Below you’ll find the final podcast of the 2017 draft season. Kenny and I run through Seattle’s class and discuss why it should be considered a really good haul for the Seahawks.
This will be my final post for a while. I want to thank the great community here for making this place what it is. When I started writing the blog in 2008 I never imagined I’d still be doing it nearly 10 years later. This is completely 100% down to you. Your contributions, civility and support.
We’ll start again during training camp, into pre-season and then dig into the new college season. If you only discovered the blog in the weeks leading up to the draft — come and check it out from September onwards. It’s arguably the best time to talk draft as we identify possible targets for the Seahawks.
I’ll leave you for now with the podcast below. It’s time to reintroduce myself to my wife, three-year-old son and three-month old daughter. Thank you again for everything.
It’s very easy to see why the Seahawks liked Amara Darboh.
“He was one of those guys that we were laying in the weeds on him a little bit… They give you so much information on him and he checks so many boxes that he was one of those guys that you didn’t really have to spend a ton of extra time on.”
Those were the words of John Schneider shortly after the third round concluded.
When you run through ways to define a Seahawks receiver, Darboh ticks all the boxes:
— Gritty backstory
— Battled adversity
— Good route runner
— Willing blocker
— Good awareness when working back to the QB
— Ample size
He’s also clearly the best overall athlete they’ve drafted at receiver. His SPARQ score was a 127. PauL Richardson was previously the best athlete they’d drafted with a 118. All of Seattle’s drafted receivers apart from Kenny Lawler have been in the 111-118 range for SPARQ. That translates to the 50-60th percentile range in terms of NFL athleticism.
Darboh is in the 84th percentile.
According to SPARQ he’s the most athletic receiver they’ve had since Ricardo Lockette. Not the quickest or the most sudden — but the most athletic overall. Will he be tasked to fill Lockette’s shoes? Someone who can make the occasional big play on offense but more importantly provide an immediate intensity on special teams?
There are similarities between the two. Lockette is 6-2 and 211lbs compared to Darboh’s 6-2 and 214lbs. Lockette’s forty time (4.41) is marginally quicker than Darboh’s (4.45). There’s a three inch difference between their broad and vertical jumps.
The Seahawks spread their targets around but everyone knows Doug Baldwin and Jimmy Graham are going to get the lions share. Jermaine Kearse, Paul Richardson and Tyler Lockett are going to eat up most of the rest (health permitting). Darboh’s primary focus in 2017 could be special teams and trying to recreate everything Lockette brought to the roster despite his minimal role on offense.
So what do you see on the field?
On occasions he was let down by an inaccurate quarterback at Michigan. The Ohio State game was a classic example of this. It felt like he was constantly having to adjust to catch the football. Throws behind, throws too high or low. Initially he showed great concentration to haul in a couple of circus catches on poorly thrown balls but eventually his luck ran out.
On one route he perfectly dissected the Ohio State secondary to find a soft spot in the zone. He was wide open — but the throw was high and wide to his left. He tried to adjust and got both hands on the ball but it fell incomplete. On the next drive Wilton Speight tossed an ugly interception with a minute to go in the third quarterback. Ohio State rapidly turned the pick into seven points on offense and a straight forward 17-7 lead suddenly turned to 17-14 in a flash.
How would they respond? A quick three-and-out after the Speight threw an easy slant on third down behind Darboh for an incompletion.
The good news is Darboh was clearly the go-to receiver for most of the game. He had a handful of vital third down conversions and the play of the game from a Michigan perspective.
Ohio State had a seven point lead in overtime and it was fourth down for Michigan. Fail to score a touchdown here and it’s game over. Darboh was being covered by this years #11 overall pick Marshon Lattimore. He absolute destroys him with a clever side-step to the outside before firing inside on a slant. He creates immediate separation and gets open for the touchdown. It’s not a great throw (low and awkward) but he brings it in with two hands.
If he can make it look that easy against Lattimore — Darboh has a shot in the NFL. Any scout who was banging the table for Darboh over the last few months probably went to that tape over and over again.
What else did he show in the three Michigan games I watched for this piece?
Concentration is the thing that stands out — catching the awkward throws and the savviness he shows in running routes. He isn’t particularly sudden and he won’t create separation sprinting downfield on a go-route. He wins with instinct and technique and his route transition is very good.
Working back to the quarterback is so important in Seattle’s offense, especially on the scramble drills. Darboh gets nice depth on his routes and reads the situation before reacting to provide his QB with a target when the play breaks down. This is a big plus for the Seahawks.
He had a fantastic route working the seem vs Illinois. On this occasion the throw by Speight was perfect, dissecting three defensive backs. Darboh lined up in the slot, sprinted to the gap in the zone coverage and made a difficult catch in traffic while anticipating a big shot.
He sells the deep route well before breaking it off to work inside. Nice depth on his routes allows him to assess the best way to get open.
For Seattle’s offense it was also good to see him motion across the line (ala Doug Baldwin) on the option pass (although he was levelled by a defender on one of these vs Northwestern).
He also had some spectacular grabs at the sideline, showing off excellent body control to torque and make the completion while getting both feet in bounds.
There are some weaker areas too. There was very little evidence of any YAC potential. He’s not a sudden athlete and he’ll need to battle and be physical to get open at the next level as a consequence. His best routes were down the seem and the inside slant — he’ll need to find a way to be more effective down the field and perhaps try and become a bit quicker to nail the intermediate routes.
What does the future hold for him? The Seahawks can save $5m by cutting Jermaine Kearse in 2018 and they might feel that’s a necessary move to save money. If that happens — he has a year to show he can take on Kearse’s semi under-appreciated role. He’s a valuable blocker in the run game and while 2016 was a down season for Kearse — he’s had some of the biggest catches in franchise history.
It’s easy to look at Darboh’s size and physical profile and imagine this is a case of planning ahead. For now, he needs to show he can be something akin to Ricardo Lockette and help Seattle’s special teams take a step forward in 2017.
Shaquill Griffin — lot’s of potential but lot’s to learn
Seattle’s turnover numbers are shrinking. In 2016 they had 19 takeaways, one less than bottom dweller San Francisco and good for 22nd in the NFL overall. Let’s compare that to previous years:
It’s not a surprise that the numbers have fallen. The peak occurred when Seattle was on the rise and teams didn’t really have an answer for their defense. By week two of the 2014 season, Philip Rivers drew up the blueprint to slow down and limit the unit with a highly conservative, short passing, zone-busting antidote.
We may never see 39 takeaways again in a season with this group because teams just don’t test them in the same way anymore. And in fairness, they don’t need 35-40 turnovers. They do need more than 19, however, if they want to be better in 2017.
This draft class seems to be something of an attempt to rectify the situation.
For starters, the best way to create more opportunities for the secondary is to improve the four-man rush. Malik McDowell should provide some help in that regard and the upgraded D-line rotation should keep Seattle’s pass rush fresh and relatively consistent.
The second plan at a revival seems to be better depth in the secondary and adding playmakers.
Here’s the top-four defensive backs in college football last season in terms of passes defended:
Thompson and Griffin shared 11 interceptions in 2016 and 31 PBU’s.
It’s probably not a coincidence they’re now both in Seattle.
There’s not a ton of Griffin tape available on Youtube. You can see him against Arkansas State and Michigan and quite frankly, watching either game is a bit of a waste of time. The UCF defensive scheme, if you can call it that, is one of the worst you’ll ever see. I can’t work out what they were trying to do. It’s maddening.
“I watched this kid. Good body, good frame, runs well. I think he’s been coached poorly.
He gives up the inside too much. The way he plays press, he has his hands-up at the line of scrimmage. Well, the Seahawks teach ‘hands-down’. He’s head-up or outside, why is he doing that? Seahawks teach ‘inside-eye’. There are a lot of things they’re going to do with him from a techniques standpoint.
He doesn’t process route concepts in front of him, he gets beat where he is stuttering his feet, and you ask ‘why is he doing that?’ He doesn’t understand how the slot receiver is impacting him even though he is covering the outside receiver. So there are a lot of signs to me that he doesn’t have the polish mentally about playing corner.
I think what Seattle feels like is ‘we’ll teach him the Seahawks way’. There are a lot of things he’ll do [differently] in their channeled outside coverage, like, he’s going to turn his ass to the QB, and he’s going to be playing inside-out, trying to stay on top, and he’ll never have to worry about deciphering those concepts.
So there are a lot of reasons for them to feel that this guy can play their brand of cornerback.”
Here’s what I saw watching the two UCF games. Time and time again Griffin would line up way-off in coverage, offering this enormous cushion to the receiver. He’d consistently give up a free release then show the receiver inside inviting him to attack this huge zone of open space. It made the safety isolated and asked so much of the cornerback to recover and play the ball.
The best way to describe it is it’s the polar opposite of the way Colorado’s much more effective defense plays. Colorado challenges the cornerback to win at the red-line narrowing the strike zone for the receiver and putting the advantage on the playmaking free safety (Tedric Thompson) to play the ball.
UCF’s safety had no chance. They were caught in no-man’s land. And it’s virtually impossible to judge Griffin based on this tape because of the way he’s asked to play.
Furthermore — you see blown coverages, DB’s running into each other, bad angles from the safety. The secondary is a mess.
In the Arkansas State game Griffin gives up one of the worst touchdowns you’ll ever see. He offers a free release on an inside slant. The receiver just runs into the space between the safety and cornerback, it’s an easy pitch-and-catch and the WR just saunters in for the score. They never even give themselves a chance.
There are a couple of occasions where he really flashes as an athlete. On one free-release over the middle he makes up so much ground to undercut the route and the play the ball. On a deep ball he ‘ran the route’ as you often see with Richard Sherman and made a nice PBU. He can hit and his frame is quite stout for a taller, longer cornerback.
It’ll be really interesting to read the first few reports from training camp on how’s he picking up the technique because this will probably be a complete ‘start from scratch’ situation. It’s hard to be optimistic about his chances of starting as a rookie but he is a 4.38 runner at 6-0 and 194lbs with an 11-0 broad and a 38.5 inch vertical. He’s a special athlete. Hopefully that will give him a leg-up in the pro’s.
Looking at their previous draft picks at cornerback — Griffin is by far the most athletic they’ve added. It’s no coincidence he’s also their earliest pick at cornerback too. The potential is enormous in terms of physical profile. This coaching staff has worked its magic on DB’s in the past. It might take a little time for Griffin to be in a position to start but when he gets there, he has the upside to be a very interesting player.
If you want to know what Delano Hill is all about, watch the video above. It’s his performance against Ohio State at the end of last season.
One thing stands out — he’s a tackling machine.
Hill wore a number of hats at Michigan, lining up as a single high safety and in a two-deep zone, handling the LOS and covering the slot.
Tackling and versatility are his calling cards.
That’s not such a bad thing because in 2017 he’s going to provide competition and security. He’s not going to unseat Kam Chancellor or Earl Thomas and the Seahawks seem to really like Bradley McDougald as a ‘big nickel’.
Hill is one for the future. Chancellor didn’t start as a rookie either. They needed options and depth.
Frequently he was the last line of defense as a deep safety needing to make a crucial stop. There were plenty of times, strangely considering Michigan’s talent on defense, where a QB, RB or WR managed to break into the open field for a big gain. On every occasion Hill eventually made the tackle.
Whether it’s close-range or in space, Hill squares up nicely and hits the mark consistently.
There weren’t any crunching hits of note but that’s probably in part due to his measured tackling form. He’s not a heat-seeking missile but he’s technically very assured. Don’t mistake that for a lack of physicality. He isn’t Kam but who is?
His speed shows on the rare occasions that he blitzes. Against Michigan State he levelled the quarterback on a blitz from deep safety, forcing an incompletion. When he can put his head down and go from 0-60 that’s when you see the 4.47 speed he had at the combine.
It also shows when he’s covering the flat. Several Michigan opponents tried to clear out the outside zone with an inside route isolating the safety against a quicker receiver. On each occasion, without fail, Hill read the play quickly, sprinted to the ball carrier and delivered a big tackle.
There are instances too where he showed well covering the slot. He surprisingly handled Ohio State’s Curtis Samuel on the two occasions they went 1v1. The first play was a hitch route from Samuel — Hill was touch-tight and even though the pass was errant, had it been on target Hill was in position to make a play. Here’s the coverage on the second play. It’s flagged but it’s an example of how well he stayed with Samuel (who ran a 4.31 at the combine):
He doesn’t make a lot of plays lined up at the LOS but there was one really good play against the read-option vs Michigan State. He had the awareness and speed to take away the option to the running back, forcing the QB to hesitate. He then levelled the QB for a TFL.
He also did a good job covering tight ends from the slot, was never boxed out and had no issue mirroring crossing routes against a bigger target.
Hill’s size is also a big positive. He’s 6-1 and 216lbs with 32 1/8 inch arms. His wingspan is even more impressive at 77 1/2 inches.
How good is that? See how some of the longer cornerbacks in the 2017 class compare:
Kevin King — 77 7/8
Gareon Conley — 76
Quincy Wilson — 75 7/8
Richard Sherman’s wingspan is half an inch longer than Hill’s.
Essentially, he has ideal Seahawks length.
Now onto some of his limitations.
We’ll come on to Tedric Thompson in a moment and really the two players are polar opposites. Hill has 4.47 speed but looks stiff when he lines up at free safety and needs to cover a large area of the field. Thompson ran a 4.60 but is rangy and quick.
Teams didn’t test Michigan deep all that often and it’s possible he was told to hold position and play quite a restrained role (like Jabrill Peppers at LB). Still, you’d like to at least see a handful of plays where he’s matching-up in space and making a break on the ball. On the few occasions when he was asked to handle the deep pass, he was a little bit stiff.
The stats lend weight to this argument:
Tedric Thompson PBU’s in 2016: 16
Delano Hill PBU’s in 2016: 3
He’s also not a physical tone setter when he lines up in the box and there were instances where he got blocked out of plays relatively comfortably by TE’s. He occasionally takes poor angles to the ball carrier when playing deep. He seems to be better working through traffic from the slot and he did a decent job containing the outside when he lined up at nickel.
Essentially he does most things very well but he’s more solid than spectacular. He’s a tackling machine who doesn’t miss — but he might not provide many big plays or turnovers.
Even so, there’s plenty for the Seahawks to work with here. Chancellor wasn’t the finished product as a fifth round pick in 2010 and Hill likely wasn’t drafted to start straight away. He has the straight-line speed and length they like, the character and attitude and he’s versatile. His highlight reel won’t be as interesting as Justin Evans or Budda Baker — but he might be the more rounded football player.
Tedric Thompson is faster than he tests
There’s one area where Thompson and Hill are very similar — and that’s their ability to cover the flat. They were uncannily similar when opponents tried to clear out the outside zone.
Apart from that, they are quite different players.
Sometimes a player plays faster than he tests. Thompson never looks like a 4.4 runner (he ran a 4.60 at the combine) but somehow, he still manages to fly around the field and make plays. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. He isn’t a twitched up dynamic athlete. Yet there he is, time and time again, playing the ball.
In fairness part of it is down to Colorado’s well coached secondary. The cornerbacks consistently win at the red line, narrowing the strike zone for quarterbacks and opening up major opportunities for the safety’s. If the receiver is getting caught up against the sideline, it just increases the space for Thompson to read, react and play the ball. Two of his picks from last year were 50% on his range and ability and 50% on the job of the cornerback.
Seattle also preaches red-line defense so hopefully he’ll get the same kind of advantage if he ever starts for the Seahawks.
Teams were reluctant to throw the ball downfield against Colorado. Stanford only attempted a handful of downfield passes with disastrous consequences:
1st deep shot — incomplete, tight coverage with safety help
2nd deep shot — Thompson interception by the left sideline, ball slightly overthrown and Thompson lays out to make a spectacular diving catch.
3rd deep shot — Thompson’s second interception. He’s playing centerfield in a three-deep zone, he makes himself small in coverage to deceive the quarterback and sits on a seem pass. Textbook safety play.
One of the big advantages Seattle has is the unwillingness of most opponents to challenge Earl Thomas. Colorado benefitted in a similar fashion with Thompson. Those who tried it on were generally punished.
Overall his performance against Stanford was very good. On one play he lined up at the LOS and took on the tight end, fighting off the block and drawing a holding call before dumping Christian McCaffrey on a stretch-run for a TFL.
He’s not the most explosive player but he’s tough. His tackling technique isn’t Delano Hill-good but I didn’t see him miss a tackle in the four games I watched for this piece. He’s not a big hitter but he seems to get the job done.
Against Utah he flashed exceptional red-zone cover skills working against the tight end. Utah schemed a clever route for the TE to block down and then sit behind the D-line uncovered. Thompson saw the play developing and broke on the ball, tipping it into the air and almost forcing a turnover on third down. The TE just stood in stunned contemplation, wondering how he hadn’t scored.
In the fourth quarter of the same game he covered the tight on an inside slant, again making a great break on the ball after gaining position early in the route.
And, unsurprisingly, he had his customary rangy interception with 10 minutes left in the game — running from centerfield to the right sideline to pick off a deep shot (think Earl Thomas vs Atlanta, 2012). He also picked off a hail mary against the Utes.
Thompson might not be the same type of athlete as Earl Thomas — but you’re going to think twice about taking him on.
Production wise, there wasn’t a better defensive back in college football in 2016. He led the nation in defended passes with 23, averaging 1.64 a game. That average is significantly better than his peers — Tre’Davious White for example at LSU only managed 1.33 defended passes a game.
Thompson’s seven interceptions trailed only Rasul Douglas and Tavarus McFadden (eight) and he ranked fourth in the nation for pass break-ups (16).
The Seahawks struggled to make big plays and force turnovers in the secondary in 2016. It’s probably not a coincidence they drafted not only Thompson but also Shaquill Griffin (four picks, 15 PBU’s, 19 passes defended — #4 in the NCAA).
Thompson’s best fit is at free safety and while he might be simply a reserve option to Earl Thomas — the Seahawks can at least feel better about the depth they have behind their all-pro. Nobody will ever fully be able to replace Earl if he gets injured again — Thompson at least gives them a better opportunity to avoid a complete collapse in a worst case scenario.
A lot of the reaction to the Seahawks draft class has been based around one question:
This was a great draft for cornerbacks. Why did they wait until pick #90 to take one?
The answer lies in the first sentence. It was a really deep, solid group of cornerbacks. This was a year where you could find one in round three. It wasn’t a draft littered with interior defensive linemen. If you wanted one, you had to get in there early.
Let’s use the NFL.com gradings (compiled by Lance Zierlein) as an example:
Interior D-line grades for players available in the #26-35 range:
Malik McDowell — 6.2
Chris Wormley — 5.8
Demarcus Walker — 5.6
Interior D-line grades from pick #90:
Montravius Adams — 5.6
Nazair Jones — 5.5
Jaleel Johnson — 5.6
Cornerback grades for players available in the #26-35 range
Kevin King — 5.8
Quincy Wilson — 5.7
Ahkello Witherspoon — 5.7
Fabian Moreau — 5.7
If they’d drafted Kevin King (5.8) and Montravius Adams (5.6) the total grade value is 0.4 weaker than Malik McDowell (6.2) and Shaquill Griffin (5.6).
That’s not insignificant.
The aim had to be to come out of this deep class with more than one potential defensive starter. By drafting the D-liner first and using the depth at cornerback to your advantage — the Seahawks addressed two positions in a satisfactory way.
Furthermore, they weren’t the only team to use this approach. The Dallas Cowboys, despite an extreme need in the secondary, took Taco Charlton with their first pick despite admitting they had a second round grade on him. The reason? They knew they could get cornerbacks later. They couldn’t get a pass rusher they liked later.
I mentioned this in our draft review on Saturday — but it feels like we all got caught up in the ‘cornerback depth hype’. When you’re constantly told by the pundits that it’s a great cornerback class, there’s a tendency to let it re-shape your opinion on what the Seahawks should or shouldn’t do.
Following the defeat to Atlanta in the playoffs a lot of people were talking about improving the O-line as a priority and possibly targeting Calais Campbell in free agency. Cornerback was seen as a need because of the Deshawn Shead injury — but we also knew how the Seahawks operated. Wait until the mid or later rounds and draft to develop.
Somewhere between January and April, a lot of people (myself included) determined cornerback (slot or outside) was the main need.
It absolutely was one of the needs — but not any more or less important than interior pass rush of the offensive line.
If you could go back in time and tell yourself the Seahawks would draft a player the coach and GM specifically compared to Calais Campbell and a technically gifted offensive lineman from the SEC — the January version of you would probably be doing cartwheels.
Furthermore, Shaquill Griffin isn’t just a guy they found among the scraps of a good cornerback class. In 2016 he ranked fourth for passes defended in the NCAA:
Notice Seattle drafted #1 and #4 in passes defended. Griffin also ranked sixth in the nation for pass break-ups (15) and he had four picks.
So while we can quibble about McDowell’s perceived effort problems in 2016 or the boom-or-bust nature of this pick — let’s also realise there’s a very clear method behind what the Seahawks did on Friday.
Ten days before the draft I wrote a piece about McDowell visiting Seattle, noting I didn’t think he would be picked by the Seahawks because of his personality and nature. A typical Seahawk is Nazair Jones (who we’ll come onto in a minute) — all fire and brimstone. McDowell didn’t really fit the bill.
Ultimately I called that one very wrong. McDowell’s potential and upside, plus Seattle’s relentless search for a dynamic inside/out rusher, was much more important than the personality he expressed to the media.
In fairness we did acknowledge that he could be a target if they traded down:
If they do ultimately draft him, they’ll believe in the size and quickness — they’ll think he’s possibly worth the risk because his talent is extreme. If they did select him you’d give them the benefit of the doubt because of his extreme ceiling. D-liners don’t have to be press conference stars but they do need to be ready to go to war every week. We saw Nkemdiche in Arizona in 2016 with his great physical profile basically be a total non-factor as a rookie. The fear has to be that McDowell could be similar.
That said — there aren’t many players with the ability to anchor and bull rush inside combined with the quickness to play the edge and get to the QB. He could be really good. Can you trust him to be great though? And if he falls to #26 with this physical profile, isn’t that in itself a warning sign?
It might be that they’re willing to trade down, possibly into early round two, and that could be the type of range where they feel comfortable taking a chance on McDowell.
It’s time to put those words into practise and give the Seahawks the benefit of the doubt. You’d never question his potential — it was always about his character fit in Seattle. Now that they’ve actually drafted him, it’s time to focus on what he brings to the team.
For starters, he’s always had a very natural and rare athleticism for his size. Here’s a recruitment video from Rivals before he committed to Michigan State. Immediately you can see why he’s different:
McDowell makes it look so easy. He was already listed at 6-6 and 292lbs when he entered college. He was a legit 5-star recruit, garnering offers from Alabama, Florida State, Florida, Oregon, Notre Dame, USC and UCLA. When you see all of the big names on the list — you know he’s special.
Really that’s what you see in his MSU tape too. When McDowell’s playing at his best, he makes it look ridiculously easy. Teams will throw a double team at him and he has the foot speed and quickness to just side-step both blocks and break into the backfield. On other occasions he’ll drive the double team into the backfield. He bends the arc as an EDGE rusher better than most 260lbs rushers and there’s evidence of him one-arm bull-rushing a guard into the quarterback’s lap.
In one play against Purdue in 2015 he lines up opposite the left guard and has the foot-speed to stunt to the outside, round the left tackle, draw a holding penalty and destroy a pulling tight end who came in to support the tackle. He made the sack. It’s an incredible play for a player with his size.
In a 2015 play against Oregon, McDowell drove the center three yards deep his own backfield on fourth and goal leading to a turnover on downs. The rest of the LOS remained stationery.
When pundits say he can be absolutely dominant at the next level and one of the top players in the NFL — they aren’t exaggerating. That’s his ceiling.
So why did he last to pick #35?
You don’t really need me to point it out by now. He slouched through the back-end of a bad season for MSU in 2016. The sight of him walking around in the backfield as heated rival Michigan scored a touchdown was the straw that broke the camels back. He started the year being touted as a top-10 lock. By December nobody was talking about him.
“Worst interview we did,” said one team. Added another: “Awful interview. Awful.”
“Does he love football? Is he going to work? I can’t figure out what makes this kid tick. He might be the type who, maybe he falls and it lights a fire under him. I don’t know. But I need that light on more often, and he didn’t like it when we asked him about that. McDowell might never fully show his full skill, but passing on him also means you’re missing out on a potentially rare talent.”
This is maybe where the Seahawks have an advantage in their approach. Some teams will pair his introverted personality with a questionable love for the game. Carroll and co. likely just see another opportunity to develop a unique talent.
‘Learn the learner’ as Carroll said in one of the press conferences during the draft.
After all — there aren’t any reports of any off-field incidents. He’s never been arrested. He’s never been kicked off the practise field, fought with a teammate or failed a drugs test. There are just some sloppy games at the end of a bad season.
There are some technical flaws that are well advertised. His pass rush repertoire is quite basic. He generally plays out of control, going all-out to get into the backfield while often ceding a running lane or failing to handle his assigned gap. His over-exuberance was well highlighted in a rush against Wisconsin’s Ryan Ramcyzk when he put his head down and charged at Ramcyzk, who just nudged him to the ground using his momentum against him. The running back piled on top and took him out of the play. It was too easy.
There are possibly justifiable reasons why McDowell struggled with technique. His stance isn’t particularly good when lining up inside — but then he was asked to play nose tackle for MSU. It’s an ill-fit for a 6-6, 295lbs lineman and likely only came about because he was the only player on the roster capable of absorbing double teams. It’s not unfair to suggest he compensated on technique just to survive — because despite his unique size and talent, he’s not a nose tackle.
Because he’s shown evidence of a productive bull-rush, extreme power and fantastic heavy hands — it’d be nice to see him first and foremost develop a consistent power move. This could help him create more splash plays and play within himself more. You don’t always have to have a clean run to the QB if you can shove the guard or center into the quarterback. You’re also better placed to keep your eyes up and read what the running back is doing.
These are fairly minor things overall and you’d expect a 20-year-old to need some guidance. Coming to work every day with Michael Bennett could be the best thing that ever happens to McDowell. It should also help him come out of his shell a little bit as a character too.
He’s one of the most natural, rare athletes at 6-6 and 295lbs. Considering there aren’t many really good interior rushers in the NFL — you can certainly argue this was a shot worth taking. Especially given Seattle’s desperate need for an interior rusher stretching back many years.
The Seahawks ranked third in sacks last season with 42. The team in first place, Arizona, had 48. They blitz a ton so it’s understandable — but they also had Calais Campbell anchoring the line and controlling the offense. It’ll take time for McDowell to get anywhere near that level — but if he can disrupt the interior, command extra blockers and make life easier for the edge rushers — watch out.
Seattle wants to use a four man rush to make plays in the secondary. When they put McDowell, Bennett, Clark and Avril on the field — they might have the most dangerous four-man rush in football.
Notes on Nazair Jones
For this study I watched two games — Duke and Stanford.
The first thing to notice about Jones is his personality. It seems Red Bryant-esque. It’s hard to know for sure but watching the North Carolina games he looked like the emotional leader. High intensity, big personality. The type of BAMF a lot of us wanted to see drafted this year.
It’s fun to think about Jarran Reed playing next to Naz Jones in base. That’s a couple of dog’s right there. It’s even more fun to think about Malik McDowell and Quinton Jefferson rotating in for passing downs. The future of Seattle’s D-line appears to be in good shape.
Jones’ length really stands out on tape. Like McDowell he has nearly 35 inch arms. He can press a blocker and keep his frame clean. He’s got a really nice initial punch to jolt O-liners off balance. It helps him control his gap and make plays in the run game — plus quite often he disengages to make plays in the backfield. He had 9.5 TFL’s in 2016 and broke up three passes.
He’s tailor made to play inside. He’s strong in the lower body with minimal bad weight. He carries 304lbs very well on a 6-5 frame. He’s not too heavy and that helps when he occasionally has to work down the line and chase down a running back.
We highlighted after the draft that short-area quickness appears to be important for Seattle’s D-liners. Jones ran a 4.63 short shuttle and Malik McDowell a 4.53. Jordan Hill ran a 4.51 in 2013 and Jaye Howard a 4.47 in 2012. Quinton Jefferson ran a superb 4.37.
While Jones is the slowest of the group in this area, he still flashes that sudden change of direction and ability to exploit gaps when he wins with initial contact. There was one play against Duke where he just won with get-off to break into the backfield and before the quarterback had time to think, Jones was hitting him for the sack.
It was assumed he might just be a Tony McDaniel replacement — someone who can be stout and anchor the LOS on first and second down. There’s at least some potential for Jones to be more than that. If nothing else, he’ll likely be more of a threat on those early downs to create some pressure.
He can also compete. In the Bowl game against Stanford (the one where Solomon Thomas dominated) Jones had a really strong performance. On one sack he fights through traffic, ploughing through the center and one of the guards to get to the QB.
His get off can be really good. You see examples where he times the snap count to perfection and just wins because he’s the first man off the ball.
Jones is also patient and importantly for this scheme — his gap control is good. He allows plays to develop before reading the running back and making the stop.
It’s possible I just watched Jones’ best two games of the season. I’ve seen it suggested he needs to be more consistent, that he doesn’t have effective counters and he isn’t much of a pass rusher. I didn’t see much evidence of that and I think playing within a loaded D-line rotation will mean he can be a better pass rusher than people realise.
I feel a little bit guilty for not spending more time on him during the draft season because his play and intensity is a good fit for the personality of this defense. I’ll admit I was put off by his lack of explosive traits (8-5 broad, 24.5 inch vertical). With a stream of brilliant, explosive D-line athletes entering the league — Jones tested very poorly. We missed out on discussing a really fun player due to a red herring on athleticism, so that’s on me.
That’s possibly one of the reasons he was available in the late third round.
Jones has the attitude and skills to be a valuable addition. He appears to have the character to develop into a strong voice in the locker room over time.
When Seattle won the Super Bowl in 2013 they had a loaded D-line rotation. For the first time since 2013, they seem to have the same kind of depth following this draft.
John Schneider and Pete Carroll were quick to highlight Ethan Pocic’s versatility and ability to play multiple positions. This is already being construed as a negative by some of the media. ‘Why can’t they just put a guy in a position and keep him there‘. It’s a legit question to ask overall — but arguably not so with Pocic.
The Seahawks are facing a bit of a dilemma over the next 12 months. Justin Britt played very well at center in 2016 and there’s no reason to suspect we’ll see any regression this year.
In free agency the O-line market exploded. It wasn’t a big surprise to see Kevin Zeitler get a five-year, $60m contract. What followed, however, was a shock:
Russell Okung — four years, $53m
Matt Kalil — five years, $55m
Ricky Wagner — five years, $47.5m
Andrew Whitworth — three years, $36m
T.J. Lang — three years, $28.5m
Kelvin Beachum — three years, $24m
Larry Warford — four years, $34m
Ronald Leary — four years, $35m
Mike Remmers — five years, $30m
Such is the desperation for even average O-line play, the NFL emptied their wallets in a mad rush of OTT spending.
What did Kelvin Beachum do in his one year with the Jaguars to justify $8m a year? Has Matt Kalil ever looked like an $11m a year left tackle?
Much of this was provoked by a mediocre O-line draft short on solutions. However, there’s nothing to suggest 2018 will be much better. There isn’t a cluster of top-notch O-liners ready to turn pro. Next years spending could be very similar.
For that reason, it pays for the Seahawks to be prepared to lose Britt.
If he has two solid years as a starting center, it’s not improbable someone will be willing to pay him at least $8-10m a year. The Seahawks are very clinical in how they view the value of their own players. They’ve let others walk for less in the past.
They also face a difficult cap situation. According to Spotrac, they’re projected to have $28.5m in free cap next year. They can save another $11m by cutting Jeremy Lane and Jermaine Kearse — but how much of that free room is going to be used to keep Kam Chancellor and Jimmy Graham?
If you take $8-10m off the board to keep Britt, you probably aren’t re-signing Chancellor and Graham together.
There are other players to consider too. If Luke Joeckel delivers on the potential that made him the #2 overall pick in 2013, wouldn’t you want to re-sign him? What about if Eddie Lacy has a big year? Or Bradley McDougald?
There are multiple players on this roster competing for a payday in 2018.
This doesn’t mean Britt is definitely going to leave. If he has a fantastic 2017 season an $8-10m contract could be justified. He might hit the market and find his value is in the $6m range — and that’s totally affordable.
But it’s not the worst idea in the world to have a contingency plan. By drafting Pocic they essentially have a player who could start at guard or tackle in 2017 and be your center of the future by 2018.
If you re-sign Britt, he stays at tackle or guard.
The benefits are obvious. You aren’t desperately searching for a new center in 2018 and facing the prospect of having to start a rookie. You can start someone with intimate knowledge of Seattle’s scheme.
In this instance — it seems like Pocic’s versatility isn’t just a case of being able to move him up and down the line. It’s a case of being prepared for all eventualities with Britt.
Let’s get into Pocic on the field. I watched three games over the last couple of days — Alabama, Missouri and Auburn.
Here are my notes:
— According to PFF, Pocic hasn’t given up a sack or a QB hit since 11/7/2015 (16 consecutive games). He’s a controlled, balanced blocker and his best aspect is his hand use. It’s really top notch. When he locks on to a block, you rarely see a defensive lineman disengage. He locks his hands inside with ideal placement and executes time and time again.
— Because his hand-technique is so adept, he’s quite a ‘subtle but successful’ blocker in the run game. He’ll turn and control the defender and open up running lanes. He has the hip-torque to manoeuvre defensive linemen when engaged and even against bigger, stronger nose tackles he had success opening up lanes right at the heart of the LOS. Many of LSU’s best runs for both Leonard Fournette and Derrius Guice came right up the gut.
— LSU pulled the center fairly regularly, something you don’t often see. Pocic shows good mobility and patience, managing to get to the second level relatively comfortably. When he gets there he isn’t Garett Bolles. He’s not burying linebackers and safety’s — but he’ll wait for his block to develop and execute. If the Seahawks want to get him on the move at the next level as a pulling guard, he can do it.
— Against Auburn, LSU actually pulled Pocic and had Fournette run behind him to the perimeter (using Pocic as a lead blocker). It’s to Pocic’s credit that he looked completely comfortable in this role.
— There were two issues that showed up regularly enough to mention. Against bigger nose tackles he can be pushed into the backfield. When he has to plant his feet and drop the anchor he can struggle. He doesn’t have the greatest power base in his lower body and it’s an area where he can improve. His height doesn’t help and he will lose leverage from time to time. Montravius Adams had a couple of big wins vs Pocic for Auburn, so did the Missouri interior D-line.
— It’s not a lost cause situation — on a couple of occasions he handled Missouri’s massive nose tackle Josh Augusta (who signed with the Patriots as an UDFA) with great hand placement and hip torque to turn the defender out of the play (leading to big runs for Derrius Guice). With a bit of extra strength in the lower and upper body he can make improvements here. Better to need to work on core strength than teach hand placement and technique from scratch.
— The second problem came against elite get-off. He can be a step slow off the snap at times and if a defender can guess the snap-count or just burst off the LOS he has a hard time recovering even with a guard lined up either side of him. This could be an issue if he ends up moving out to tackle.
— I was expecting a bad performance against Alabama because for the second year in a row LSU were completely shut down in the run game. Leonard Fournette only really had two unproductive games in his college career, both because Alabama’s D-line mercilessly dominated LSU’s O-line for four quarters. Upon reflection, the production probably had more to do with a lack of respect for LSU’s passing game than anything the blockers did wrong up front. Pocic certainly didn’t have a bad game. There were multiple occasions where he played beyond the whistle, blocking down and showed a nasty streak. LSU’s handful of good runs in the game came running behind Pocic at center. He wasn’t shoved back once against ‘Bama which was a contrast to the Missouri/Auburn games. This was a positive performance against the best D-line rotation in college football.
— If anyone was wondering if the Seahawks will be adjusting their scheme any time soon — think again. LSU ran a very clear ZBS and Pocic is the definition of a zone blocker. He’s better in space, he’s more mobile/agile than physical/big and he’s a technique blocker. He’s not a mauler.
— We spent a lot of time talking about explosive traits (and with good reason based on Seattle’s recent drafts). Pocic scored a 2.81 in TEF which was good enough to crack the top 10 for explosive traits this year but it’s quite a bit lower than their previous draft picks. It might not signal a sea change in philosophy but it perhaps suggests they needed this type of skill set on their O-line.
— It’s believed they were interested in Ryan Kelly a year ago. His TEF score was very similar to Pocic’s (2.84) and he too was a very technically sound blocker. He’s perhaps a little less scheme-dependant (Kelly could play man or zone, Pocic looks like a pure zone) but it’s possible Seattle has been looking for this type of technical, athletic, agile blocker. It’s perhaps indicative of how raw they feel they’ve been in recent years — taking very inexperienced, physically superior projects and trying to coach them up. Pocic is much more polished.
— Pocic’s vertical jump and broad jump are very similar to Alex Mack’s.
— For some time now Seahawks fans have been asking for this type of player to be picked. If you wanted them to focus on a technically gifted blocker who will carry less of a learning curve but maybe isn’t quite as explosive or with a ridiculous ceiling, you’re getting your wish. Pocic isn’t going to be Lane Johnson at the next level. He might be a more athletic Max Unger.
— What is his best position? It’s hard to say. He has the agility and footwork plus the hands to potentially play tackle. You do worry how he’ll cope against the elite EDGE rushers of the NFL, especially if they can combine a great get-off with an effective bull rush. As an interior player he does a good job opening up subtle running lanes and he seems very comfortable working inside. Guard for 2017 and possibly center for the long term would be my early projection.
A quick note to finish — Seattle’s most expensive UDFA was Purdue offensive lineman Jordan Roos:
#49ers, #Eagles among big spenders in UDFA. Guarantees include $45,000 for KD Cannon. (Note: Not a complete list. May include offsets.) pic.twitter.com/SYVapDO49O
Carroll and Schneider spoke very highly of Roos immediately after the draft, stating he had a draftable grade.
He scored a 3.38 in TEF so there’s a lot of athletic potential here. He would’ve been the most explosive O-liner at the combine (topping Forrest Lamp’s 3.23). His score is so high because of a terrific performance in the bench press at his pro-day:
But perhaps the most interesting thing about Roos is the way his appearance changed so dramatically during his time at Purdue:
Carroll and Schneider were very positive about his potential. He’s a name to watch in camp. Seattle might lack a big name, top of the range left tackle. They have a lot of solid competition on their O-line overall though.
Tomorrow I’m going to write-up Malik McDowell and Nazair Jones.
Here’s a nice video breaking down what Pocic does well:
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