This week I’m going to be publishing two interviews. Tomorrow you’ll hear from Louisiana-Lafayette offensive lineman Robert Hunt. Today, it’s Senior Bowl Executive Director (and former Seahawks scout) Jim Nagy.
I asked Jim about several of the players who competed in Mobile. We also talked about the impact of Covid-19 on the 2020 draft.
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Apologies for the mix on the volume levels. Jim is a lot louder than I am but you can hear the questions. I’ll fix this after the two interviews today and tomorrow — I’m just getting used to the new software.
It’s all good. Thanks for the content!
Great interview! Love hearing him mention getting you out to mobile! He has brought up Uche and Baun in both of your interviews with him. If the Seahawks resign Clowney, do you see either as potential early targets? I know pure DE will probably be the target but he seems really high on them.
Sure —- but they also need to draft a LEO too if they haven’t added one prior to the draft.
Garofolo tweet:
Not good for us if there are multiple teams…bid war means weneed more draft capital to get him…
His reply:
I don’t think it matters.
If they’re not willing to pay Clowney or Clark $21m a year, they’re probably not going to pay Ngakoue $21m a year either.
But on the bright side, Cedric Ogbuehi’s here.
This isn’t a surprise. Just because multiple teams are “interested”, it doesn’t mean multiple teams are interested to meet JAX demands. If they would, he would’ve been traded already.
Yeah that’s it. I read this tweet as a simple attempt to stoke the fire a little.
The Hawks got a 1 + future 2 for Frank Clark and KC paid him a fortune, but they had the room and (correctly) deduced they were just a piece or two away from a SB. That’s the most logical scenario where you pay a huge premium in both draft capital and payroll. How many teams out there are in that spot right now and like YN enough to make that kind of trade?
Isn’t it exhilarating when a team sees a need and pro-actively fixes it, leading to a Super Bowl win…
True, but they were in an ideal situation to pull it off. A team loaded with talent, a great QB on a rookie contract and only 1-2 players away from being a SB contender. Seahawks barely meet the first, definitely not the second, and third is not that close.
p.s. I like your comment above about going after Ogbuehi’s. And don’t forget Warmack!
Certainly they benefit from Mahomes’ contract. But they’re also well aware that he’ll cost more than any player ever within months. And they still traded and signed a long term deal with Clark and several other key players.
Plus the Seahawks did have cap space this year. They just chose to spend most of it on depth players.
They had a window and took advantage of it. And things broke their way (like they had no serious and major injuries compared to us who were decimated). When they pay Mahomes the big contract some of the other big contracts will have to go. Such is life in NFL under CAP rules. One positive for them is that Mahomes has signaled he would do a fair deal to help KC. I’m grateful we have Russell but he made it clear he wanted to be the highest paid QB in the league. So that creates little flexibility for the team and they have to draft well. Which we have done only OK in the last 4-5 years.
As for the CAP, I agree with you and we should’ve spent more on the glaring problem with the DL. Also many of the marginal signings on the OL look to be resurrection projects, hoping to catch a lightning in the bottle.
Thanks for providing this interview Rob, your coverage and content continue to be top notch. It’s always a pleasure seeing a new article from you. Thanks also for the mock draft simulator, I’ve certainly spent a lot of time with it as I’m sure all of you have, it certainly gives you an appreciation at a much smaller scale of how the draft can go from good to tough so quickly with other teams taking the players you’ve targeted, forcing you into plan B or C. Having completed a number of the mock drafts it’s interesting how important how the wide receivers are to this draft. If there’s an early run on receivers, it puts the Seahawks in a tough place. I don’t see the optimum value going running back or defensive line so early if they trade back into the early to mid thirties but they may be forced to go D line early based on the puzzlingly quiet front office do far. I’m hoping Reagor falls to them, he seems to be the strongest pick in terms of skill and value for that area of the draft. Some other thoughts:
-Who is the most likely “reach” player the Seahawks might draft with their first pick? It feels like D-line to me.
-The lack of a fifth round pick feels glaring. There’s a long stretch between the last Seahawks pick in the fourth to the last pick in the sixth round. I suspect they’ll be looking to fill that gap early in their trades.
-As much as Akers or Dillon would make sense as the RB of choice, my ideal first two picks would be Reagor and Clyde Edwards-Heliaire. That would provide the offensive firepower this team would need for a long time. Get the D-line solved now in free agency to make this happen!
Thanks for sharing those thoughts — I tend to agree with a lot of them. And thanks for the kind words.
This feels like pressure to get players’ physicals done and the deals signed.
I have a hard time with this line of thinking. Feels like it’s more a negotiating leverage tactic than reality. Can you honestly expect Draft Pick to have the same impact year 1+2 as the FA you signed?
I think your point is apt for the Seahawks generally true on the impact front, but the R1 cap commitment isn’t inconsequential for other teams.
Josina Anderson here… taking time to offer advice on combating Coronavirus with celery juice and lemon water…
https://twitter.com/JosinaAnderson/status/1245015701452206080
My goodness. Sports reporter with 174,000 followers point blank says the celery juice “will attach to pathogens & flush u out” if you have Coronavirus. Incredibly irresponsible. Wish people would leave the medical advice to…medical professionals
Science > Asshats
It’s incredibly irresponsible.
WTF?
Also-I honestly didn’t know you could “juice” celery. Is that a thing? How does that work? Do you just jam a bunch of that nasty stuff in the blender and then strain it through cheesecloth or something? Isn’t celery basically crunchy water?
Yes that’s basically it icb12. I have a juicer that I use frequently. If you have a powerful enough one, you can juice any fruit or vegetable. Things like celery and cucumber, they just come out tasting like water with a little veggie flavor.
So it adds a little flavor. But certainly no miracle cure.
Well. My wife who is much more familiar with vegetables than I, has actually tried this miracle cure unbeknownst to me.. she reports that most people use a Nut-Milk-Bag (yes I guffawed at that) to strain said blended celery. She said it takes a whole bunch of celery to make 16oz of “juice” and that it tastes horrible and salty, and will make you poop explosively on the regular and break out with mass acne after several days.
So.. yeah. Tastes bad, makes you a danger on the loo, and does not cure corona. Think I’ll be passing on this phenomena.
Oh yeah, it’s a powerful diuretic. Doesn’t mean you’re expelling the corona though.
Hey, nut milk bags are awesome.
Apparently so.
And when it’s blended, it turns into magic pneumonia curing medicine.
Who knew?
🤦♂️
how incredibly irresponsible of such a well (ReSPecTeD journalist) like Josina to share a life saving cure but to leave out the important detail that it only works if administered as a suppository!
Lol!
As suggested in the piece two days ago, the Dolphins are clearly very concerned about Tua’s health and not being able to test him and are now desperate to move up to #1…
https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/armando-salguero/article241639021.html
Just keep in mind… if you can’t test a guy with a serious injury, giving him $30m guaranteed to be your future is NOT a good idea. They won’t be able to get the Bengals to bite. So don’t be surprised if Miami doesn’t take Tua at #5 and goes a different direction — maybe even Cam Newton.
Now watch, Tua is fine and he slips to NE. New dynasty ahoy.
OK. Got that out my system.
I think Cam Newton would be a very intriguing fit in Miami. Not saying there isn’t risk or potential issues, but they have a need for a star QB and he’s out there and appears hungry to make his mark.
I think it is Jalen Hurts to NE.
If I were Miami, I would offer all 3 first round picks + to Houston for Watson who seems on his way out or set to be franchised.
Or just take Jordan Love at 18 or 26.
Won’t happen.
Well with O’Brien as the GM, you start by offering a 5th round pick and a bag of used jockstraps for Watson.
Dude’s crazy stupid. Should write a book, “How to Lose Fans and Alienate People.”
I was in Houston for the Hopkins trade, you aren’t kidding about that, a 5th alone without the Jock’s might get er done. Remember of course this comes after getting fleeced for Clowney as well, trading for Tunsil without a contract in place. Also a 3rd round pick for Duke Johnson. Bill O’Brien the coach is questionable, but the GM definitely needs to be shown the door.
Word out a couple days ago that Houston finally getting around to trying to extend Tunsil. Now watch, they’re going to be shocked – SHOCKED! – when he asks for $20m/yr.
He could ask for $25m if he wants. They’ve given him tons of leverage.
They should have traded Watson for Tunsil
Hate to say it…
But with how the Clowney situation is looking now, BOB looks a lot smarter than he did a couple months ago.
“Lose Forever”
Well he did make the playoffs last season
I can totally see an Aaron Rodgers or Lamar Jackson situation happening with Tua. He slides to the end of round one, a really good team takes him… he sits a year then leads his team to the playoffs year 2.
Buccaneers would also be smart to draft him if he slips, and let him recover a year while watching and learning from Tom.
Now that we got Dunbar signed, who seems to be more of an outside cornerback (but has some experience in the slot), slot corner is more of a relative need. Who do you think are the best slot corner options in this class?
Rob,
I visit your site multiple times a day during this time of year to keep up with the comments. Thank you for your hard work on this site.
I love Nagy’s suggestion to get you to the Senior Bowl next year. Would you be willing to come up with a budget to make that happen and let us contribute?
The Nagy interview is the first of what I expect will be many and adds a whole new area of potential content for you. Very cool.
I paid particular notice to Jim’s thoughts about how the familiarity bias would affect teams during the draft. The psychological aspects of the draft have always fascinated me and there are quite a few studies related to the NFL and the draft. I was actually working on a familiarity bias article a month or so ago similar to the confidence bias piece I wrote for you years ago.
Stay safe my friend!
Given the familiarity bias angle, would that mean we should look harder at who they met with at the combine? Given those are probably going to be the only ones hawks meet with prior to draft?
Not necessarily because we don’t know how those meetings went. If the meeting went poorly the familiarity bias would work against the prospect.
We also know from the Jim Nagy interview that in addition to Senior Bowl and Combine interviews, teams are using online tools like FaceTime or Zoom to interview prospects since travel is prohibited. So, we probably have much less information this year about who the Seahawks have “met” with than in past years.
Jim’s point was that if you had testing data for one prospect and had met that prospect then a team was far more likely to draft that prospect than one with a similar grade based solely on tape.
It’s been an aim of mine to attend a Senior Bowl for years. Would love to make it in 2021.
Let us help you!
I’d pitch in for this. Maybe someone could set up a GoFundMe for this.
I could throw in $50. If we all did 50 that should be enough. mobile isn’t that expensive haha!
this is awesome, Rob. Thank you so much for this content!!
Good sh** pal. No, but seriously. Awesome content.
Thanks 👍🏻
I could listen to that stuff all day, but especially Jim. He talks in layman’s terms. Not this crap you see on these draft websites. It’s football. It’s complicated but it’s not. Ya know? We don’t need to say the same thing 5 different ways.
I’m really glad he touched on get-off over a 40 time from a down lineman.
That’s one thing I’ve noticed over the years listening to (or occasionally interviewing) proper football people. They don’t get mired in jargon. I think too often people use it to try and act like they know more than they do.
A good example of that was the ‘show us your best move’ video from a few weeks ago.
Exactly.
Oh, the Uche one from the combine?
Not sure what it was just remember the cringe
Agree 100% Rob.
I find over the years, I have less and less time for people trying to use fancy words and phrases in order to make an impression. In some of my other passions (whisky, stereo equipment) I just…can’t…talk..to people who insist on using phrases that a typical layman would not be able to relate to just to sound learned.
Dorsett will play for vet minimum.
Seems like a very fair cost and low risk move for a potential #3 WR. Wouldn’t mind Gordon back as well on a very low risk deal, if he’s cleared to play of course!
Wow. Thanks. So that’s not much more than the bottom of the roster player. So it’s not $877 cap hit, just whatever over the #51 player on the roster’s cap hit is. $200k or so.
That’s a great pickup IMO.
Hope this means they will sign somebody soon…
Could of at least traded him for some toilet paper. 🙄
Used?
Lol. Jesus.
You really think someone was out there offering up TP for TT?
Good, She’s taking phone calls in between swigs of celery juice.
I almost spit coffee at the screen reading that one Cha! Haha!
🤣
Probably just letting him have a decent shot at catching on somewhere before the draft.
Now this is good news but it doesnt give us as much cap space as we think. Yes we save $2.1m but then you have to put a player in his place in the top 51. That person has a cap hit of $750k. So the net savings here is $1.35m which is better than nothing.
Do they need to replace him? They already have 4 safeties on the roster (McDougald, Diggs, Hill and Amadi). They might just try and add one in the draft or get a cheap vet off the pile. You are right that it doesn’t save that much cash, but I don’t think that was the reasoning.
You have to replace him with a player in general unless you want to play with a short roster.
He wasn’t referring to the position, just the cap & roster spot. A guy way down on the roster now counts towards the cap, so it’s not a “pure” $2.1m savings. The lowest rung paid player counts something towards the cap.
Well said Cha. Ive been gone for a while and couldnt comment. Yes the guy who was in spot 52 now moves up into spot 51.
I agree wholeheartedly on Dorset, and Gordon providing a serious depth upgrade at WR this year. This historic WR draft class has made really nice value veterans options available at WR, and just as good as a flashy new draft pick.
Leo and another interior disruptor could do wonders for the pass rush, but honestly and maybe it’s just the homer in me, but I really like Green, Poona, Reed, and Clowney. I’d like to see guys added to the rotation, but am leery of bringing in a high paid free agent and expecting them to dramatically change the defense. Clowney must be retained, but unless it’s a Chris Clemons style value addition would rather not hamstring our ability in the future to resign our homegrown guys.
This EDGE class is weird for me personally. I could see it being incredibly average. I could also see it being a lot like last years WR class.
There isn’t a ton of speed rushers or LEOs who jump off the page (screen) in terms of what they typically look for. Feels like this big grouping of guys who are all somewhat similar. I do agree with what Nagy said about there being quite a few options.
If Okwara had tested, I beleive he would’ve had a Marcus Davenport type rise.
Just want to give a SPECIAL THANK YOU to Doug Baldwin. Doug Baldwin is doing a tremendous amount of Volunteer charity work. Especially during this time of need.
https://www.seahawks.com/news/wednesday-round-up-doug-baldwin-takes-action-to-assist-those-in-need
So I want to say thank you to do Doug Baldwin.
T. Thompson is gone.
https://nfltraderumors.co/seahawks-releasing-s-tedric-thompson/
Ed Dickson too. Maybe they’re finally making room for Clowney and another pass rusher.
🙏🏻
Or maybe they were waiting for them to get physicals.
What’s happening? Finally able to get these guys in for physicals?
It’s happening…
hopefully within the next day or so and not within the next month or so…
So long, Ted!
Awesome interview Rob. Looking forward to Robert Hunt.
I liked Jim’s recommendation to not be to quick to dismiss a guy as a pass rusher just because he runs a 4.9. So I decided to put on some Anae games to take another look. First game I check out is the Oregon game and Herbert runs right past Anae the first two plays like he’s stuck in the mud. Hard to shake that visual.
I think Uche is the one guy I’m really wanting the hawks to draft. Wish he tested at the combine.
Sweet. Now they just need to cut Britt, Hunt, Willson, Warmack, Ogbuehi and rescind the tag on David Moore. J/k (not really but it won’t happen)
Hopefully they restructure Britt to keep him. Willson probably doesn’t make it though camp depending on Dissly’s rehab. I don’t think Ogbuehi makes it either. Warmack wasn’t horrible before the injuries kept him out, so I’m keeping an open mind about him.
Isn’t Warmack also on a vet. benefit contract, so he’s not really taking up cap room equal to his pay?
If there is a season it will be with little or no off season work and a tiny preseason. This might be a good year to stick with experienced players like Britt, Hunt and Willson, rather than try to get the O line comfortable with each other.
Good point
Rob, first question was about pass ruahers and DL, and who impressed him the most. Without hesitation he said Uche. It was strange to me ,because last time he said he is more off ball LB. Though he repeted it later in interview.
Do you think Uche could be that LEO pick, or you are still on “Uche is SAM who can rush the passer on 3rd down” take?
It’s not a take. That’s what he is. Jim said the same thing.
Yes he said that in the middle of interview…but on question which defensive lineman impressed him most he said uche…
He sounded a little bit opposite about uche(SAM or Edge)…at least thats how I understood that…
You’re reading too much into that. He specifically called him a SAM.
Hopefully Scott McLaughlin will be one of the guys in our draft room. I hold out hope we will hire him back every year.
Seems like they should just increase the time allotted between each pick.
That way you could give a little more time to handle trades/selections with limits to in-person staff.
PLUS we would have more live “sports” to entertain us the longer they draw this thing out.
Better have a 6 foot grabber on a pole to hand the phone over between the staff when they call the picks.
Also will be a weird setup for the daily wrap-up interviews with PC and JS sitting at the same table, but 6ft apart. Won’t be held in the draft room since that would give too much of a look at their board.
The interviews would be virtual or conference call. Teams and players have already done that.
https://twitter.com/CardsMarkD/status/1245062855939911682
Yup, I was trying to make a joke. Key word being try!
So after cutting Dickson and Thompson, restructuring Wilson’s contract, and adding Irvin (3m cap hit), Dorsett (vet min), and Luke Willson (vet min), we got 24.9 m in real cap. you could get Clowney and Griffen, but we wouldn’t have cap for Draft, Injury, and Practice Squad. We might need to let go of Britt to cover that.
That depends entirely on how Clowney and Griffen would be structured, especially the length of deals. Not hard at all to get them both in if you can give them signing bonuses that spread out over more years (and thus lower year-one hit).
Clowney- 4 yr 80 mil, cap hit year 1: 15 m
Griffen=- 3 yr 36 mil, cap hit year 1: 9 m
Clark got 5y/$104m and his first year hit was $6.5m
Sure but Clark agreed to that, Clowney probably wouldn’t agree to that.
Why not? He still get’s all his guaranteed money and signing bonus – it’s all in how the team structures the contract to help fit it in year one of the deal.
And Franks 3-5 year cap hits are $25, $26 and $27 mil meaning that KC will have to make a decision after year two on if they can afford to keep him at the cap #.
Also Seattle does not do 5 year contracts. They do 4 years max so the spread of the signing bonus would be higher yearly than Frank Clark’s
*correction*
It would be after year 3 for Clark
Another thing to think about here is the way the Seahawks have always structured there deals. They only guarantee the first year. So if you have a four year contract that is great but Clowney would get all of his money in the first year so its hard to get his first year cap hit down that far. If they signed him to a 4 year $74m deal (18.5 apy) he would likely get $40 guaranteed at signing with not guaranteed past year one. If you gave him a $36m signing bonus and a base salary of $4m his cap hit would be $13m. That is probably as low as your going to get and that is probably why thy talked about a one year deal being $13m
It will affect a lot when it comes to trade talks…John always speaks about how many peoples are calling phones…
It happened again…if I am answering on last post, and while i am typing something new is posted it puts my post on bottom…
We keep knocking guys like Uche for not being able to play Leo, but I think it offers and interesting solution that we haven’t thought of yet. When the Seahawks added Avril and Bennett along Clemons, they then drafted Irvin and moved him to strong side backer out of necessity to get his pass rushing skills on the field. They haven’t used someone in that role exclusively since obviously, but that could be because it hasn’t been necessary afterwards. After all, Mingo was used sometimes used in a similar role even if it wasn’t as effective, but that shows they’re at least willing to still try that concept. Maybe like that offseason, they see adding a guy like Uche in the late second as an opportunity to get more pass rush on the field. That allows Uche and Griffin to play strong side LB, and move Barton back to backup MLB where he seems more suited.
I still heavily believe that Clowney will be back, and another guy thats enticed me recently is Markus Golden. I’ve been a fan since his draft year, and although he has been up and down, he really looked good last year. His market is cold, and that could allow the Seahawks to offer an incentive based deal. I don’t agree with PFFs article claiming he was mostly a cleanup guy, but even a cleanup skillset across from Clowney could be exactly what the Seahawks need. With Clowney getting regular doubles and causing havoc on the other side, pressure coming from Uche and Griffin, and increased coverage from the additions of Dunbar and a full season of Diggs, we’ll need a guy to come in and cleanup when the pocket collapses. Having him and Irvin rotating at Leo is a massive upgrade to anything we had last year.
Clowney as our Bennett, Golden and Irvin as our Clemons and Avril, and Uche and Griffin as our Irvin, looks like a much stronger, realistic option for an improvement given the current cap and draft pick situation. This also allows them to focus their first and other second on whichever value presents itself from RB, WR, OL or DT.
Apologies for typos, its 4am here in China and I lay awake stressing about the offseason.
This isn’t wholly accurate though.
The Seahawks drafted Bruce Irvin in 2012 and declared he was the ‘ideal LEO’. Then a year later, they signed Bennett and Avril. Now I don’t think they anticipated being able to get one of those guys — let alone both. But having added two premier pass rushers they then needed to find a way to get them on the field. So they moved Bruce to a different role where — if I’m not mistaken — he actually lost the job to Malcolm Smith in 2013.
He gained it back, of course, but he then departed wishing to go to a team that would let him rush the passer more often.
They didn’t draft Bruce Irvin to compliment Avril and Bennett as a SAM/LEO. He ended up in that role because they wanted to find a way to get him on the field having signed Bennett and Avril. And it was a decision to get his athleticism on the field more so than his pass rushing skills.
Nonetheless — yes Uche could be the pick. More so due to his length and pressure percentage.
From some guy who covers Vikings:
So sounds like the plan has is to just sign Clowney..
Will pretty much gurantee we draft Dlinemen early. Hopefully that sweet spot is there for us in the draft.
What’s with the either/or – just sign them both already and be done with it.
Should be noted that this reporter is extremely hated by Vikings fans and once tweeted that he called Griffen and got hung up on. Probably not the best source.
Seahawks cut Dickson also, so save $5 mil in cap space by releasing Thompson and Dickson!
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001107990/article/seahawks-waive-dickson-thompson-save-5m
Time to make a move!
Go Hawks!!
So long, Ed!
Health appears to be the key in the release of these players. This could be the reason for the time taken to make these transactions. Those thinking of an imminent release of Britt may have to wait a while, unless they restructure instead. Could an injury settlement be given Britt, with the chance of resigning when he’s healthy?
If they do something with Britt, and restructure KJ, perhaps something exciting is finally in store for the DL.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001107956/article/2020-nfl-draft-kj-hamler-turns-to-tech-in-scouting-shutdown
With the way we crave speed I would not be suprised if he was the pick. Hands are an issue though.
On a somewhat related note, Zebra had Van Jefferson at just over 21 MPH at the senior bowl. A little faster than Duvernay was clocked at. And Duvernay ran in the 4.3s and Ruggs in the 4.2s. Van Jefferson can fly. Would be a great mid round pick for the hawks IMO.
Former teammates with DK. I’m sure he could provide some intel.
Ran the Sim just now and Mekhi Becton lasted all the way to 27. I was very tempted to just take him! But instead I made this deal with NY Giants:
NYG Received:
Pick 27
SEA Received:
Pick 36
Pick 99
Pick 150
2021 NYG 6th
Now lets see if they actually take him there and who will be left for us at 36…this sim is truly an awesome tool and so much fun to play with!
Giants took Becton as expected and I went full on JS by trading all over the place – six times!!!
Trades:
#1
NYG Received:
Pick 27 – Mekhi Becton
SEA Received:
Pick 36 – Lucas Niang (traded to Mia)
Pick 99 – Rashard Lawrence (traded to Det)
Pick 150 – Hakeem Adeniji
2021 NYG 6th (traded to GB)
#2
MIA Received:
Pick 36 – Lucas Niang
SEA Received:
Pick 39 – Terrell Lewis (traded to Chi)
Pick 153 – Antoine Brooks Jr.
#3
CHI Received:
Pick 39 – Terrell Lewis
SEA Received:
Pick 43 – Julian Okwara
Pick 163 – McTelvin Agim
2021 CHI 6th (traded to Det)
#4
SEA Received:
Pick 85 – Willie Gay Jr.
DET Received:
Pick 99 – Rashard Lawrence
Pick 133 – John Simpson
2021 CHI 6th
#5
SEA Received:
Pick 192 – Joe Reed
GB Received:
Pick 214 – Justin Herron
2021 NYG 6th
#6
TEN Received:
2021 SEA 7th
SEA Received:
Pick 237 – Josh Metellus
And here is the final draft haul:
43.
Julian Okwara
DE Notre Dame
59.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire
RB LSU
64.
Jabari Zuniga
DE Florida
85.
Willie Gay Jr.
OLB Mississippi State
101.
Robert Hunt
G Louisiana
144.
Thaddeus Moss
TE LSU
150.
Hakeem Adeniji
OT Kansas
153.
Antoine Brooks Jr.
S Maryland
163.
McTelvin Agim
DT Arkansas
192.
Joe Reed
WR UVA
237.
Josh Metellus
S Michigan
I would not be shocked if he was at 27 in real life.
Here is my most recent go at a draft simulation, tried to think like JS with all of the trades. Seahawks NET picks: 44, 59, 62, 94, 101, 107, 115, 133, 151, 160 & 220. Draft goals with these trades: Get as many picks as possible in the top-100. + now there is a lesser need @ WR due to FA signing.
Trade #1: #30 to Bengals for #33 & #107
Trade #2: #33 & #214 for Chargers #37, #151 & #22
Trade #3: #37 & #144 for Cleveland #41 & #115
Trade #4: #41 for Colts #44 & #160.
My Mock:
44. Julian Okwara, DE, Notre Dame, (Best available here in a position of great need.)
59. Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, LSU, (a need filled here, RB by committee coming soon.)
62. Isaiah Wilson, OT Georgia, (Massive ORT who should start quickly.)
94. James Lynch, DT, Baylor, (Old style mauler, strong, hot motor, disruptive, moldable.)
101. Robert Hunt, OG Louisiana (An SDB favorite as an addition to the OL.)
107. Hunter Bryant, TE, Washington, (A superb move TE, may push Hollister to the PS?)
115. Antonio Gibson, RB/WR/KR Memphis, (Multi-dimensional chess piece on Offense.)
133. Kindle Vildor, CB (slot), Georgia Southern, (Chirps like Sherman & blankets guys)
151. Davion Taylor, OLB, Colorado, (Full field LB with + coverage skills)
116. Quintez Cephus, WR Wisconsin, (For competition as a #4 or #5 WR.)
220. Cole McDonald, QB Hawaii, (A developmental B/U QB with + long balls, ala RW?)
Great stuff, Rob!
Thanks
POST FA MOCK DRAFT
*Note: This mock was simply based off what the team has done so far through FA. A lot of these players will change if they ever decide to address the EDGE situation. I also mocked players I didn’t have in my last mock. Last mocks first 4 picks were I. Wilson, Okwara, Cushenberry, and Pittman JR. I also like Zuniga but didn’t want to put him in because Rob just discussed him in great length.
Trade 27 to LA Chargers for 37 and 71
RD 2: 37- DT- Justin Madubuike- Texas AM
A player who gives great effort and a good run defender who can get in the backfield to create a TFL. This pick gives them a hedge for Reed being a FA again in two years, and helps with the loss of Q-Jeff.
RD2: 59- DE- Curtis Weaver- Boise St.
An extremely agile athlete that is a competitor. Does a great job of creating pressure in the backfield. 34 sacks in the past three seasons, and we all know the Hawks could use a few more of those. He also has experience dropping into coverage and has Bruce Irvin here to potentially help teach him the ropes.
RD2: 64- OT- Lucas Niang- TCU
Injuries push him down the list this far, otherwise could have been a much higher pick. Massive dude who I could see Solari liking. Niang didn’t allow a sack during his junior season. Had his senior year cut short due to a hip injury.
RD3: 71- DE- Jonathon Greenard- Florida
A great leader with proven production in the SEC in 2019. Gives competition for LJ Collier and Rasheem Green.
RD3: 101- LB- Troy Dye- Oregon
Could potentially fill the Mychal Kendricks role. Proven tackler who played through a broken thumb in 2019. Can also get to the QB with 15 sacks over his career at Oregon.
RD 4 133- WR- James Proche- SMU
Caught 111 balls last year. Savvy route runner with sticky hands. Can get open underneath while Lockett and DK stretch the field. Can also return punts and kicks.
RD 4: 144 CB- Joshua Kelley- RB- UCLA
Dominated the Senior Bowl and fits the mold of what the Hawks look for in a RB.
RD 6: 214- Michael Ojemudia- Iowa
A 4.4 runner with plus 32 inch arms? Sounds like a Seahawks corner to me.
Now this… is a reasonable mock. I’m biased with my desire to see Greenard on the squad.
Thank you! I like Greenard a lot as well, and hope the Hawks will value his leadership skills.
So with the news that they released both Dickson and Thompson they gain $5.1m between them. That opens up two spots in the top 51 which would be taken by the players who were in spots 52 and 53 which are $750k each. Total net savings between the two are $3.6 million and could end up being less depending on what happens with there injury settlement which wouldnt affect us until the season starts. It also looks like the contract for Phillip Dorsett will be an MSB contract which makes his 2020 cap hit at $750k which means he will be a net $0 in cap space to sign with the team. Just waiting for Irvin now.
Surely whoever they sign next will push those guys back out of the top-51 though, so you retain the saving from their salaries because they won’t count.
Correct, You can either add it now or wait and add the money after they signed another player. Either way the net is still the same.
Looks like Dorsett’s is a little different than Warmack. Warmack had $137.5k in roster bonuses where Dorsett gets his $137.5k in a signing bonus so Dorsett’s cap hit would be $887.5k not $750k.
Thanks, Greg for the update on the numbers. I also appreciated your post on the Clowney contract, I didn’t realize the Seahawks only guaranteed one year. If they did sign Clowney for the 4/$80, (($13M against the cap), what kind of contract do you think Yannick would command if they traded for him? Could they do something similar?…., just go to the ATM for $80M and call it a year? I assume Yannick would want more than one-year guaranteed? I believe they want Yannick or a blockbuster trade-up. Something has to change. Thanks for helping a salary cap 101’er!
.
I’m sure Yannick would want to be in the $20m club as well. You can look at the last two big co tracts the Seahawks did. Russell Wilson had $70m guaranteed at signing and they did it with a $65m signing bo us and a $5m base salary. Then they signed Bobby Wagner for 3 years $54m with $24.5m guaranteed. $15m signing bonus and a $9.5m base salary.
Great interview Rob. Interesting to see that he believes there will be plenty of options to help the DL in rounds 2-3 for the Hawks. I know that isn’t the prevailing thought, and I wouldn’t expect anyone in that area to be a savior or anything for the upcoming season, but it does give some hope they might be able to add some talent there if they can go ahead and resign Clowney and/or get Griffen.
Just read that Adrian Clayborn signed with the Browns.
I really hoped we would have picked him up.
IMO greatly undervalued DL depth.
I also really like him. He always looks very productive on the field. They had mutiple chances now to grab him so I guess they don’t like him.
If Seattle can get another 3rd I still like WR Bryan Edwards there if available.
Has the right mindset, DBs aren’t gonna push him around and impede him in any way, and the way he battles in contested catch situations? *chef’s kiss*
Yep, he’d be great value in the third.
I like Duvernay too who you’ve had in your latest mocks. That take the top off speed should be very attractive to them. Jim mentioned Golden Tate, but for me, and I used this comp before with him, I see a more explosive and more well rounded Ty Montgomery.
I like Duvernay’s speed, the way he competes and his personality/attitude. I’m not crazy about other aspects though. Lot of manufactured production. Not quite as free and fluid as Golden or Deebo. But if they don’t go receiver early — I think he’s a decent consolation prize down the line.
Yeah I get that. Having to create opportunities for him is certainly a drawback. Having an element like that in their offense would be fun though.
How do you guys like Van Jefferson? Kinda fits in that same range. Much different than Duvernay. Mentioned up above Zebra had Jefferson Running 21MPH and a smidge faster than Duvernay was clocked at. So presumably he’s at least 4.4 fast.
I like Jefferson. Nothing spectacular. Little bit older. Super solid. The route running is on point. Gets in and out of his breaks nice and clean. Should be a slot receiver in the NFL. I think he goes in that range as well.
How about Joe Reed – WR, UVA as a late round pick?
Joe Reed is a dude. The Hawks need a consistent return man and he can do that. He is a big version of McKissic (in that he does the same things…a WR that can play in the backfield, do kick returns, and could be a special teams ace). Led the nation in KOR (33 yd avg, has run 5 to the house) and was an All-American in that regard. Played RB in high school. Negatives; not a sharp route runner, used as a gadget guy more than a traditional receiver so he will need time to develop. Late 4th/early 5th sleeper.
From the couple games I caught of his at Virginia I liked him as a return specialist/ace. Excels at YAC. More of a gadget type. Will need the right system to excel, but for a team like Seattle I could see him in a Ricardo Lockette role. He’s fun.
I agree with datrain. Kinda seems like a RB in a WRs body. IMO he’s more of a 6th-7th rounder.
Huge Duvernay fan. 🙋🏼♂️
Bryan Edwards is fantastic, probably made the catch of the year against Tennessee. If he ends up in San Fran with his old teammate, and former favourite of mine, Deebo Samuel, I’ll be very upset.
Does anyone know how serious his injury is? Is it something that would be healed up by the new season?
Edwards broke his foot training for the combine. He was also coming off a knee injury which ended his season. With no combine, pro day workout or team physical all teams will have is tape. It’s good tape but IMO any player with a incomplete draft profile is gonna get dropped at least a round. I’m actually hopeful the Seahawks can acquire a few extra day three picks to scoop up some unexpected sliding players.
John Clayton hypothesized he has heard that the Jags will be lucky to get a haul of draft picks similar to what was gotten for Dee Ford last offseason. More or less a 2nd round pick.
Here is how I read what he was saying…. this either means Seattle trades the #27 for this guy and a draft pick back (3rd or 4th or 5th) or Seattle might give them the 27 for him, but then have them pick-up some of the salary on the first year of his deal (say 5M) so they could sign him up 20M (minus 5M from Jacksonville) so he would be around 15M the first year. This is shockingly close to the amount they are “allegedly” willing to pay Clowney. This can’t be a coincidence.
Very intriguing reading of the tea leaves.
It is intriguing. I still don’t understand why the Seahawks are fixated on obtaining so much value for a pass rusher though. It’s a vital position of need. Just get a deal done. Inject some quality into an area of not mild need — but extreme need.
I mean — imagine not doing a Ngakoue trade unless they’re willing to pay a bit of his salary? Or imagine losing Clowney over 18.5m vs 20m (per local reports).
Since the NFL has a salary cap, cost effectiveness has to be scutinized to every penny. GMs are trying to get an advantage in any way possible. They employ a team of analysts to determine proper value. Although it may seem like only a couple million difference to us, that couple million could be the difference in the future when acquiring other crucial talent or resigning one of our core cplayers.
Yep — I mean, where would the Seahawks be without Cedric Ogbuehi?
Come on. Let’s be serious here. If we were talking about $5m I’d take the point. But a couple of million to get your self confessed huge priority through the door, at your biggest position of need? You do it. You don’t quibble about what fringe player you won’t be able to sign the following year.
non-sequiter*
I know that’s the report that’s come out, but I just find it hard to believe that the two sides are only that far apart. If that were the case, as you say, this deal would have gotten done a long time ago.
Then they need to move on. Because there’s no point waiting for Clowney to give in to your demands. He has proven he won’t be blindsided into doing what a team wants.
So move on. Sign someone else.
Or just pay him.
We have to be missing some key piece of the puzzle.
I do not like any first round defensive options and have always thought a trade back was inevitable…..but….. Laviska Shenault Jr. has got me very intrigued…the injury risk is real but how about the fit? I like it!
Pass.
Only if he’s there early R3.
Too many injuries.
Every time I do the mock simulator the value lies in offense! I am so frustrated to pass on WR/RB options….sigh
I tried the mock draft simulator again with a different approach: do multiple small moves down in the bottom of the 1st round and top of the 2nd round in order to get more early Day 3 picks. Here’s what transpired.
Trade #1: Trade 1.27 to Titans for 1.29 and 5.174
Trade #2: Trade 1.29 and 6.214 to Chiefs for 1.32 and 3.96
Trade #3: Trade 1.32 to Colts for 1.34 and 4.122
Trade #4: Trade 1.34 to Chargers for 1.37 and 4.151
This resulted in a total of 10 picks, as follows.
2.37 Cesar Ruiz, C, Michigan
2.59 Josh Uche, OLB, Michigan
2.64 Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, LSU
3.96 Robert Hunt, G, Louisiana
3.101 Rashard Lawrence, DE, LSU
4.122 Bryce Hall, CB, Virginia
4.133 Quartney Davis, WR, Texas A&M
4.144 Colton McIvitz, OT, West Virginia
5.151 Kindle Vildor, CB, Georgia Southern
6.186 Tanner Muse, S, Clemson
Just read seahawks had formal interviews with Texas safety Brandon Jones, Florida edge Greenard, and…….. LLU Robert Hunt! Can’t wait to here from him tomorrow. Thank you for the awesome content Rob.
Side Note, seems like we are interviewing a lot of safeties. Weren’t there multiple at combine too?
Source?
Not bad for a first try:
SEA 40.Clyde Edwards-Helaire RB LSU
SEA 59.Jabari Zuniga DE Florida
SEA 68.Isaiah Wilson OT Georgia
SEA 101.Chase Claypool WR Notre Dame
SEA 133.Michael Ojemudia CB Iowa
SEA 144.Logan Stenberg G Kentucky
SEA 181.Trevis Gipson DE Tulsa
SEA 211.Trey Adams OT Washington
SEA 214.Calvin Throckmorton C Oregon
SEA 240.Jacob Breeland TE Oregon
SEA 252.John Reid CB Penn State
2021 NYJ 6th
I would absolutely love this draft.
Anyone have a confirmation of Tyreek Hill to Seattle?
Bah, think twitter got me with an April fool’s
Looks like Kollman put out a video on CEH. Same stuff Rob’s been saying for months. Really appreciate how ahead of the curve Rob is when it comes to this stuff. Last year he was the first one to say Kyler would play football and go to the Cardinals. My favorite sports blog by far.
Thanks Steve 👍🏻
Mid to late-round contributors. What are your thoughts on:
OL – JONAH JACKSON, OHIO STATE, OG
DE – TREVIS GIPSON, TULSA, DE
DT – MCTELVIN AGIM, ARKANSAS, DT
They were included in the top 10 sleepers for 2020 draft by PFF
https://247sports.com/LongFormArticle/NFL-Draft-2020-sleepers-KJ-Hill-John-Reid-Jonah-Jackson-Ohio-State-145387553/#145387553_4
Go Hawks!!
Did the NFL just expand the playoffs to 14 teams amidst all this mayhem?
7 AFC 4 winners / 3 WCs; only top seed gets 1st round bye.
7 NFC 4 winners / 3 WCs; only top seed gets 1st round bye.
PLAYOFFS…. YOU SAID PLAYOFFS…. YOU SAID… PLAYOFFS!
I’m glad the NFL is getting on with things.
I’m getting on with things. I have to.
So do many others.
It’s nice to have a distraction from time to time.
I traded next years 1st & 3rd to move up to 12. I really wanted a WR but you can’t get everything and I was ok adding Dorsett & getting Hunter Bryant. I know it’s all pie in the sky, but this was 2nd run on the simulator.
Isaiah Simmons
OLB Clemson
trade icon
SEA 64.
Jabari Zuniga
DE Florida
SEA 74.
Isaiah Wilson
OT Georgia
trade icon
SEA 101.
Cam Akers
RB Florida State
SEA 115.
Hunter Bryant
TE Washington
trade icon
SEA 144.
Amik Robertson
CB Louisiana Tech
SEA 172.
Hakeem Adeniji
OT Kansas
trade icon
SEA 195.
Benito Jones
DT Ole Miss
trade icon
SEA 214.
Trevis Gipson
It looks like they released T2 and Dickson with faild phisical. If they dont sign with anybody that will cost us 1.2 mil for Dickson and 1.05mil for T2.
I have heard reports that we are willing to pay Clowney 13 million all the way up into the 20’s. Why do we assume that it’s only a few million apart on what we want to pay and want Clowney is demanding?
What if Clowney is demanding over 20 million per year(very possible) and we are only willing to pay 13-15 million(very possible). We have to consider this a possibility..correct?
5-7 million or so per year difference is not something to just throw to the side. I have been saying for quite sometime now that there are serious concerns about paying Clowney that much money. Clearly every other team in NFL including the Seahawks have concerns as well. Now, you can chalk it up to the virus but it seems to me that’s a bit of a cop-out.
14-16 million per sounds about right to me. I honestly wouldn’t feel comfortable in the above 20 range.
I know he has moments of ‘game wrecking’ plays. However, he had 3 sacks last year. You tell me the last player in the NFL that had 3 sacks as a DE and received 20+ million per no matter how much of a ‘game wrecker’ he was. You give me the list….you convince me.
You can’t simply say “Well he’s the best option so pay the man”. Clearly this is not what the front office is thinking.
Nobody is assuming anything.
Local media has reported $18.5m as the figure they were willing to go to. Just this week one member of the local media said Clowney is looking for $21m. Previously others have said $20m.
It had also been suggested they were willing to offer him a cheaper contract albeit on a shorter term arrangement.
So no assumption at all.
And with these figures it’s very plausible to say just get it done. They called him a huge priority. Now they run the risk of wasting the 2020 season by not getting the pass rush sorted. If you’re willing to go to $18.5m just go to $21m. Sort it out. Nobody is going to turn round in five years and fret over giving him $2.5m more a year than they were comfortable doing. We will fret if in 12 months time we’re having the same conversation about the DL being terrible and costing them another SB run.
I tend to agree Rob just ,get this deal done and figure out a way to add another legit pass rusher. I have been really struggling to figure out why this deal is not done and the only thing that makes sense is that Clowney has some medical concern that is preventing them from being willing to commit to a long term guaranteed contract. Nothing else makes any sense given the current state of the DL. If that is the case however why didn’t they make other moves earlier in free agency. No of it makes any sense for a front office that has always addressed glaring roster weaknesses aggressively in the past.
I think the medicals might be holding things up as well. But what if they’ve decided that the don’t want another defensive player to be making more than Wagner? Is that possibly why they didn’t sign Frank last year? Just a thought.
If the Seahawks already have an offer on the table, which is reported to be the fact, it doesn’t appear medicals are really factoring into this at all. It appears more likely that Seattle is just unwilling to pony up the extra money that Clowney wants. Again the Cliché , penny wise, dollar foolish.
Great stuff (if you didnt allready saw it)
https://twitter.com/MoveTheSticks/status/1245062206296690688?s=19
I tried a different tact with the mocks, moving back all the way to #46 for #77 and #95 (broncos trading up for Fulton) so I could target a pass rusher with the first pick and then have freedom and draft selections to do what I want later on. Very happy with the haul, I didn’t mean to raid the state of Louisiana as much as I did but is anyone complaining.
46. Jabari Zuniga, DE Florida
59. Clyde Edwards-Helaire,RB LSU
64. Lloyd Cushenberry, C LSU
77. Rashard Lawrence, DT LSU
95. Robert Hunt, G Louisiana
117. Bryce Hall, CB UVA
133. Thaddeus Moss, TE LSU
144. Amik Robertson, CB Louisiana Tech
194. Quez Watkins, WR Southern Miss
203. Trevis Gipson, DE Tulsa
Really like the players you have in there. It may have been a perfect draft if you could’ve added Datsun in there at the end. As I have been marking, I have been trying to get Willie gay Junior in there as my cherry on top. Easier said than done without using draft picks from 2021.
Thanks Rob, love listening to Jim. It’s so cool to hear someone love and thrive in their job like he does.