This week I had the pleasure of joining Brandan Schulze to interview Jim Nagy, the Executive Director of the Senior Bowl and former Seahawks scout.
We talked about the loss to San Francisco, the Seahawks organisation, the Senior Bowl and some of the draft prospects involved. You can hear our conversation with Jim below and I’d highly recommend checking it out.
Also, it’s exactly 11 years to the day that I started writing Seahawks Draft Blog. So underneath the podcast embed I’ve added a mock and some thoughts on the draft with a number of interesting reports surfacing in the last 24 hours.
Draft notes & a new mock draft
Dylan Moses has announced he’s returning to Alabama next season. He was projected to be a top-10 pick before suffering an ACL injury in pre-season.
Recently Tony Pauline reported that Nick Saban was pushing for several Alabama prospects to return in 2020 as most hadn’t received high grades from the draft committee:
“Nick Saban is really pushing hard and re-recruiting these guys to come back for another year with the Crimson Tide… This shouldn’t be a surprise but part of the reason is this… I’m told the information getting back to these Alabama players – Jerry Jeudy aside and Tua Tagovalioa depending on his injury status – most of these Alabama underclassmen are not being graded as highly as a lot of people think.”
Yesterday Saban revealed that only Tagovalioa had received a top-15 grade from the committee. It’s not unusual for players to receive conservative grades. Saban is also known for encouraging his players to turn pro if they’re expected to be high picks.
Moses opting to return to college despite his injury could be the start of a series of similar announcements. For example, it’s fair to assume that Tagovalioa is hearing some concern from teams about his hip injury. Clearly he will be highly valued as a prospect. The injury, however, creates an unknown. And it’s unlikely he’ll receive any ‘off the record’ assurances behind the scenes that he’ll go as high as he hoped pre-injury.
If he decides to return to Alabama it’ll be a gamble. He’s had injuries in his career and any more will only create further doubt. He’d also be entering a 2021 draft that is likely to include Trevor Lawrence.
But we’ve seen players make pacts together in the past. Remember when Christian Wilkins, Dexter Lawrence and Clelin Ferrell all committed to return to Clemson to win a National Championship? It worked out for them. They all went in the top-20 and Clemson won their title.
Could something similar happen at Alabama? Could we see Moses, Tagovalioa, the receivers (Henry Ruggs, DeVonta Smith) and the two offensive tackles (Alex Leatherwood, Jedrick Wills) all return in 2020? What about Trevon Diggs? That would work alongside Pauline’s report. I suspect Jeudy will still turn pro.
Here’s another dynamic to consider. Miami today brought Chan Gailey out of retirement to be their new offensive coordinator. Gailey has a strong history with Ryan Fitzpatrick, stretching back to when both were in Buffalo.
It’s likely only a short term arrangement. Are the Dolphins seeing the writing on the wall with this draft class and positioning themselves to spend another year with Fitzpatrick as the starter, before using the 2021 draft to fill their QB need? Remember, they have two 2021 first round picks thanks to the Laremy Tunsil trade. Tagovalioa or Lawrence in 2021 could be more appealing than settling for Justin Herbert or Jordan Love this year.
This move could be indicative that the feeling is Tagovalioa will return to Alabama and that Miami is best served building other areas of their roster with their collection of high picks in 2020.
If this proves true, it’ll dramatically change the look of mock drafts. The first round was set to be dominated by Alabama prospects.
We’ve already seen a number of players opt not to declare. Marvin Wilson (DT, Florida State) and Walker Little (T, Stanford) will join Dylan Moses and not turn pro. Tony Pauline has reported that Tristan Wirfs and A.J. Epenesa were leaning towards returning to Iowa.
I’ve put together a mock draft based on the kind of impact the above could have on the first round…
#1 Cincinnati — Joe Burrow (QB, LSU)
#2 Washington — Chase Young (EDGE, Ohio State)
#3 Detroit — Jeff Okudah (CB, Ohio State)
#4 New York Giants — Jerry Jeudy (WR, Alabama)
#5 Miami — Andrew Thomas (T, Georgia)
#6 LA Chargers — Derrick Brown (DT, Alabama)
#7 Carolina — Grant Delpit (S, LSU)
#8 Arizona — Isaiah Wilson (T, Georgia)
#9 Jacksonville — Isaiah Simmons (S, Clemson)
#10 Cleveland — Javon Kinlaw (DT, South Carolina)
#11 New York Jets — Trevon Diggs (CB, Alabama)
#12 Oakland — Shaun Wade (CB, Ohio State)
#13 Indianapolis — CeeDee Lamb (WR, Oklahoma)
#14 Tampa Bay — Kristian Fulton (CB, LSU)
#15 Denver — Jalen Reagor (WR, TCU)
#16 Atlanta — D’Andre Swift (RB, Georgia)
#17 Dallas — Raekwon Davis (DT, Alabama)
#18 Miami (v/PIT) — Kenneth Murray (LB, Oklahoma)
#19 Oakland — Jordan Love (QB, Utah State)
#20 Jacksonville (v/LAR) — Cesar Ruiz (C, Michigan)
#21 Philadelphia — KJ Hamler (WR, Penn State)
#22 Tennessee — Prince Tega Wanogho (T, Auburn)
#23 Buffalo — Laviska Shenault (WR, Colorado)
#24 Minnesota — Justin Jefferson (WR, LSU)
#25 Miami (v/HOU) — Curtis Weaver (DE, Boise State)
#26 Seattle — Brandon Aiyuk (WR, Arizona State)
#27 New England — Hunter Bryant (TE, Washington)
#28 Green Bay — Tee Higgins (WR, Clemson)
#29 Kansas City — J.K. Dobbins (RB, Ohio State)
#30 New York Jets (v/NO) — Tyler Biadasz (C, Wisconsin)
#31 LA Chargers (v/SF) — Justin Herbert (QB, Oregon)
#32 Indianapolis (v/BAL) — Jacob Eason (QB, Washington)
Players not included (returning to CFB or projected to return)
Henry Ruggs (WR, Alabama)
DeVonta Smith (WR, Alabama)
Alex Leatherwood (T, Alabama)
Jedrick Wills (T, Alabama)
Tua Tagovailoa (QB, Alabama)
Dylan Moses (LB, Alabama)
Tristen Wirfs (T, Iowa)
A.J. Epenesa (T, Iowa)
The trades explained
New York Jets trade #48 to New Orleans for #30
The Jets need to improve their O-line in a big way. In this mock draft they make a big move into the back-end of the first round to get Wisconsin center Tyler Biadasz.
LA Chargers trade #37 to San Francisco for #31
Whether the Chargers move on from Philip Rivers and trade for someone like Cam Newton, or keep Rivers for another year, they need to draft someone in this class. Here I have them moving back into the late first round for Justin Herbert.
Indianapolis trades #34 to Baltimore for #32
The Colts need to keep their options open at quarterback after a so-so season from Jacoby Brissett. I’m not sold on Eason because he struggles to play off script and improvise — such an important aspect of the modern NFL. However, he has incredible arm talent and it’s possible someone will take the time to try and harness his potential. They move up here merely to secure the fifth year option.
The Seahawks pick explained
Improving the pass rush will be the #1 priority in the upcoming off-season. However, this is not a great class for pass rushers. There’s a distinct lack of twitchy, sudden LEO types with the length and burst Seattle badly needs.
It feels like a problem they’re going to have to solve in free agency or via the trade market. It’s pretty clear the Seahawks will be very aggressive to solve this glaring need. It’s unlikely it’ll be unresolved going into the draft. Therefore, they’ll have an opportunity to focus on other needs in rounds one and two.
Assuming in this scenario the Seahawks have already reshaped their defensive line, they decide to add another weapon for Russell Wilson. In this projection they take Arizona State’s Brandon Aiyuk. He’s a terrific prospect with great speed and suddenness to create downfield separation and detach from coverage working across the middle. He has genuine star potential and could be a big riser as the process continues — especially if some of the other big names receivers don’t enter the draft.
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