“They were physically tougher and stronger”
Those are the words of Cris Collinsworth on the NBC Broadcast, towards the end of Seattle’s Super Bowl win over the Patriots.
There were many reasons why the Seahawks won including excellent coaching, inspired roster construction and having the most rounded roster in the league.
Being better in the trenches — the embodiment of physicality in this sport — was as important as anything though. The offensive and defensive lines won most of their battles throughout the season and both units became a team strength.
I think the Seahawks should build on that strength in the draft next week by focusing their top picks on the best offensive linemen and front-seven defenders.
I subscribe to the theory, clichéd as it may be, that games are won in the trenches. It’s my understanding that Ron Wolf’s mantra was very much ‘trenches, trenches, trenches’ and I buy into that. Consistently adding talent up front will keep you competitive.
I think it’s the main reason the Steelers and Ravens were so difficult to play against for so long, it’s why the Eagles have hung around as contenders, and even the Patrick Mahomes-led Chiefs could rely on great line play when they won Super Bowls (and the two they lost were inspired by struggles in the trenches).
If you have a strong supply of quality offensive and defensive linemen, you are always going to be tough to beat.
The Seahawks lost key players at running back, cornerback, safety and EDGE during free agency. They’ve added at every position apart from the pass-rush.
This team can find solutions. Look at what they’ve achieved already. They won a title with Sam Darnold at quarterback. That seems perfectly reasonable today — but imagine saying those words 12 months ago. They helped Josh Jobe become a solid starter at cornerback and did such a good job switching Cobe Bryant to safety, given he’s now a newly minted Chicago Bear.
They gave Drake Thomas an opportunity to shine. Jalen Sundell, a former UDFA, fits nicely into the middle of their offensive line. AJ Barner, a fourth round pick, has become one of the more dynamic tight ends in football.
I back their ability to turn Noah Igbinoghene into a solid contributor. If it’s not him, I think they can draft one of these big, athletic cornerbacks in the middle rounds to replace Riq Woolen.
I wouldn’t draft a cornerback early unless you’re convinced they’ll be a difference maker. When I interviewed Drew Fabianich from the Senior Bowl, he admitted the cornerbacks in Mobile were a collection of #2 types. Among those in attendance were the likes of Colton Hood and Chris Johnson.
I think this staff can fill that role. Daylen Everette, Will Lee, Hezekiah Masses, Chandler Rivers, Julian Neal, Keith Abney, Devin Moore, Davison Igbinosun, Ephesians Prysock, Malik Muhammad, Charles Demmings, Tacario Davis, Andre Fuller. There’s so much depth here.
The first pick of the Mike Macdonald era was Byron Murphy. Last year, their first pick was Grey Zabel. I would continue this trend at #32, or whenever they use their top pick — short of an unmissable opportunity at a different position presenting itself.
Continuing to bolster your offensive line and defensive front seven is, for me, the key to continued success. The Seahawks need to continue to be the toughest, most physical, most unpleasant team to play against.
You do this by adding more talent to the trenches.
Not everyone will agree — but this is my preference with eight days to go.
Looking at the ‘big mocks’ released today
Mel Kiper has published his final mock draft already. Dane Brugler today put out a seven-round projection. Todd McShay has revealed a new two-round mock.
Kiper gave the Seahawks Jadarian Price and Malik Muhammad. McShay went with TJ Parker and Jalon Kilgore. Brugler gave them Colton Hood, Keyron Crawford, Mike Washington Jr and Robert Spears-Jennings.
My first takeaway is this shows how difficult it’s going to be to pair the Seahawks with ‘the right player’ before next week. They’re picking too late in the first round to get any ‘insider’ feel for it and there are multiple players set to be in range at several different perceived ‘need’ positions.
In all three mocks, Kayden McDonald lasts into round two. That’s interesting. The Seahawks had him in for an unexpected official-30 visit. It suggests they were very aware of this possibility and wanted more intel.
Why would he fall? Probably the same reason Jarran Reed fell to #49 in 2016 despite many people (myself included) seeing him as a top-25 player. He was viewed as a pure run defender with limited pass-rushing upside. The Seahawks traded up from #56 to go and get Reed, declared he was a consideration with their top pick and that they couldn’t believe he lasted.
They might see a similar opportunity here, especially given Reed is 34 in December and has a very manageable contract situation in 2027. However, Reed is also one of the key souls of the team. Frankly I’d let him play on for as long as he wants to. He is a legit alpha — the type every team needs in the trenches.
Do you need to set up the future? I’m not sure, especially for a run-blocking defensive tackle — as much as I like McDonald as a player.
Going back to my original point in this piece though — I want the best trenches players to be added early. McDonald, if available, could easily be that guy.
The key to the visit might’ve been to see if he has the ability to fit into a positional group which is virtually the voice of the team. Reed and DeMarcus Lawrence were the ones barking at team-mates in the tunnel before games. If you want to play D-line for these Seahawks, you better be ready to bark and bite.
TJ Parker is an interesting one. His tape was underwhelming. There aren’t enough counters, he doesn’t threaten the outside shoulder enough and he feels quite one-dimensional (plays off the straight arm all the time).
His pass-rush win percentage in 2025 was 15.4%. If you want to blame that on a down-year for Clemson, his win percentage was even lower in 2024 (15.3%).
However, I did a little research yesterday. I made a list of every edge rusher in the NFL who has finished in the top-10 for pressures over the last five years. There are 26 players in total.
The average 10-yard split for those 26 players was a 1.61. The average weight was 257lbs and the average short shuttle was a 4.28.
Not a single edge rusher ran a shuttle this year, which is staggering. But most ran a split and were weighed. Parker ran a 1.61 at 263lbs.
This does need to be noted. As boring as his tape can be at times, within his physical profile is a very good 10-yard split with matching size.
Consider these numbers from the list of 26:
Will Anderson — 1.61 at 253lbs
Jared Verse — 1.60 at 254lbs
Aidan Hutchinson — 1.62 at 254lbs
Jaelan Phillips — 1.59 at 260lbs
Jonathan Greenard — 1.71 at 263lbs
Trey Hendrickson — 1.59 at 266lbs
George Karlaftis — 1.65 at 266lbs
Nick Bosa — 1.62 at 266lbs
Maxx Crosby — 1.60 at 255lbs
TJ Watt — 1.61 at 252lbs
Von Miller — 1.62 at 246lbs
The thing is — most of these players ran unbelievable short shuttles. The average of these 11 players was a 4.21. If we had a shuttle from Parker in that range, it’d be a lot easier to talk about his upside.
Let’s look at the speed angle even more closely. Here’s how he compares to some of the other pass rushers in terms of GPS max-speed during the 2025 college football season:
Malachi Lawrence — 18.8
Dani Dennis-Sutton — 18.6
Joshua Josephs — 18.4
Cashius Howell — 18.3
Romello Height — 18.1
Zion Young — 17.8
TJ Parker — 17.4
Gabe Jacas — 16.6
This is confusing. Why are Parker and Jacas so slow? They both ran far better 10-yard splits in the pre-draft process than Zion Young, Romello Height, Joshua Josephs and Dani Dennis-Sutton.
Let’s look purely at max-speed over 0-10 yards:
Malachi Lawrence — 16.1
Cashius Howell — 16.0
Gabe Jacas — 15.6
Romello Height — 15.5
Joshua Josephs — 15.2
TJ Parker — 15.2
Zion Young — 15.1
Dani Dennis-Sutton — 14.8
Again — for someone running a 1.61 10-yard split at near enough the same weight as Zion Young, why on the field is he running so slowly in pads? Is it something to do with scheme discipline which means he can’t just pin his ears back? Or is he simply better at running in shorts?
At the Senior Bowl his max-speed was 17.41mph. That’s quite a way behind Gabe Jacas (18.19mph) but well ahead of Dani Dennis-Sutton (16.38mph), Romello Height (16.29mph) and Zion Young (15.04mph).
He’s a confusing player to judge. There were flashes in 2024 of real potential that were never even hinted at in 2025. He’s both fast at the combine and slow on the field.
His run defense grade (77.5) is reasonable — it’s in the same range as Dani Dennis-Sutton and R Mason Thomas. It’s very hard to know how the Seahawks, or anyone else for that matter, will feel about him.
For me — that more than likely means he lasts into round two.
We’ve talked a lot about Kiper’s top pick of Jadarian Price already. Daniel Jeremiah similarly this week said that Price’s floor was Seattle at #32, and ceiling was Seattle at #32 (so it’ll be interesting to see if his final mock sticks to that view).
Here’s the situation. Teams stack their boards with players in graded ranges. You then have collections of players you’d be prepared to take in certain spots. You then piece together how to address certain areas, if that’s your intention rather than just going pure BPA.
If Price is within their top stack of options at #32, given the total dearth of quality running backs this year, Kiper and Jeremiah could be right. It just comes down to how they grade him. Some see him as a player worthy of going in the #32 range (including people I’ve talked to who know what they’re talking about, inside the NFL) and others think he’s more of a middle day-two pick. I personally think he’s comfortably a top-40 player in this class.
I can imagine the Seahawks taking Price at #32. I can also imagine the Seahawks waiting on a player like Jonah Coleman, too, and going in a different direction with their top choice. But they do run the risk of missing out completely, so it’ll be interesting to see how they approach this.
Hood is a curious one. He’s very talented. He matches up well man-to-man, competes, hits opponents and he’s aggressive. I think there’s every chance he won’t last to #32 and might even be the second cornerback drafted.
I do think the Seahawks would be interested and they’ve had him in for an official visit. It’s worth noting he played for three different schools in three seasons though — the Seahawks have not drafted a player quite so NIL-active as Hood.
None of the mocks have the Seahawks taking an offensive lineman at #32 or #64. I suspect it’s more likely than some think.
Todd McShay made an interesting point on one of his recent podcasts. He suggested teams at the end of round one just want to make a solid pick in this class. He brought this up specifically when talking about the prospect of Chase Bisontis, Emmanuel Pregnon and Keylan Rutledge going early.
If the Seahawks want to hit a double and carry on their recent positivity around their first round picks — they could do a lot worse than giving John Benton another guard to work with.
It was also interesting they had Beau Stephens in for a late official visit this week. Stephens is someone we talked about often during the season — but a poor Senior Bowl and combine took some of the air out of his balloon.
However, Bob McGinn’s O-line article projected him as a second or third round pick. McGinn has been pretty accurate with these projections over the years. He noted that Iowa has been really pushing Stephens and that he won the Hayden Fry Award twice for exemplary leadership and dedication on and off the field.
He had the third best zone blocking grade in this draft. My reading of that visit wasn’t necessarily that he would be a late-round option or a player for #96. I wonder if he’s a possibility at #64 if they don’t take a guard with their top pick.
Finally, Emmanuel Pregnon, Keylan Rutledge and Gennings Dunker need to be noted again because they tick so many boxes. They have strong explosive traits, good grades as zone blockers and based on the information we have, they are contenders to tick the 30-30-30 ideal John Schneider talked about a year ago.
Remember, when you look at John Schneider’s history as Seahawks GM and the first two picks in each of his drafts, 19 of the 32 players have been either an offensive or defensive lineman.
The evolving way the draft is covered
I’ve spent the last few days contemplating this topic. At some point draft analysts have switched to become more ‘draft insiders’ — or, if we want to be more accurate, ‘draft gossipers’.
Back in the day, the likes of Mel Kiper and Todd McShay used to argue about players they had graded on their boards. Now, a lot of the analysis seems to be rooted in what draft media is hearing from sources.
A lot of the big names talk to teams, legitimately. And they get information and opinions. But is it right, for example, to call your rankings ‘a big board’ — including attaching grades to players — if you’re basing some of it on sources?
I am a huge fan of McShay. He clearly puts in the work, watches tape and for me — his podcast is very entertaining.
He has taken recently to calling people “scumbags” for taking note of what he says about certain projections, then pulling him up when things change. I hope he doesn’t think that’s what I’m doing here, in the unlikely event that he would actually read this. As I said, I am a big fan of Todd and watch all of his shows with the excellent Steve Muench.
However, he keeps mentioning his desire to get his top-100 board a high score from the Huddle Report again this year. I think this is indicative of the problem. The board is no longer purely being created to assess talent. It feels as if it’s being manipulated to align with what league sources are saying, in order to be ‘accurate’.
Is that the aim of a board though? To be accurate? Or is it to just give your take on the draft class based on tape?
For example, how can Keylan Rutledge jump about 30 spots on Todd’s board this close to the draft unless it’s because he’s hearing from sources he had him too low? That in turn means adjusting his grade so he slots into the 40’s instead of the 70’s. Should a grade shift if three or four GM’s tell you a player like Rutledge will go earlier than you think?
Isn’t this what a mock draft is for? Projection? Shouldn’t the board strictly be about your personal grade and ranking based on tape?
The information has been quite inconsistent too.
Recently it was said on the McShay show that Peter Woods was extremely likely to go in the first round. I can’t remember the exacting wording but off the top of my head, I think it might’ve even been guaranteed. In Todd’s mock today, he’s at #38 and outside of round one. Meanwhile, there’s been a recent discussion theme on the receivers Denzel Boston, KC Concepcion and Omar Cooper going in round two, probably in that order. In his mock today, Cooper is the #16 pick and all three go in round one.
I get it — new information sparks new ideas and a different looking mock. But if you’re hearing things two weeks ago that are now being directly contradicted, what’s actually true? Will it change again in a few days? And how much, as consumers, do we want to hear and read handbrake-turn projections?
Is it all just part of the fun? Does it pull back the curtain of how things are behind the scenes, with NFL teams thinking one thing one week and something completely different the next? If so — great, that makes sense.
Or does it all just get a bit confusing? And would people prefer draft analysis rather than draft gossip?
Some thoughts on Rueben Bain Jr
As you probably know by now, Ollie Connolly, who is a fellow Brit, revealed that Bain had been involved in a car accident in 2024 that led to the death of a passenger. It has since been reported by Trey Wallace that Bain was again cited for careless driving in 2025.
A lot of people have had an opinion not on this story but the actual journalism. So I’m going to have my say too.
I think it’s excellent work by Connolly.
The draft is next week and this is something that could impact Bain’s stock. It is something, clearly, that teams have had to look into. If he drops — like other players have in the past — we have further insight into why it might’ve happened.
He made a point of contacting the family of Destiny Betts, whose life was tragically lost, and they provided a statement. Speaking as a journalist myself, nobody ever wants to contact someone to bring up a topic like this, because it’s going to be very difficult for the people you need to speak to. Unfortunately, that’s the job. Handling it sensitively, and appropriately, is key. I’m guessing seeing as a statement was provided, that great care has been taken with this.
As for the timing so close to the draft — big deal. It might’ve taken a long time to gather all of the information, give people like Bain a reasonable timeframe for a right of reply, and get all of the details you need to report this difficult story.
We need to know this information before next week. It’s important. And by all accounts, Connolly appears to have spoken to people in the league who are suggesting to him they retain some concern (“We are waiting for the other shoe.”)
I’ve seen a handful of insider types stating they already knew this information and had known it for weeks or even months. Why didn’t you report it then? Nobody wants to hear that you have an inside track on stuff that you keep to yourself. By all means reveal information about how teams have handled this matter — but we don’t need anyone to say it’s old news when it’s new news to virtually everyone who follows the NFL.
This is real reporting from Connolly and he should be applauded for it. He broke this story to the masses. Real reporting is not going on Pat McAfee and speculating who the Chiefs might take at #9.
