mind because of the similarities in stature?
Tavaris hasn’t resigned I believe as of yet? We need to draft a QB for sure thie draft. Anyone have some other potential prospects besides Vernon Adams?
I really like Dak Prescott, but with the way QB’s are rising he’ll probably go in the 2nd round.
Kevin Hogan and Brandon Allen are intriguing options.
Yeah he’s one to look at but didn’t he get suspended from his bowl game and then get a DUI or am I mistaken? If I’m right I can’t see him drafted too high. Personally he’s just a kid and kids make mistakes like we all do so I hold nothing against him.
You’re right, totally forgot. He could slip quite a bit.
Maybe Jeff Driskell?
I’m a Ducks fan and I really like Vernon, but he is much smaller than Russ to the eye.
He also fails to meet that SLA positional threshold, similarly to LaQuon Treadwell.
Wouldn’t recommend drafting him
Ya never know obviously a lot of people thought DangeRuss was to small It seems to me that Vernon Adams is quite comparable.
Russ has bigger hands than Jared Goff.
A very special kind of athlete well within SLA benchmark
Is Joe Thuney missing or did I miss an update by you.
Arm length.
One player not discussed is Laquan Treadwell. Now before you guys tear me up, hear me out. I have seen numerous mock drafts where Treadwell falls out of 1st. Also, we all know how enamored PC is with big athletic wrs. Also, we really don’t don’t know what Graham’s situation is. I also recall that at the combine, Treadwell was notably impresses with PC, knowledge of him as a player. The Hawks may still need that big target.
Just saying, if Treadwell were to fall, that probably means that a lot of other targets are likely gone. Wouldn’t that be such a seahawky move to make. I don’t think it could be ruled out as unlikely as it may be.
He’s falling because there’s very little chance he’ll provide a return on his draft value.
Especially with the trend towards bigger corners league-wide.
I like the prospect, but there is better value elsewhere.
Agree. Draft value is the key point here.
Interesting insight is available here:
http://profootballspot.com/nfl-draft/article/records/2016-wr-prospects-to-avoid-positional-slaytic-thresholds-r70/
If you are not up for all the tables and numbers, then the short version is that Treadwell falls short of the minimum threshold that historically make it worth taking a WR like him earlier than round 5. Of players over 6’2″ with similar athletic traits, only 3.2% since 1999 have gone on to be productive enough to warrant anything higher than a 5th round pick. Of course, he will go earlier than that, but history is not on his side.
*Disclaimer: it is hard to summarize that article, so if I messed up the actual numbers, please correct me. But the underlying point still holds.
Really interesting article. Thanks for the link Sea Mode!
Why do you say there is very little chance? How does the trend toward bigger corners affect his value?
I read something recently about some SLA thing, but then I look at, for example, the Reception Perception guy’s work, which says Treadwell gets open more of the time against more types of coverages than anybody in college football. Not sure what to think.
Then I look at the average career value for guys picked at #26 and I think maybe we are overrating what we “should” get there. I know there are problems with PFR’s value rankings, but it’s a handy quick and dirty comp. Last 20 years, teams have gotten guys around 30-40 career value, on average. For receivers, that’s not really a high bar. We’re talking about, for example, Jurevicious, David Boston, Northcutt, Braylon Edwards, Nate Burleson, Ashley Lelie, etc. Guys who were pretty good, but not great.
Treadwell reminds me a lot of Anquan Boldin. Very strong/tough hands. Has to be, since he doesn’t have the speed to separate. While I don’t think we’ll pick him, I think he’s going to be pretty good.
I think you can replicate his production with more athletic options later on.
Yeah? Well I think you can’t!
I agree I see Treadwell as that bigger possession reciver that quite a few on this blog have been asking for. I really love the explosiveness of Will Fuller but hopefully P-Rich comes into fold and then Fuller would be redundant to me.
I made this prediction a couple of month’s ago, very Pete like move.
Since when to big wars have to have blazing speed. Does doesn’t. I have read comparisons between the two. Personally, I don’t want the pick. However, some of the fun of hawks drafts is the unpredictability of their picks. In that regard, this has pcjs all over it.
Damn autocorrect. . Since when do wrs… Dez doesn’t.
Late round/UDFA tackle to add to the list – Arturo Uzdavinis of Tulane. Check out his vert and BJ on 3sig. Long arms too.
Just crazy to think as well that Schneider has twice this many guys on his board! Taking Rob’s 100 as reasonably probable, in what ranges would you imagine adding in another 100 guys? Maybe 10 more in R2-3, 25 in R4-R5, and 65 in R6-UDFA?
Looking at it like this, I sure hope they go all out again to get the guys they “can’t leave the draft without”. Part of me says one Tyler Lockett is better than four guys, two or three of whom might not even make the roster anyway come Fall (i.e. trading up is the way to go and fill the rest in UDFA, which looks to be deep if we’re going by the numbers above). But the other side of me reminds me about the factor that the more guys you take, the better chance of hitting on at least one of them (i.e. trading down is better).
Seems like Schneider has leaned towards the latter in the past years, but then again those included the years of rebuilding where we needed starters and depth at most positions, maybe once he has a deep roster we could say he might switch focus more to “put the cherry on top” at a couple positions of need (like he did with KR last year) and then just keep churning the bottom of the roster in UDFA, staying cheap while looking for gems?
Or maybe that is a false premise of only being able to do either-or and JS says: no way, I’m gonna do this better than it’s ever been done before and move down while still getting the players I want!
I suspect Seattle has a top 10 and a top 100 and a UDRFA priority list.
Each pick might have 3-6 guys they really like in that “zone” of picks. Ranked from #1 to #8. As the draft progresses, out comes the red pen marking off “targets”… and the deeper the draft goes, the more value can be found by guys who are still available form the “zone” of targets the round(s) previously.
I’ll never be a fan of the Lockett pick. Gave up a lot of depth.
This time around, I hope they don’t do anything like it again.
You give up Depth for studs.
I’d rather have Russell have weapons than have “depth” that wouldn’t have made the 53.
Seriously? Depth < Special talent. Meant even more that it was an area of extreme need.
Think back to the 2013 squad. Yes, it had a stellar defense, but what were the things people talked about?
-The incredible depth at DL that allowed for rotations
-The embarrassment of riches at defensive back
-A flawed, but productive, receiving corp of like 10 targets
It’s depth. Who was our Super Bowl MVP? A 2nd string LB. Depth depth depth. To twist an analogy by Pete, you draft special talent to ‘score’, but you draft depth to ‘win’
All that said, I think the Tylock pick was important and good, because building a future QB1/WR1 battery is so valauble. But you cannot do that every year with your picks, and you may have seen the effects of neglecting your depth players last season
Steele, are you cra-cra?! Yes, this team needs to restore it’s depth, but they also need to continuously add playmakers. Lockett is a player!
No kidding Tyler Lockett was worth a first rounder seeing how capable of a receiver and retuner he is. Tyler is going to be a star in the NFL!!!
He does bring up a good point. Makes me wonder if we could trade him for like 10 or 20 seventh round picks . . . ?
That made me laugh Eric! I was thinking we should trade Tyler Locket for a 7th rounder and ” A player to be named later” to the Browns then we can get us some depth. Hell yeah Go Hawks;
Anyone have Portland St LB/DE Sadat Sulleyman’s pro day #’s?
This guys backstory is unreal!
Defensive end Sadat Sulleyman — 6-0 3/8, 254 — ran the 40 in 4.87 and 4.86 seconds. He had a 33 1/2-inch vertical and 9-foot-10 broad jump. He did the short shuttle in 4.53 seconds and the three-cone in 7.45 seconds. He put the bar up 23 times on the bench press.
And a cool quote from an interview:
Q: If I were a GM and gave you a second to sell yourself, what would you say?
A: I’m all about that action boss.
*Note: pro day held under heavy rain
Dude looks like the second coming of James Harrison.
Thanks my man.
Yeah, the pro day field was a mess.
So, 6’1(with shoes on), and looking like an UDFA.
Aaron Wilson said in his tweet that he got good feedback on him.
Darius Jackson (RB) is crazy athletic while being raw.
Could be exciting!
I would love to know who Rob would pick if Spaence, Ogbah, Butler and Bullard were still alive @26 with no trade down partner available?
Rob
You cracked the Hawks 2016 big board
Surprised you havent been offered a position in the Hawks FO
I’m curious where you have TE Nick Vannett from Ohio State? Doesn’t grabbing an all around TE seem plausible with such a young line?
I really like him a lot! Best blocking TE in the draft and really good hands. Would love him in the 4th round as the ideal compliment to Graham and Willson.
Yeah sounds good to me for Cooper Helfit just isn’t our third string guy the way I feel. Having an inline blocking tight end was really good for us in the form of Zach Miller right?
We said the same thing about Arthur Lynch when he was coming out.
Couldn’t Feeney be the prototype deathbacker given his length, speed and experience at both safety and LB?
I think that he could, so long as his shoulders hold up.
I like Rees Odhiambo. Problem is he only has 32 inch arms.
Perhaps, but I bet T-Rex would have been a great death backer . . .
I wonder how much the Hawks like Kasen Williams. With him and P-Rich on the roster, they might not draft a WR until the 7th. It’s nice to have a good athlete like him on the roster who already knows the system. Which 7th rd/UDFA WR do you think could give Williams a run for his money or that last roster spot?
I’d imagine they are intrigued by their CFL free agent WR Jeff Fuller, as well.
Has that size that Pete likes : 6’4 220lbs, which is in that nice thick Brandon Marshall range. Chris Matthews was tall, but lean and not that physical.
Fuller was Tanehill’s go-to guy at A&M but dealt with a foot injuyr during combine/proday season and went udfa and ultimately to the CFL.
Interesting, do you know if the Hawks have met with him at all? I know they have met with flex TE Houk out of BYU who could be an option. He is Physical and high points the ball well. BYU’s Mitch Mathews is built like Chris Matthews, lean and tall. He seems to not be very physical however. You know anything about why the Hawks have met with Jay Lee so often? They seem to like him. I guess he is a great run blocker which may appeal to them.
I believe they signed him to a futures contract months ago
My mock draft:
1-26 – DE Jonathan Bullard
2-56 – OT Shon Coleman
3-90 – OL Joe Dahl
3-97 – WR Devon Cajuste
4-124 – LB Jatavis Brown
5-171 – DT D.J. Reader
6-215 – CB Kalan Reed
7-225 – RB Dwayne Washington
7-247 – OT Justin Murray
Next week before the draft I will put 2.0 version with possible trade down and UDFA.
With only 7 days remaining before the draft, time for continue watching players, clarify feelings and make the final mock draft. I have so many players that I like and need more picks to choose.
I also have a question about Jaylon Smith. Seattle will be one of the teams who believes in the recovery of Jaylon? Enough to spend 4th/5th round selection?
I wish. No way Coleman falls that far. We’d have to get creative if are going to get him and not lose out on a lot of other pics at the same time.
I’d replace Bullard with lawson
Agreed.
Third
With all of the picks that Tennessee and Cleveland acquired, I would say they are the most plausible teams to take a flier on J Smith.
I like that draft javi,
Rob,
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000654682/article/sheldon-rankins-is-mr-boring-why-this-excites-execs
No way this guy makes it past #20…. no friggin way.
Most explosive DL in the draft.
Not a chance he gets beyond even the mid first.
I keep thinking Giants for some reason… they need help on DL.. and he would be a very nice piece for them. Some would say reach……. but as you stated, he will be a game changer.
Agree. Giants always stockpile D linemen and pass rushers.
He seems super down to earth, also the part at the end about loving to have an Ice cold Coke Cola made me think he’s already following in Peyton Mannings legendary “I love Budweiser” post super bowl interview
He might not make it past 5.
Rob,
Here’s a little bit of conspiracy theorist thinking for you. Say Robert Nkemdiche is on the board. Now the only reason why a team might overlook his craziness to utilize his talents is if it has a locker room of veterans that can keep him in check. So perhaps an ulterior reason for the additions of Chris Clemons and Brandon Browner is to boost the team’s locker room presence in case Nkemdiche is available?
I still feel there is a chance too.
Also thinking the Kiffin-Carroll connection may bear fruit as Chris is the DC at Ole Miss
The way this draft is shaping up both Rankins and Butler will definitely be gone however one of the main priorities remains getting someone who can both defend the run and inside rush the passer.
There are no ideal fits at 26 apart from Ndemdiche skill wise. That could alternatively be a smaller guy in the mood of like Lawson or Dodd in the 1st or more likely IMO a 3rd spent on a lesser guy who can also affect the pocket like Tapper or Hargrave.
Anyone else slightly underwhelmed with Bullard as a pass rusher. I love him as a run defender, setting the edge and blowing up plays in the backfield, but he just seems to be a little bit stiff as a pass rusher, which makes me really skeptical of his ability to rush around the edge. I wish he had a little more wiggle and savvy a la Mike Bennett.
I am. Butler is the better option between the two of them IMO. If Rankins is gone I sure hope Butler is there for us to grab. I’d honestly probably would rather have Kaufusi as well. Kaufusi doesn’t appear to have that “bend” people talk about probably only due to his height. He has the ability to pack on 10-15 lbs more of muscle and consistently play inside as well. More upside that Bullard forsure when it comes to Kaufusi.
Pete talked about getting more turnovers how about Carl Nassib six forced fumbles.Sean Davis 3 int 5 forced fumbles.Justin Simmons 5 int2 forced fumbles.
Deiondre’ Hall 6 picks 2 ff
Kalan Reed like 40 deflections over two years.
Jatavis Brown 4ff 1 int. 10 FF in career.
PFF says that Brown also had 15 sacks in 2015.
Could Bradley Sowell beat out Britt, Poole and a rookie to start at left tackle? He has the size profile.
Left guard*
Sowell played both Guard and Tackle for the Cards. I have a feeling he’d have no problem beating out Britt 🙂
The Tackles and Left Guards seem to be interchangeable in Cables system. I think it could happen but they want him playing tackle I’m pretty sure. I bet you Sowell won’t even make the team unless they don’t draft a tackle prospect IMO. Haven’t seen a vet make an impact and even make the squad since Giacomini right? I think Webb is the new big Russian. Haha
I think Sowell stays on as valuable veteran depth. Think Paul McQuistan.
Is it just that last years was so awful that this class of safeties looks good, or is it that this year is an above average class for safeties?
Looks to be above average. There’s 8 safeties with a higher SPARQ than the top S last year-Adrian Amos. Murphy and Pinkins were both high SPARQ rangy safety types. Expect us to take one this year too. We’ve visited TJ Green, Kev Russell, Sean Davis-players in that round 3 range. Would be surprised if we took a DB that early, but rest assured we’ll get some more athletes to compete at the back up safety spots. Really like DJ Hunter who Rob had rd 7-udfa.
Starting to get a little frustrated at how many mock drafts I see where the Steelers at number 25 take Butler. Better not happen for real
I think they will take Neal, *shrug*
https://twitter.com/siriusxmnfl/status/723318420742217728
McGovern says Seahawks are interested.
Nice!
Good find ty
Cool to have some confirmation.
My dude TJ Green apparently had a visit. ET backup/nickel hybrid
Word!
Yeah, Daniel Jeremiah says he’s hearing a team in the late 1st round likes TJ Green.
Panthers perhaps, they need some secondary help.. bad
Davis Hsu speculating it might be the Hawks! Doesn’t seem to jibe with Pete’s previous statements, then I remembered his comment about wanting to force more turnovers. A faith-testing pick that would be.
More pressure from the DL will get us those turnovers.
Rob,
Just wanted to take a minute to give you a HUGE shout-out for all of your incredible insight and info. This site has quickly become my go-to resource leading up to the draft. This is one of my favorite times of the year… and I’m dying to see what PC and JS have up their sleeves.
Thanks again for all your hard work. You’re the man!!!
This D-line class overall is talented and deep, but I’m having a lot of trouble identifying those one or two players that I “have to have” (aside from Rankins). I like a lot but don’t love a single one (again, aside from Rankins). If I were the Seahawks, I might wait and see who from the D-line class falls to the third day of the draft and then pick the best available. Not a huge fan of Ridgeway, Henry, Johnson, Clark, or Blair on days 1 or 2…but on day 3, I’d run to the podium.
Also, I love some of the later-round prospects, such as Lawrence-Stample and Balducci…another reason I’d be patient with this D-line class.
Ronald Blair III is a stud if he can keep up with the nfl game speed
I like him and Ridgeway the most.
Tapper could be included there, too
He’s a real confident kind of man’s man character.
High potential player, low low floor.
Boom or bust at this point imo
I like both of them too. I just don’t think they’d be impactful enough to justify an early pick. Maybe Blair…I need to watch some more tape on him.
If we don’t take a DE/DT early there’s a ton of talent in that 3rd round range. Tapper, Henry, Ridgeway, Hargrave. I’d be happy with any one of these interior rushers at #90. Sparq’ed up options late with Zimmer and Onyemota to add depth with upside. We need to hit a DT or 2 in this draft and will have plenty of opportunity to do so.
Hargrave seemed kind of meh against subpar competition
Likely JAG for me.
Willie Henry has got a lot of ugly weight on tape. Moves a little sluggishly. Reminds me of Will Sutton a bit.
High motor guys both
I agree man. Both are overrated IMO.
No, no definitely not. Great value to be had in one of those if they dip slightly. I’d just wait if none were available in the third.
If Seattle willingly makes the pick at #26 my gut feeling is it’s for Rankins, Butler or Dodd. With those 3 off the board Seattle looks to trade back.
26: R1P26
DT CHRIS JONES
MISS. STATE
56: R2P25
G/C CONNOR MCGOVERN
MISSOURI
90: R3P27
RB TYLER ERVIN
SAN JOSE STATE
97: R3P34
OT/G LA’RAVEN CLARK
TEXAS TECH
124: R4P26
OLB TRAVIS FEENEY
WASHINGTON
171: R5P32
S JUSTIN SIMMONS
BOSTON COLLEGE
215: R6P40
DT/OL JOEL HEATH
MICHIGAN STATE
225: R7P4
DE CHRISTIAN FRENCH
OREGON
247: R7P26
FB ANDY JANOVICH
NEBRASKA
With Seattle looking at Bullard, Butler, and Jones, I go back to thinking they could be strongly considering grabbing DL with upside with that first pick. Personally, I’d rather see it be Butler than anyone else, but with Jones perhaps they see a ceiling that is really high, and if they are satisfied with what came out of the recent visit, a player that can be coached up to do great things. He’s got some pretty unique athleticism about him for a big man.
McGovern might be the OL they feel they need to walk away with, likely taking over at center. Ervin being the play making RB they covet. If Clark falls to 97, they draft his upside, either have him compete at guard or tackle, if not, they could go Cajuste, or Feeney here.
Feeney at 124 would be excellent value, and they play a waiting game that pays off. Ditto for Simmons.
Heath is drafted to be an convert to OL, add depth at guard. French is a project rush end. They draft FB in Janovich.
Gotta say, I’m starting to think that Seattle goes CB earlier this year than most expect.
It would be such a PC/JS type of thing to do.
‘We signed Brandon Browner, got a bunch of projects. Were good. We don’t need to sign or take one.’
Yeah, right.
I just can’t see it.
I mean — it’s the one position they have depth, the rookie likely would need time to sit and learn the technique and they’ve consistently not taken CB early and looked for impact.
I’ve seen the Jeremiah rumour but I think it’s more likely to be KC or Arizona.
I am beginning to think that Daniel Jeremiah gives no thought to his picks. Rob did you know Jeremiah had Tretola going in the 2nd round in one of his mock drafts?
Tretola goes late rounds IMO. A really marginal athlete with short arms.
Maybe. I think it will be more of a hybrid DB as Rob suggests. I have a lot of faith in Tye Smith. I know they talk up all their picks, but they seemed REALLY excited to get him last year, even saying they saw comparison to a very good player they wouldn’t allow themselves to name, and now he is seriously beefed up after a redshirt year as recent VMAC pics showed.
As much as DL/OL (or vice versa) seem the logical way to go in R1-R2, I still can’t quite get the Derrick Henry R1 idea out of my head ever since Rob wrote about it a couple months ago. That’s what seems most Seahawky to me right now. If there is one position PC never wants to be thin, it’s at RB. On DL we’ve plugged in cheap vets and on OL we have made do with low picks. And after Rawls (coming off injury) and CMike (no guarantees), the only other back on the roster is Cameron Marshall, recently signed out of the Canadian Football League.
If they were to go all out and trade up in R1, I almost think it could be for Elliot sooner than Rankins. Of course we’re talking top 10 probably for both of them, which would be crazy, so I am back to D. Henry. Toss Ervin in the mix and now we’re talking a loaded RB room again!
I never said 1st round.
As for hybrids, I’ve been saying the same thing.
I do think they take a corner before round 5 or 6 though.
Right, I wasn’t trying to imply you were saying 1st round. Just your prediction for “earlier than expected Seahawky surprise” made my mind jump back to Henry, which is why I started talking R1. Sorry bout that, my man.
It’s all good. No worries.
I’m talking about round 4 range.
I like Henry too. Wouldn’t be mad if they took him at all, but you know who I think is this year’s RB version of Tyler Lockett? UCLA’s Paul Perkins. That boy good.
CJ Prosise? Only 1 year at RB.
Unique kind of guy. Horrid blocking abilities
I’m kinda ‘meh’ on Prosise.
Doesn’t ball switch, seems to struggle running any direction but left, not a zone runner. Not elusive, nor does he break tackles. Doesn’t press the LOS, can’t read his keys.
Yeah kind of only wins with speed and tenacity. Probably rides a bench somewhere.
Could have injury troubles at the next level
He’s not bad, just not mtycuo of tea, ya know whar I mean?
A lot of his issues stem from only playing a year at the position.
But, yeah. Probably a developmental guy.
Agreed vol 12. Looking at who we’ve shown interest in-having visits from TJ Green, Sean Davis, Kev Russell might be telling. All 3 are pretty sparq’d up. I think there’s something to ‘officially’ showing the interest in 3 DB’s ranked in similar range. Are one of those guys the target or is it somebody else? Justin Simmons maybe. He fits the mold for a Hawks CB and created TO’s-5 INT’s, 3 FR, 2 FF. While going DB before round 5 goes against what history has shown, it wouldn’t surprise me either. Maybe the Cary Williams debacle changes JS/PC view to valuing CB’s higher.
They’ve taken a corner in round 4. WT3.
Sure. I think Simmons could be an option too.
Just like with DT Chris Jones, I think they have one specific guy in mind they want.
But, if that guy is gone, they’ll turn to plan B.
I know. The last 6 CB prospects they’ve since drafting WT3 have been in in rounds 5+.
I know ya knew. Just merely pointing out that they have.
And while they do go CBs in round 5 or 6, they’ve also never taken a DT before round 3.
But, when you look at where their interest lies, you start to see something at the 2 positions, as you mentioned.
Yep. Where there’s smoke there’s fire. Could we be see a shift in how JS/PC weigh positional value in the draft? Looking like that will be the case, we’ll find out soon.
Sean Davis is a name that recently caught my eye…… no way he lasts until late 2nd round…. well, almost no way imo
Artie Burns?
Worley has some sick redzone coverage.
I really like Maryland’s Sean Davis, but doubt he lasts.
ND DB Keivarae Russell. There’s a rumor dude palmed a watermelon on one of his visits.
Yeah, I know 31.6″ arms, but he can also play safety, one of the most physical/in your face at the LOS corners in this class. Big time trash talker. Let’s be honest here. That’s a bully, no?
And he’s got the wingspan they like.
Definitely uses those 10″ hands
He always always jumps off the tape when I scout against ND.
Broken fibula and missed a whole year for “academic dishonesty”
Very strong 17+ bench reps at 192.
But I know another RB to CB conversion that can be had later…
Ahh, going for tit for tat on the cryptic clues huh?
Touche’. 🙂
Brandon Williams, A&M?
Very nice
10 points for Gryffindor
Harry Potter? For the quidditch touchdown!
And boy does he know how to close down and make a hit!
So you think he goes R4? Sure would be more good versatility between outside and slot so we can really pick our match-ups against any group of receivers.
Round 3-4.
Not every team is gonna like his personality, coming off an injury, is really only scheme specific.
But, yes I think he goes in round 4.
Sorry if I’m over-doing it on ESPN Sports Science today, but here’s an interesting tweet from the man himself. He was on their NFL Draft Special 4/20/16 8:00pm EST on ESPN2 (which I haven’t found online):
Keivarae Russell @Keivarae1 Apr 20
Fastest acceleration for any defensive player in this draft? I’ll take that sportscience. & no I wasn’t 100% ?? don’t lie to the people! Lol
No, it’s very entertaining stuff. I always liked that show.
This kid’s personality is such a perfect fit. I don’t even care if Seattle does take a corner/DB/hybrid higher than they ever have before, even if it’s unlikely.
You know Russell is from Everett, yeah?
Did not. Ty ty
They love their local boys
Was he an Everett Seagull?
Nope, looks like he went to Mariner. Too bad, he doesn’t get the joy of having a mascot that shit’s on people.
Thanks M8 that actually made me laugh!
Would there be a higher TEF scoring group of interior linemen then these 3 in the entire NFL?
LG Sokoli
C McGovern
RG Glowinski
No.
How about
LT Gilliam / LG Ifedi / C McGovern / RG Glow / Sowell or Webb
A lot to like… totally retooled, but upside potential is tremendous
Given that personnel, I’d much rather start Ifedi at his native RT position, and have either Lewis or Britt keep their starting job (with McGovern filling the last spot). Having Webb or Sowell at tackle would be scary.
When we look back after our Super Bowl LII victory in Minneapolis in 2018, we will point to this 2016 draft class and recognize it as one of Seattle’s best.
Frank Clark will dominate ala Von Miller and Tyler Lockett will return the 2nd half kickoff for TD in Super Bowl LI in Houston 2017. The Harvin wound will be completely forgotten as the 2015 draft class will come to be recognized as the 2nd best of the PC/JS era behind only 2012.
Oh, yeah. And of course Jimmy Graham and Thomas Rawls will be a big reason for the win. =)
Cajuste with the game winning hail mary
There is this persistent rumor of 4 or 5 QB going in 1st round. If this truly happens, talk about multiple options for the bottom of the 1st round teams. Plenty of very strong / quality players might be available. Seattle might have their hands full with 4 quality players to choose amongst at 26.. perhaps a trade back slightly would be in order.
I’m still unclear where this “gold” rush on QB is going to come from…. no way they are all going in top 20, where almost every team in need of a QB resides…..
It’s just ESPN Sports Science, but still interesting on Ezekiel Elliott and Derrick Henry:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPgIwASMiOc
They compare Elliott’s ceiling to Marshawn.
The last tidbit about Henry having the fastest first 5 yard acceleration of any player tested by them in the last three drafts is interesting. (although I’m sure their test group is small)
So basically, what has been said all along: he needs a crease to get going. Then he can break tackles:
PFF College @PFF_College 14h
Derrick Henry led the draft class with 76 broken tackles, but was 20th in missed tackles per carry.
Paul Perkins led draft class
There’s something for your man, Vol.
I learn something new every day on here.
Don’t get me wrong, I love RB Tyler Ervin too, and could absolutely see Seattle drafting him.
But, I keep coming back to ‘Perk.’
“The last tidbit about Henry having the fastest first 5 yard acceleration of any player tested by them in the last three drafts is interesting. (although I’m sure their test group is small)” Couldn’t find how many players they’ve tested, but that’s impressive from a 247 lb dude regardless. Henry’s list of strengths dwarfs his weaknesses. Wouldn’t be upset in the least if we took Henry at #26.
Someone asked earlier in the comments why Seattle would bring in Ragland for a visit. Besides what was said there, here’s some more possible reasons I found:
PFF College @PFF_College Apr 19
Alabama’s Reggie Ragland was the only LB to finish with a +7.0 or better grade in all facets (coverage, run, pass rush)
ESPN Sport Science: Ragland’s range astonishes
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=15275069
Here’s what a lot of fans fail to realize.
Every one of these VMAC visitors, evety guy on the roster, every FA signed all have something in common when it comes to their personality or character.
We’ll never know what it is, because we don’t get that info.
It might be grit, resiliency, etc., but IMO there’s something more than that.
Cool stuff. What gets oftentimes gets lost in the draft process, analyzing test score, is how well players play football. Test scores don’t account for reactions and instincts. Reggie Ragland is a football player.
This list is the final step for me. Watching all those names neatly organized feels like a perfect closure for the pre draft preparation. I feel this calm readiness for the draft to start already.
I know who i want at the top (Butler/Rankins, Coleman/McGovern), i know the long list of perfectly worthy alternatives, we have the other targets (LB. DE, RB, WR) all set up. WE ARE READY.
There is something about this draft class that feels like it is going to be a foundation class for years to come. I have this strange confidence that we will talk about it for years to come.
Any of you guys share this feeling?
Yes. I know I do.
This is gonna be a dope draft class.
Well said BTW.
I share this feeling with you. I am grateful for Rob and this community of dedicated thoughtful informative posters. Best draft site by far.
Eran I agree 100% with (Butler/Rankins, Coleman/McGovern). I think you are dead on! I really would be willing to give up one of our 3rd rounders this year and a 2nd or 3rd next year if needed to move up to gt Rankins if he falls past NO.
I would throw Chris Jones in there as a 1st round DT dark horse as well.
Keanu Neal is my favorite prospect in the entire draft but unless they plan to use him as a hybrid LB along with Kam as almost 4-2-5 base defense I just don’t see the position being a big enough need.
Why move up to get Rankins? Here is why.
Base DT : Rubin, Rankins, Silga Rotation
Pass Rush Situation DT : Rankins, Bennet, Hill Rotation
Base Edge: Clark, Avril, Bennett, Clemons Rotation
Pass Rush Edge: Clark, Avril, Clemons, Marsh Rotation
I really think with the addition of Rankins and Clemons, Silga for 10-15 snaps each this would be the best and deepest DL rotation in the league matching STL. I assure you the pressure they would bring would result in more turnovers which Pete has stated as a major goal this year.
Great post Eran! Completely agree. This draft sure looks like it will yield another stellar class. Needs match up with strengths in the draft. Have complete confidence in JS/PC. Win forever!
Does it not have the potential to be that ‘that draft class’ for a lot of other teams too?
Look out for the Pats, they didn’t grab that extra 2nd rounder for no reason.
Just read about a rumor of the Seahawks trading for Luke Joeckel and giving Jacksonville a conditional mid-round pick in 2017. I would welcome this move and think it would give the Hawks far more flexibility – Could see the line of Joeckel-Webb-Lewis/McGovern-Glowinski-Gilliam. I could live with that line. Seems like it would definitely be worth a mid-rounder in 2017! Thoughts?
Go Hawks!
Rob, any idea what Luke Joeckel’s TEF score would be? He’s got to be a great athlete, being the #2 pick in the whole draft!
I just saw that Ronald Leary G for the Cowboys might be on the trading block as well. I think he would be a great LG for us and we wouldn’t have to break the bank to get him! Ask yourself, who would you rather have for the next 3 years Leary or McGovern at LG? Ifedi or Joeckel at LT? I prefer the more experienced players who are still young enough to contribute their prime years to the Hawks! Thoughts?
I’m not Rob, but his TEF score would have been 2.86 and he did not make the 9′ broad jump. (8’10”)
Either way, Rob has said TEF is more of a way to project OL coming out of college, once they have NFL tape it becomes a bit irrelevant.
Joekel has a $6.7m cap hit this year and would cost a pick to trade for him. I don’t get the interest, especially given how he has played and the fact that there are likely to be several Tackle prospects available at our first pick (Ifedi, Coleman, Spriggs).
I totally agree, I don’t see the fascination with Joeckel (if there is in fact any truth to the rumor). He’s below average from an athleticism standpoint, and he has no upper body or lower body strength at all. So what is he?
A career backup is what Joeckel really is. What an awful draft the 2013 draft was!
There was also a discussion in the comments on this blog that mentioned him a few weeks ago if you are interested: https://seahawksdraftblog.com/explosion-scores-and-ideal-measurables-on-the-o-line#comment-273228
The only way I see the Hawks trading for Joeckel is if Jacksonville is picking up the majority of his salary. Even then, he would only be brought in as competition and would likely not win a starting job. So crazy that he was that high of a draft pick.
Ikr?
Based on Rob breakdown
Butler
Martin
Henry
McGovern
Prosise
After a couple of mediocre Seahawks drafts, John returned to form last year and landed Frank Clark, Tyler Lockett, Thomas Rawls and Mark Glowinski. If Sokoli emerges as a top-shelf starter at center, this will be another draft for the ages. A similar draft this year will infuse so much talent onto the roster that we will be on the way to the Super Bowl again.
There is a gaping hole in the DT rotation, so we can safely assume that one of our first two picks will go to that position. How the Seahawks view Gilliam and Sokoli will determine the OL picks. If Pete is confident that Gilliam will be a solid LT, then we won’t have to use a top pick specifically for that position. Of even more interest is how they project Sokoli. To have a center with those athletic abilities would be off-the-charts, but if his status is unclear, then center is a huge need.
Rob Rang makes a good argument that our lack of pass pro up the middle was far more the problem than on the edges last season (even after Lewis stepped in). This is why we are starting to see so many mocks show Ryan Kelly to the Seahawks. He is as good a traditional center, in ability and leadership, as you are going to find, but Sokoli would change the very nature of the position with his athleticism. The problem is judging his intangibles at a position second only to QB where that is a key.
If John goes DT in R1, then we can assume Pete and Cable are comfortable with Gilliam at LT and with Sokoli’s prospects at center. If not, it seems almost certain the pick will be Kelly, Ifedi or Spriggs, with the DT coming in R2. The R1 DTs likely available at 26 are a special bunch, and it would be a windfall to land one of them so late in the round. Butler, Bullard and Billings are supremely talented, and don’t discount Robinson, because he is a beast who was asked by Nick Saban to simply hold the line in the new D that Saban developed to defeat the spread. A’Shawn can get into the backfield as well as the other guys, as Doug Farrar noted when he viewed Robinson’s tape before Saban installed his new D. Almost an embarrassment of riches at DT and OL at 26.
If we come away with the haul of beef that seems likely, this team is going to be so very, very good.
Interesting take on Robinson, but I don’t buy it. Perhaps with his size he was somewhat effective as a bull rusher vs. college OL, but he is so slow and less explosive than the other DL in this class that I can’t see him being more than a 2-down run stuffer in the NFL (sure, he could be good at that though). He scores a 2.59 in TEF and 78.78 in wTEF. That’s just not a sign of much of a potential interior rusher. His second-closest comp. is Cedric Thornton (2011): 3.41 (82.9%), and that seems like a fair ceiling to me. Thornton was a UDFA…
Robinson is another one that is below the SLA threshold at his position.
From 3sigmaathlete.com data, now up to 22 players qualifying for >3.00 TEF. Don’t have complete arm length data to qualify that mark
Vi Teofilo
Jason Spriggs
Brian Bobek
Connor McGovern
George Fant
Kyle Friend
Mike Matulis
Halapoulivaati Vaitai
Sebastian Johansson
Nick Gstrein
Jesse Chapman
Alex Redmond
Bruce Johnson
Pace Murphy
Spencer Pulley
Joe Dahl
Dan Buchholz
Donald Jackson III
Andrew Zeller
Siosifa Tufunga
Joe Thuney
Jonathan Burgess
Any outliers in wTEF?
I confirm the math. Same results here.
Holy crap, Vi Teofilo: 3.78 TEF 122.99 wTEF! Better check those numbers… if they’re for real, nobody in the NFL even comes close in wTEF.
Sokoli: 3.71 TEF, 107.63 wTEF
JJ Watt: 3.82 TEF, 110.91 wTEF
Justin Zimmer actually does come close: 3.93 TEF, 118.78 wTEF
44 bench reps for Zimmer and 43 for Teofilo really help though. And Teofilo at 325lbs.!
Ok, scratch that, folks. =( Sorry for the false excitement.
Teofilo is incorrectly listed at 325lbs. in Zach Witman’s SPARQ spreadsheet. Correct weight from other sources is 305.
That puts him at 115.42 wTEF. Still amazing though but Zimmer takes the blue ribbon.
NFL.com has him at 305, but nfldraftscout says 325 from his pro day.
I will definitely hit the tape on him.
ASU SB Nation site also has 305, so I sided with them and NFL.com in this case because I think I remember reading that Whitman uses nfldraftscout as his data source.
Seamode if I give you a players testing #s could you figure out his Sparq and wTEF for me? What data do you need?
I think someone made a calculator for each, but I wouldn’t know where to find them
If you come across the links please let me know Kenny. Thanks!
Dug it up. All credit to Charles; I had nothing to do with putting it together:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pm5ps2ZmnFOb15eZ8CEPWydxnk1YA_4Zxep57vMQdGg/edit?usp=sharing
I just clicked “File” – “Download as” – “Excel” and use it from there.
Nice. Thank you.
wTEF no problem. Need weight, vert, broad, bench.
Teofilo has very, very short arms. His score is heavily impacted by +40 reps on the bench press, aided in part by his short arms.
We’ve generally discounted players with sub 33 inch arms so that is why we haven’t been including Teofilo.
Still he’s a good guy to watch to see his transition to the nfl.
9’08 broad and a 29″ vert with a generous 5.22 run.
His arm length is very neatly hidden away in all of his profiles.
This, to me would be an important factor to add into the bench part of the TEF equation.
Maybe multiply the reps by 1.00 for 33″ .90 for 32″ 1.1 for 34″ 1.25 for 35.5″
I’m no math guy, though
Sub 31 inch arms though
Sorry, I didn’t check for weight adjustments on the guys who fell just short of the 3.00
Nah, i just meant on this list.
I’m no math guy.
Well, what the heck. Here’s guys +2.9 TEF and +90 wTEF in case any catch your eye:
Germain Ifedi 2.96, 96.04
Arturo Uzdavinis 2.99, 94.58
Brandon Shell 2.91, 94.37
Stephane Nembot 2.91, 93.59
Lucas Patrick 2.95, 92.46
Ted Karras 2.98, 91.62
Kyler Kerbyson 2.99, 91.23
Wade Hansen 2.97, 90.80
Oni Omoile 2.93, 90.77
Anthony Fabiano 2.97, 90.12
I only have arm length on Ifedi, Shell, and Nembot (all well over 33″)
Wow you’re quick!!
Kind of turns me off of Ifedi seeing him barely above these other guys.
At this point, you draft him for the intangibles or pass, i would think.
Still think he’ll be a red chip guard.
Arturo Uzdavinis jumped 35″ vert at 315. 9’09” broad
Only had 16 reps on the bench? Severely hurts his TEF score. 33 1/4 arms
Lucas Patrick of Duke had a 1.60 ten yard split twice at 315. Nothing that disqualifies him. Maybe that 8’10 broad.
44 consecutive starts after missing 8 with a broken ankle as a freshman.
K. Kerbyson 1.9 ten yard at just 305. All other tests subpar. Tennessee
Wade Hansen barely better, but underwhelming. VTech
Ding ding ding we got a bite check out the numbers on Oni Omoile of ISU
Can’t find arm length.
http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=91946&draftyear=2016&genpos=OG
Fabiano has decent athleticism also. 4.4 shuttle
33 1/8″ arms with 25 reps
Uzdavinis is reported at 35″ arms. He apparently had a ‘good’ pro-day and got enough attention to be mentioned in this NFL.com article:
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000651139/article/sweet-16-from-scouting-combine-snubs-to-nfl-draft-sleepers
9’9″ broad and 35″ vert at 316lbs is major lower body explosion but he was poor in the bench. An intriguing project if he has the right attitude.
Academic all american.
Cable in his now famous 31-9-27 interview shortly before revealing that tidbit said brains is top 3 consideration on the OL.
Makes Omoile seem less likely. Fabiano Uzdavinis moreso.
Everyone I pasted is a straight 3.00 or better.
Its hard to find arm length for the non-combine guys so I’m sure some players on that list will be discounted for the Seahawks. Teofilo, as Rob mentioned, and I’m pretty sure Bobek and Johansson are short armed too but I haven’t looked up all of them.
We’ve really focused on the big 6 (+2) that Rob identified first with TEF but people are asking for other late-round names so I just grabbed that quick list from 3-sigma. There are posters here who have done a TON more scouting work than I have and could tell you more about each of those guys and why they are/aren’t good for the Seahawks.
Still, appreciate having this stuff in one place.
I will see if there are any targets from them
Great work, NathanM.
I apologize for getting over-excited and pasting my replies all over. Thank you for bringing up an awesome point for conversation in some of these other late-round prospects!
Thank you both for the excellent observations.
Rob I rarely check out any other teams blogs or draft sites but I was checking around today to see what other teams fans think about targeted players etc.
All I can say is Wow! Thank you so much for this blog I feel so fortunate to have this formu which you have provided. No other team has anything close to this for their fan base. The quality of your writing, research and knowledge of the teams trends and draft needs, requirements are second to none. Also the quality of posts by forum members on this blog is at a whole other level.
Thanks again for all you do and providing this incredible forum for all us Hawks fans to feed our addiction!
I say next year we all plan a Seahawks Draft Blog trip /meet to the 2017 Senior Bowl or combine and get you a comp trip for all your hard work. Something I am going to start working on after the 2016 draft.
Lol the cowboys have a fan blog that uses some ridiculous numbers in their formulas.
Like sacks, interceptions and wins equals a players value.
Somehow it spits out Morris Claiborne and Byron Jones as two of the best corners in the league.
“The quality of your(Rob’s) writing, research and knowledge of the teams trends and draft needs, requirements are second to none. Also the quality of posts by forum members on this blog is at a whole other level.”
Couldn’t say it better myself. Thanks a million for this blog Rob!
I’ve compiled a list of OL/DT who rank in the 90th percentile in both wTEF and SPARQ. There are a few intriguing names on this list.
Justin Zimmer DT – Ferris St.
David Onyemata DT – Manitoba
Robert Nkemdiche DT – Ole Miss
Sheldon Rankins DT – Louisville
Michael Pierce DT – Samford
Lucas Patrick OG – Duke
Vi Teofilo – OG – Az. State
Connor McGovern OG Mizzou
Sebastian Johansson OG Marshall
Jason Spriggs OT Indiana
Joe Thuney OG North Carolina State
Arturo Uzdavinis OT Tulane
Jarell Broxton OG Baylor
Spencer Pulley C Vanderbilt
Brandon Shell OT South Carolina
Germain Ifedi OG Texas A&M
Nick Gstrein OG UNLV
Brian Bobek C Minnesota
Joe Haeg OT North Dakota State
Many of these can be removed from the list due to lack of arm length (Thuney and Teofilo come to mind), but it is easy to see why a lot of potential targets are on this list. A combination of athleticism and explosiveness. This list also didn’t take into account players who chose to forego different phases of the workout as well as some Hybrid DE/DT.
Thanks, great job.
I ran the same test on EDGE rushers as well and only four qualify as being in the 90th percentile in both SPARQ and wTEF… Trent Corney, Shiro Davis, Ogbah and Tapper. I haven’t watched tape on the first two, but I would prefer Tapper in the third to Ogbah in the first.
Just out of curiosity where would Destiny Vaeao rank?
6’3, 299, 35.5 VJ, 27 BP, 9’0 BJ.
3.15 TEF, not sure how you weigh it for weight
I’ve brought up Vaeao multiple times in previous threads. I think he’s gonna be a legit sleeper get for some team
Issue with his length – his arms are right at that 32 threshold.
He is in the 90th percentile in wTEF, but his SPARQ rating is fairly average. With the shorter arms I don’t imagine the Hawks would look at him, but you never know.
Scratch that… He wasn’t in the 90th, he was in the 75th percentile… Still pretty good though.
Rob, do you deploy McGovern at C or RG at the next level?
Not to speak for Rob, but Glow is the RG for the foreseeable future. Center, possibly. The Sokoli experiment might not work.
I always forget Glow. So he competes at basically every interior position?
I got no problem with that. Probably does end up at C.
Gilliam
Webb
McG
Glow
Haeg?
Ya, sorry, I meant Glow is the RG, and McGovern could possibly compete at C if the Sokoli experiment goes nowhere. I could also see McGovern as LG because he has the lower body strength to play there in the Seahawks’ scheme.
I have doubts about Webb and Glow, and also some doubts about Gilliam. I will be skeptical until they prove they are solid.
I don’t think any position along o-line is secure.
Certainly all have risks, but Glow is pretty close to a sure thing at right guard. Athleticism, explosiveness, and good college game film. His game against Arizona backed all of that up. He’ll at least be solid and probably an upgrade over Sweezy.
Glow is, right now, the olineman I’m most confident in.
LG or C
Yup.
The thing about McGovern would be a monster inside C or G with his strength but he has the versatility to play T if push came to shove. That’s why there so high on him because they believe he will start somewhere.
Exactly. McGovern could start day one, as could Ifedi. What I don’t want to see is a project pick selected high in the draft… Like a LeRaven Clark. First three rounds you have to look for starters and then after that look for projects and Sp. Teams contributors who could develop into starters. I don’t want to miss on McGovern this year like we missed on Morse last year.
Agree 100%.
Rob,
No Deion Jones? You don’t see him as a possibility at 56?
Was a bit surprised by not seeing Jones or Jatavis Brown on this in depth top 100 list. Rob are you seeing the WLB as low on the list of needs?
Had to be strict with it — no meeting with him, disappointing combine.
Fair enough. Fantastic list btw. Really enjoyed it!
Here are the +100wTEF DTs, subtracting two who pumped up their scores with 42 bench reps. I’m putting the bench reps in parenthesis for perspective; the lower it is, the more they made up for it with plus athleticism. Noted weight too for very heavy guys.
Looking for some possible sleepers here. Bold names are combine invites to kind of help with comparison:
David Onyemata 3.63, 108.77 (33)
Sheldon Rankins 3.45, 103.24 (28)
Claude Pelon 3.33, 103.18 (33)
Michael Pierce 3.11, 102.45 (28 reps, but weighs 329)
Kyle Peko 3.44, 102.42 (31)
DeMarcus Hodge 3.08, 102.41 (29, 333lbs)
Jake Ceresna 3.52, 102.39 (35)
Ronald Blair 3.60, 102.38 (32)
Vernon Butler 3.13, 101.08 (26, 323lbs)
Desmond Jackson 3.31, 100.86 (36)
Robert Nkemdiche 3.41, 100.15 (28)
Any arm length constraints/notes from your end?
ESPN has Pierce’s arm length at 30.5. That is very short for a D lineman.
Thanks Seamode! Great list glad to see my guy Oneymata graded out well! I really think this guy is going to be the steal of the draft. Just crossing my fingers the Hawks get him.
GM John Dorsey said there are 180 players on the #Chiefs draft board this year.
JS isn’t the only one who thinks this is a loaded draft. Over/under on 2.5 UDFA’s making the 53 man roster?
Whar’s a half? 🙂
Over.
“Whar’s a half?”
Vernon Adams
That’s cold.
Poor . Hasn’t met with one team or worked out with any team. Skinny, small hands, sickle cell, and concusion concerns.
Can we say CFL?
I think that’s fair for a rich man’s Kellen Moore.
Lol, In all seriousness, I’m a Ducks fan and was rooting for the dude, but I just can’t bring myself to support a guy with so many deficiencies just cuz he’s a winner ?.
Your gonna hate what I have to say next.
DL DeForest Buckner is one of the most overrated prospects in this class.
:O wooow just airing our dirty laundry now, huh lolol i kid
I would tend to agree. Limited to a 3-4 5 tech
He’s got insane SLA in the 95th percentile though with an appropriate 99% tFreak
Great functional strength, but will likely seem to underproduce at the next because he’s limited to openin things up for other guys
Definitely gonna be over drafted and underproduce, but will be an effective, durable, blue chip guy
I just fail to see where he wins. Doesn’t push the pocket.
Didn’t see him impact any game I watched. Living in the PNW and PAC12 country, that’s almost every game, because like you, I am a fan of Oregon.
I’ll tell ya who I do like from that team. RB ‘Rolls’ Royce Freeman. What a stud.
Ditto on Freeman, but I can’t trust that scheme.
I’m going to disagree with both of you.
I really like Buckner.
67 qb pressures at 534 snaps to unblocked pressures
needs better work against double teams against power running. But heck he’s a Mile tall. Pad level is always going to hard.
Not a 1st rounder for me.
Doesn’t impact games.
He’s got strength and get-off the potential is there
I’m not sure how you can argue a guy with 83 Tackles, 45 Solo, 10.5 Sacks, 5 Batted passes, all while doubled most of the time doesn’t impact games.
He’s got proven Production, god given athletic ability, a work ethic, good leadership, and attitude, and still has incredible upside to his game??
Round 1. No doubts.
Over, plus 1-3 on ps
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/04/22/jaguars-have-continuing-interest-in-josh-norman/
If the Jags get a crack at Norman they should break the bank to get him. With $53m in cap space they have more than enough room to heavily front load a deal something like 3 years $54m-$18m apy. Norman is understandably after the money and have been hearing he’s after that ‘big on paper’ type deal-with guarantees being less important. Give him $20m upfront with little to no guaranteed $ after year 1. I realize this proposed signing would be an irresponsible one. Keep in mind that Jax would still have $33m in cap space after giving $20m to Norman. They can afford to give him a massive pay day for 1 year. That cap space is unused otherwise. Who knows…just don’t want him going to a rival.
Redskins and 49ers also in play for Norman.
It will be surprising if he leaves Washington without a deal. They are pulling out all the stops.
Rob every time when I log on here and you don’t have a new article I’m surprised. I mean that in the best of ways you produce so much high quality content and it’s awesome
Here, here!
Probably won’t have to wait long.
Apropos of nothing, starting to think that the Eagles will take Elliott at 2, not a QB. Thoughts?
I wouldn’t take Wentz that’s for sure.
‘Zeke’ might be toxic man.
Called out his coach. Pretty effed up red flag.
Competitive wants to win titles, but i ain’t touchin’ him.
Could be a fit for a team searching for an identity.
Comes off as an entited whiny baby.
And I get the concerns over Goff. But, IMO he’s the best of the bunch. Goff isn’t a franchise QB by no means. I have no idea why LA and Philly are puting their jobs on the line for these 2, but whatever.
What team has Goff beat? What team has Wentz beat?
I also see a guy in Wentz that tries to win with his athleticism first and arm second.
Goff falls off of his throws and has no deep arm. I have cooled off tremendously on Wentz. No pocket presence. Hit the nail on the head ath. frist qb 2nd.
Give me Lynch in the first Cardale Jones as a developmental.
I’m with ya on Cardale Jones. 3-4 years from now wheh we look back on this class, he might be the best of the bunch.
Immature, but has the best tools of any QB in this class. Never lost a game for Ohio St, and HC Urban Meyer asking him to do something besides running the read option was their biggest mistake.
+2 for Cardale Jones. He’d be my guy if I was somebody like the Cardinals wanting to develop somebody to take over for Palmer. Big arm talent, and when I’ve seen him miss a lot of the times it’s because his footwork got lazy, which I think can be fixed.
I’m not worried about Elliott’s remarks after the Michigan State game. First, he was right. Second, wants to win and that sort of thing can be addressed by his new coach. Not any different than some of the cringe-worthy stuff you’d hear from Michael Jordan as a younger player.
I’m just having a hard time buying that you spend all that money on Bradford AND pay Daniels like he could turn into something, then turn around and draft a QB at #2. Feels more like Rosenbaum (?) remembers the good old days of having a lead back and worried the Cowboys would take Elliott.
I like Cardale for Pittsburgh.
Watch out for Bucknell OT Ramy Kased. 37″ arms, 4.73 40 at 309 lbs!
34″ vert and over 9″ on the broad jump.
Developmental RT? I think so.
That’s another Gemini in this draft.
Lots of June bdays this year.
I like Aries and Taurus and Scorpios on our team.
Percy Harvin is a Gemini.
FWIW probably very little.
Another very important factor, which is often overlooked. Or wait, is it???
Who knows. There could be astrologers in the war room lmao.
Leave no stone unturned, right?
A couple weeks ago, you mentioned a DT prospect from a small school. Perhaps his name was Brandon? The kid is sparq’d up, but has short arms. His tape was amazing. He dominated with speed, power, hands and technique. It was the way he won individual plays and the overall variety of ways he won plays that really stood out as exceptional to me despite level of competition concerns. Am I ringing any bells? Do you recall his name???
Brandin Bryant from Florida Atlantic.
That’s the guy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M5LKx5-Kp4
Looks like a phenomenal prospect in exchange for a late round pick or UFA!
Fun tape to watch!
One thing not debatable is the Hawks at 26 will have a great group of athletes to choose from this year.
Hey guys, long time reader, but don’t post very often. Rob thank you so much for all of your work, and i echo some of the sentiments I have seen when people say you should get a donate button. I would happily chip in for all of your hard work. You’ve built a great community and I enjoy reading all of the comments and I start to remember most of the names.
I have a question to ask of you and the community. It is definitely clear that the Seahawks have specific dimensions and numbers they look for when they draft their players. My question is, have we ever looked at how long these SPARQ or explosion guys perform at that high of a level for(specifically lineman)?
That is, if these guys are drafted for pure athleticism, by the time they learn proper technique (assuming they are a project) have they lost their athletic edge that made them desirable in the first place? Or perhaps their rookie deal begins to expire and by the time they become what we want them to become, they may sign for big money elsewhere.
Hey, Nick, didn’t want to leave you without a reply. Hope you check back sometime and see it. You got unlucky in posting pretty soon before the discussion moved over to Rob’s newer article. Be sure to post again, cause this is an interesting topic.
The point about duration at a high level is a valid one. While I couldn’t say for sure if the Hawks have looked into it specifically (though they probably have), I have always thought of it a bit differently: that having athletic guys actually might reduce their injury proneness and thus increase their longevity. My gut feeling about them dropping off quicker is that it really would be no different from other lineman, just that they started at a higher level and even late in their careers would be at a higher level comparatively.
About losing them by the time they are finally getting good, I feel your pain (like with Sweezy), but I think this is just the way it goes in the NFL and is something Seattle is committed to doing in order to stay cheap on the OL. There is also the added benefit of the compensatory draft pick we get when one of our guys signs for big money elsewhere. Then you can just replenish with those extra picks and keep the cycle going.
Eventually, they will hit on guys that become great before their time is up and that will be incredible value on the roster. I think this will happen with Gilliam, who already played well last year at RT and who we have for another two years on the cheap. (Then we can decide if he is worth the big money to keep). I also have high hopes for Sokoli this season or next at center and we know Pete Carroll does too.
Cheers and thanks for the discussion!
26 Butler
56 Bullard
Rd 3 OL Dahel, Coleman, McGovern, Haeg
Rd 3 RB
Rd4 OL ” ”
Rd 5 QB
Rd 6 OLB
Rd 7 DT, OL
You can never have enough D Linemen. It mos def makes your secondary look great. The more I think about Hawk needs the more I want back to back DL selections. Gives us insurance on a somewhat aging Avril and Bennett. Gotta keep that DL mill running smooth. Add Clark to that mix and we working toward the future all while enjoying the now with Bennett, Avril, and Rubin. Jordan hill we shall see but Im almost over it. Marsh in the mix too.
I didn’t see Vanderbilt LB Stephen Weatherly on the top-100. He is a SPARQ guy and had a 1.59 10-yard split so I had him pegged as a possible edge – 6-4, 265
I’ve seen very mixed reviews of Weatherly from the third to udfa.
Someone i have neglected in my tape study.
Anyone?
I’ve actually seen some. Great athlete, but looked lost out there at times and a little sloppy. Could be a 7th round option.
What I know boys is that we are officially under a week away. I can’t wait and feel like a kid waiting for xmas
Yes, this is driving me absolutely nuts! I feel like this year we have a great chance to field our best team to date. And I trust Pete to have these developing prospects working their assses off this off-season! I hope Britt logged 4 hour per day sessions of Tap dancing barefoot on rice paper! Gilliam’s Twitter update has me feeling great about LT. Sokoli’s motivation to make his entire war-torn country proud inspires me to believe his quest for greatness is unstoppable. Frank Clark’s Tweet demonstrates another player all-in on their off-season program. I’ll bet that stable of young CB prospects are working hard to be the next 10 million dollar man!
I read that Justin Zimmer’s arm length has been reported incorrectly and is being adjusted to less than 32″ which will take him off our board.
This is true and obvious on film. Classic workout warrior
Bummer… I liked the story. Who knows, he might slip into the group of UDFAs and I would love to see him compete.
I like Jordan Howard in the fourth round. Seems like a Lynch lite RB. Awesome list.
Wondering why we haven’t heard about the Hawks bringing in Dominique Easley for a visit. Are the health concerns really the issue? Or is it a locker room cancer concern? Rumors had the Hawks very interested him 2 years ago before the Pats nabbed him in the 1st.
If the dude could get his act together and his medicals were overrated, he’d be a really nice pickup on the interior DL.
Haven’t heard much buzz on him, nonetheless.
http://www.fieldgulls.com/2016/4/16/11443160/the-full-scoop-on-dominique-easley
I want to throw out a mention to Rico Gathers. Took the Antonio Gates route and played bball in college at Baylor and is now switching to TE for the draft. His basketball highlights are impressive, as he is 6’7″ 275. He would be intriguing to bring in as well. Played forward like a beast in college, I can only imagine him going against much shorter guys in the red zone.
His pro day is Monday and his athleticism will be off the charts. I am looking forward to see if there is any Seattle news around him.
Strange that Washington and New Orleans are favorites now to land Josh Norman. Saints have no cap space, Washington doesn’t have a whole lot either. Panthers now have quite a bit.
Norman gets 5/75 from Washington. $15 million a year for a top flight CB is the going rate on the market, but 5 years is probably not ideal for them. Norman is turning 29 this year, he probably has a year or maybe two of prime play left before he starts declining. It will be interesting to see how the deal is setup, I imagine Washington has an easy out after year 3.
50 mil guaranteed. Last two are usually easy to get out of without losing too much. They will probably cut Pierre Garcon, would free up 8 mil this year. Seems more like a Snyder move than a McCloughan one.
Back when Scot M was the 49ers GM, he made Nate Clements the highest paid defensive player in NFL history or something like that. This does feel like a Snyder move but Scot has paid big bucks to CB’s before.
Ha, how do you remember that? And good point. I guess I just remember him more of a scouts guy than a GM. Though looking at it now, his drafts for the 49ers weren’t all that impressive.
$50 million guaranteed is the eye-popper I just heard. I know there are different types of “guaranteed” (oh NFL you crazy) but that # if true shocks me.
I’ve been doing a list of Seahawky players the last several years. It is a fun exercise – I don’t look at the first round but day 2 and day 3 guys. The first year I had zero, but each year a little better. Last year I had Lock, Clark and Terry Poole on my list. I email it to a couple of friends so that it I have a record. This year should be interesting with such a large draft board.
That’s impressive, I can’t wait to see who you have this year! There are so many that seem to fit the bill.
I went back the other day and saw your post from last year. Congrats on all the hits! Hope you can do it again this year!
Dear Rob
Beautifull list.
A couple of remarks.
Schneider pointing out that their board has 200 players. I think that that means they definitely will trade down. If possible more then once. Imagining trading down from 26 and one trade in later rounds 11 picks seems feasable.
I think it is by now certain that they will not adress the oline before McG, JH, JD come available in the third round. Schneider again, explaining that there is no big drop off along oliners. More importantly, the Hawks are building a great oline….by design…through teaching. That means that production and xperience in college dont really count for much. Instead it is atheleticism, grit and football iq. It is both a reaction to the development of collegefootball and a cap strategy.
They will therefore go defense for the first three picks. For that they need one pick early in the second round …. and two at the end/early third.
The early pick will be used for a disruptive dt. (Butler, Bullard, Nkem) The second and third for a sam lb and another dt. (Correa, Fackrell, Jenkins) (Jones, Johnson, Ridgeway). In the drafts i have simulated it seems likely that a score of three out of those nine is absolutely possible. (The qb run helps, but also leaving the “high potential” ol for others and the strong needs for scarce wr’s.)
I do not think they will compete for pure edge rushers early in the second round…because of Clarke and because of the bigger need at the Mebane position.
After that it is Oline. Two out of McG, JH, JD is good enough. Later on adding Rees O is a possibility.
If possible they will add even more defensive players later. I think they are aiming for real rotational depth. (Kaufusi, Blair, Zimmer.)
I think they can pick up a fitting running back relatively late. (Prosise, Ervin, Marshall).
Going for Moehringer and/or Cajute would be a very nice bonus.
All in all i belive that this could become a very good draft for the seahawks ….not by coincidence but because they have been aiming for the defense depth of this draft for the last two years.
Thanks for your thoughts Frans, although IMO it will be shocking if they go defense with their first three kicks. It’d be an unnecessary risk to miss out completely on the OL guys they like and the defense doesn’t really require that level of investment.
Dear Rob,
Three related thoughts on that “shock”.
The first has to do with how i think this draft will play out. I expect the first and second tier of dl players (20?) to be gone shortly after the beginning of the third round. If you want two of those and a good sam you need to trade down and spend the first three picks. Because of this run on dl players i also expect the second tier of olplayers to be still available at the end of round three. (For this run on defense check simms on BR among others)
The second has to do with the ol strategy of the hawks. Like i said I think that they are actually aiming to build a great line…through teaching. That means among other things that it will become normal for a drafted ol of the hawks to only become a starter after one or two years. It also means that the line we now have (before the draft) is probably stronger then we suspect. It thirdly means that undrafted players -converted dl’s sparq ol’s from small and obscure schools- are legitimate targets. Because of all of that i think that we are fine if we get two out of McG, JD,JH and Rees …and i think the hawks can do that with 3-27 and 3-34.
Lastly, i think that the hawks need the great rotational depth on the dl they had when they made the superbowl run. I think we lost against brady not bcause of the last play…but because the dl could no longer stop brady. It also fits with the idea that the hawks are learning to use the depth of the draft and therefore look to future drafts. Which means among other things that they will be aiming to find the replacement for bennet …now.
I really enjoy your blog because you are not reprorting rumours or mocking for the sake of it …you are helping us all to think about the long term strategies of the hawks…and what that means for their player decisions.
Thanks!
No problem, my pleasure. Thanks for reading.