I like Seattle’s approach since the Wilson trade
I’ve always preferred a ‘BPA’ draft. I buy into the philosophy that free agency should be for addressing needs and the draft should be for acquiring the best talent.
In the last two drafts, the Seahawks have done exactly this. They’ve been more aggressive in free agency to add talent at key areas, then they’ve acquired building blocks for a new era.
They won’t admit it but this is a rebuild. And it’s only year two of the rebuild. They need to add talent in a variety of areas and pad out the roster. I’ve always thought, whatever they do in this draft, they’ll need another off-season.
I don’t think it matters whether we agree with the picks
I’m certainly not going to tell anyone want to think. Be positive or negative about the two first round selections. That’s your choice.
Personally I’m not going to quibble about the positions they took, even if I also sympathise with the view that for this team to truly become great they’ll need a long-term answer at quarterback and a blue-chip defensive lineman.
That’s the reason Houston was so aggressive in the top-three to get C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson.
The fact is three quarterbacks were off the board before #5 and if the Seahawks really wanted Will Levis, they would’ve taken him at #20. I like Levis a lot and think he can be an excellent pro. However, I’ve also said repeatedly this off-season that John Schneider deserves the benefit of the doubt on quarterbacks. If he took one at #5, he should be trusted. If he passed on certain quarterbacks, he should equally be trusted.
I never thought they would take Jalen Carter at #5 and I was lukewarm on Tyree Wilson’s tape (with the foot injury also quite scary). Thus, which defensive lineman were they supposed to take?
I only gave out nine legit first round grades on my horizontal board and Devon Witherspoon was one of the few elite players in the class. He is a tremendous talent and the Seahawks have given themselves an opportunity to add a big performer at a premium position.
I was sceptical of the fit with Jaxon Smith-Njigba because I think he probably would’ve run a 4.55 or 4.60 at the combine and that hasn’t typically been their type of receiver. However, a lot of people think he’s one of the best players in the draft. If he’s at the top of their board at #20 — I’m not going to have any issue at all with them investing in talent over reaching for a specific position.
I’m a big proponent of ‘you’re only as good as your third receiver’ in the modern NFL. You need weapons. I think it speaks to Seattle’s self-awareness that they acknowledge that too, rather than trying to force defensive line picks to bolster a certain philosophy or fix a problem.
And again at #20, the board worked against them for defenders. Will McDonald — I suspect a big target for them — was taken at #15 by the Jets. Lukas Van Ness is raw but had the profile and attitude they love. Players like Myles Murphy were so underwhelming on tape, I’m not surprised they didn’t dabble there.
The Seahawks are a better team for these two selections and really, that’s the modest expectation I set for any draft. Would I have loved to be able to dream about Anthony Richardson as a potential ‘next Josh Allen’? Sure. But he was off the board.
While ‘pay the iron price’ became a cool little slogan for us, was a deal even possible? Arizona would probably rather deal with an aggressive Houston team than a division rival. Indianapolis weren’t trading down. A trade up simply might not have been possible. It’s not really worth wringing your hands over.
Character is king
I’ve talked endlessly this off-season about the Seahawks making it clear they were more zoned in than ever on what they believe constitutes a ‘Seahawk’. It includes highly competitive, gritty, professional individuals of high character. That’s why I was so adamant they wouldn’t take Jalen Carter. They’ve pretty much spelled it out to everyone what they’re looking for and character is a big deal.
This is worth considering for day two. Who is a Seahawk?
There are plenty of high-character players remaining, with some real tough guys at safety later on in particular.
What scouts said about Seattle’s picks
These are quotes from Bob McGinn’s sources.
“I love the kid,” said one scout. “I love his interview. I love the way he plays. He’s got this presence to him. You know he’s locked in, he’s all about ball. He doesn’t care that he’s 185 pounds. He carries himself like he’s a bigger dude, almost like he’s invincible. If Witherspoon had Gonzalez’ size you’d have a top-10 corner.”
“Faster than everybody thinks,” said a second scout. “Wants to play the best man on the field. Got change of direction, acceleration, feel for the game. Very good tackler for the cornerback position. Top 15. He’s got everything you want.”
“I think he should (be drafted in the top 10),” another scout said. “He had a sensational senior season. He contested everything. He’s got a lot of fight. He’s on the borderline height-weight. His speed is good.”
“Hell of a football player,” a fourth scout said. “All he did was press. That’s all they did.”
There were no negative comments on Witherspoon.
“I thought he was Adam Thielen,” one scout said, referring to Smith-Njigba. “He can get deep because of his route-running ability, whether it’s a double move or a little shake. His 40 was fast enough for me. He may be the most consistent out of the bunch. He can do some outside stuff, but he’s mainly best in the slot.”
“I do like him,” said a second scout. “He can be a good pro. More in the vein of a big slot kind of guy. He catches the ball. He’s competitive. You just wonder if he has the top-end juice.”
“I’m really concerned about his speed,” said a third scout. “The (4.52) is not real good nowadays, and I don’t think he plays that fast. He plays like 4.6 to me. He’s a really good player. I just don’t see that explosiveness.”
“He’s one of the most overrated players in the draft,” said a fourth scout. “He’s got good hands, not great hands. He’s got good vision and run after but he doesn’t run away from anybody and he’s not particularly elusive. He can find holes in zones, and he’s tough. He’ll take a hit to make catch. I don’t see special traits. Has to be a slot. Not fast enough to play outside. I’d rather have (Zay) Flowers because he’s really fast and really good after the catch. Sounds like he might be a solid second-round pick, and I didn’t see that.”
What I’m hoping for on day two
More of the same. Best player available. If it’s a tight end at #37, so be it. I’m a big Michael Mayer fan. Take him. Or one of the other TE’s. I don’t care about the position. Just keep getting better. Be guided by the board.
If Will Levis or Hendon Hooker are at the top of your list, cool.
I’d be content with one of the top two centers — John Michael Schmitz or Joe Tippmann.
Adetomiwa Adebawore would be a fantastic addition here due to his upside and physical profile. Keion White, Keeanu Benton and Zacch Pickens are attractive options. I like Brian Branch. Derick Hall is the kind of ‘alpha’ character they are attracted to.
I don’t really rate O’Cyrus Torrence but if they take him, so be it. If they grade him higher than I do, I’m not fussed. I trust them to keep going BPA per their board to add talent. Personally I hope they consider Chandler Zavala or Matthew Bergeron for the same reasons.
I’m pretty relaxed about today and feel no desperation for any particular position. Yes, they need defensive linemen. They could take two today and everyone will feel better about it. They might add a quarterback too. I’m just going to enjoy finding out who they take and discussing the picks.
Will they move around?
John Schneider hinted at this and I think it could mean moving up or down.
They might want to jump the Cardinals for a center at the top of round two, for example. They might want to move up from #52. They have the stock to do it.
Favourite non-Seahawks moves so far
— The Texans being aggressive, absolutely love what they did
— The Jets taking Will McDonald at #15
— Tampa Bay rolling the dice on Calijah Kancey in the top-20
Moves I’m not a big fan of
— Philly’s draft where they took a player with enormous character flags and a tweener
— No idea what the Lions are doing
— I thought Felix Anudike-Uzomah was a reach at the end of round one
Updated horizontal board
I’ve removed the players taken in round one (click the image to enlarge):
I’ll be doing a live blog reacting to every pick again tonight — plus providing instant reaction videos on YouTube and another live stream with Robbie right after round three ends.
If you’ve enjoyed the blog this draft season and want to support the site via Patreon — (click here)
Rob, thank you for all your work this season (killed it) and keeping us focused on getting better.
Rob-amazing work!
I love the BPA approach. With that in mind I believe TE will be our pick at 37 and Fant will either be traded or a cap casualty.
100% agreed Rob, that’s a very healthy way of looking at things!
The dream is well and truly alive…BPA.
They just added two starters who were considered the top prospects at their positions. They can continue that trend and walk away with possibly 4-5 starters, again.
Like you, Rob, I am so relaxed that it’s a bit of a shock. My one dram selection today is Benton. He ticks all the boxes for need, value and Seahawkiness?!
100% with you on all that!
Mayer and Levis today? Nothing would surprise me.
Why Levis when you already have Lock? Both 2nd rounders, both 6’4″ 230. Levis turns 24 in June, Lock is 26.
One is signed for one year and has already shown issues in the NFL
The other would be signed for four cheap years and hasn’t played a down in the league yet
The obvious answer? Because they’re not the same player.
Rob,you’re level headed approach is refreshing. Allowing people to express their opinion freely is key to great debate. High character men with the first two picks! Love it💪
Loved Day 1.
I agree. Many 12s need to stop fussing about positions. Let’s keep drafting the best players who are legit “Seahawks”.
*One note regarding position, though, they took the top player in this draft at two of the highest paid positions in the NFL. How could anyone be disappointed by that?
I noticed that too. And it continues a trend from last year.
I don’t know if it is intentional or part of a new draft trend but they now have Geno on a very team-friendly deal at QB and LT, RT, CB2, CB2, WR and Edge on rookie deals. All premium positions. And if Dareke blossoms in year 2 like JS talked about, add another WR to the list.
They could add another Edge today too.
“Many 12s need to stop fussing about positions.” –Phil
Many 12s need to wake the eff up about where this team truly is in its rebuild. Brock and Salk are (unfortunately) fielding calls this morning—which is a guaranteed tune-out for me—and the entire panel is convinced that one caller’s argument simply can’t be rebuffed. The argument? That it was a terrible draft because a “boundary corner” and a slot receiver can’t stop the run. No one at 710 thought to mention that there were no good D-Line options at #5 and #20, that trade options weren’t bringing value, that the Seahawks still have three Day Two picks remaining—right as we’re heading into the value phase of the draft. Nope. All we heard is that Devon Witherspoon and Jaxon Smith-Njigba can’t stop the run, so there: bad draft. Moron radio.
*Jalen Carter at #5 was NOT a good option for a team that demands a specific competitive profile, in case anyone thinks I forgot to mention him.
Agree, Phil !! Keep taking talent and PC/PS would only have themselves to blame because they took their #1 CB on their board and #1 WR on their board.
I’m a huge fan of this approach and I think we can go to the SB in 2024 if we keep with this approach.
Our O is going to be prolific and how many NFC QB’s are better than Geno? Geno hasn’t been abused, still throws a beautiful ball, has some mobility, is under a friendly QB contract based on his production, is a team leader, guys love him, and he’s smart and knows the system.
Year 2 with our Tackles, adding a Center in Evan who is very solid, K9 and adding JSN is only going to add to the dynamic upside.
We still need DL trench work and a sideline to sideline young Linebacker by 2024.
I love day 1 and when the smoke clears and we look back, fans will be glad we stuck to BPA and at areas of need. You can never have too many corners or quality receivers.
A
Stanton’s Morning Coffee freshly delivered from across the pond…thank you!
Ade Ade!
Benton!
Pickens!
Wypler!
Tyjae Spears!
Here here !!!I agree with the morning stanton Coffee and your list! Go Hawks
Here in California, it’s a Stanton Matcha Latte…
Who’s StaNton?
S – T – A – T – O – N.
Jeezis.
My bad!! I stand corrected…
Staton.
Rob Staton.
Robert Staton?
We are all Robert Staton
Indeed, and the Hawk’s draft is Project Mayhem.
His name, was “Robert Staton!”
Rob said:
Debbie Downer alert, read at your own risk……..
I have now resigned myself to not winning a Super Bowl anytime in the next at least 5-7 years because of this. Geno will not get us there though of course I’d love to be wrong. I fully admit I had my hopes up way too high for Richardson and thanks to the Colts tank job, Russ finally playing well in week 17 and Roger Goodell allowing tanking as a strategy those hopes were dashed. I guess I should be happy with one championship tho of course it should’ve been 2 or more. Lightning rarely strikes in the same place twice so I highly doubt another round 3 Wilson is in the cards either. But who knows. That certainly is the hope I’m reduced to at the most important position in team sports. I’ll watch cuz I love this team and have since it was announced in 1974 that Seattle was going to get an NFL franchise and I always will. But frankly, like last year I just won’t have the same juice and I suspect that will be the case for many years because I want another championship, not yet another WC round exit or worse. 3 playoff wins since that horrible day that was Super Bowl 49 and did any of them really matter?
It could be worse, I could be a fan of a team that’s been in existence since 1977 and never even made the World Series let alone won a championship. Oh wait……………..
5-7 years is way too long. Remember, we won the SB in the second year of drafting Russell Wilson.
We’re not a true contender for the SB with Geno, I agree. But there is plenty that could happen 5 years from now.
We will see but as I said, lightning striking twice is unlikely and drafting high again is also unlikely.
Mahomes and Allen were not top 5 QBs, remember. Not saying there is going to be QB of that potencial available after the top 5 next years draft or in 2025, but there’s differente ways to draft a FQB.
And that is the hope I’m reduced to, that we get lucky with another Russ or a Hurts or somehow, some way Pete is willing to trade up into the top 10 ten get another guy like that. Considering we saw 3 go in the first 4 picks this year, it feels like those days in the NFL may well be over anyway and that could well be moot cuz everyone else sees what happened with those 2 guys and they ain’t about to let it happen again.
I here you big Mike ut I can actually make an argument for Geno….and iyt looks like they are gonna put weapons around him
I totally get where you’re coming from. It was definitely a Hans Moleman football to the groin moment when Richardson was picked.
But, I really like what they did once Richardson went. The picked high quality players at the 3rd & 4th most important positions on the field. And even though it would hurt, the Seahawks could pull a 49ers or Texans move and move up for the QB they want in the next couple of years.
Definitely not as exciting as having a potential franchise QB, but at least the team isn’t run by horrible cheapskates, like a certain other Seattle pro team.
I could not agree more with your last sentence.
Also remember that most drafts don’t have QBs going in 3 of the first 4 picks. This class was so completely devoid of blue chip talent at premium positions, and there was a perfect storm of QB-desperate teams at the top of the draft. In another year, it’s conceivable we could have seen at least Richardson fall into the teens, which is a feasible spot to trade into from the 20s if we continue to be a middling, stumble into the playoffs because our division sucks type of team like this year.
Great point
You’re correct but I don’t see another prospect like Richardson coming around any time soon. Let alone a prospect like him falling to the teens or 20’s where we could potentially land him.
7 and 10 is still pretty out of reach, unless we give up multiple future firsts. We really lucked out with Wilson because literally no one drafted QBs that short, but know they’re going 1st overall. It’s going to be a tough tough road now to find one.
Do you really think we “lucked out” with Wilson? Did we pick his name out of a hat? I think the Seahawks scouted him heavily, picked him before others did, and then built an offense around him where his strengths could be accentuated and his weaknesses could be diminished. Brilliant IMHO.
Going back further, were the Seahawks “lucky” to trade for a QB picked in the 6th round who ended up taking us to the SB for the first time? Holmgren knew MH from his GB days and he worked hard, through a contentious relationship, to mold MH into a QB who should have won a SB but for some lousy calls.
You don’t need to pick a consensus first round QB, or get lucky, to get to the big game.
Yes we were, two outliers do not make a trend. So you’re saying we can take any old 3-6 rounder and turn them into a franchise QB at any time of our choosing? That’s the norm to you, is that what you’re saying? Your odds are slim every given year and your odds of finding one decrease with each pick and each round, it’s like that with QBs and every other position in the NFL. Think of it this way, when you pick teams on the school playground, who gets picked first? And who goes last? Sure, once in a blue moon the last guy does the great, but the odds are incredibly slim. You know this, why are you even arguing this?
Jamarcus Russell Ryan Leaf Mitchell Trubisky Zach Wilson Carson Wentz (fool’s gold) Brady Quinn Art Schlicter Heath Shuler Rick Mirer (remember him??) Andre Ware Akili Smith David Klinger Dan McGwire (remember him??) Cade McNown Tim Couch Jerry Tagge Mike Phipps Kelly Stouffer (remember him??) Jack Thompson (sadly) Joey Harrington Vince Young Rich Campbell JP Losman Richard Todd Kerry Collins…..and I could go on, but just saying that you shouldn’t really be slitting your wrists just yet because 1st rd picks are less of a sure thing than the media hype creates, every year. Richardson might be great, but, there’s a pretty long list of potentially great QB’s picked in Rd 1 that didn’t work out.
If Seattle got Troy Palamalu as Carroll says, and got Cooper Kupp as Olave and Wilson his ex-teammates say, maybe not so bad?
Turns out Russ also had the talent to be a Hall of Famer. We set a window where we have last year and this year’s rookies. How long will that go along with Geno. Or Lock. Or whoever.
Exactly this. Having watched the Seahawks with my dad since I could walk it is incredible to me that many people don’t seem aware of the franchise QB woes of Seattle. The best QB to ever play for the franchise by far coincided with two Super Bowl appearances. That isn’t an accident. You either got a QB or you don’t. And the Seahawks don’t. So the results will be both predictable and disappointing. I prefer the boom or bust cycle personally to the 7-8 win cycle we’re about to be stuck in.
For me it’s a 7-10 cycle but otherwise, yeah.
I think it will be a range between 5-10 win seasons depending on injuries, SOS, and the timing of the Cardinals and Rams going through a major rebuild. But most seasons will land right around 7-8 wins if I had to place a bet. Unless they get a QB 😂
c’mon jordan. The last 2 Hawk SB appearances coincided with one of the greatest Defenses the NFL has ever seen! It’s a team game.
Did you know the Hawks are the ONLY team in NFL history with a Defense to lead the NFL in fewest points allowed for 4 STRAIGHT seasons? lmao. Yes, the ONLY team. And let’s not forget a powerful Beast mode run game.
So it was more coincidence that you’re tying RW to the SB appearances when it’s actually the D that got us there!!
Even in 2006, we had the best OL in football, 2 HOFer’s and Shaun with a record breaking TD season combined with an opportunistic D and a decent QB in MH. We should’ve won that SB.
I’m more excited about this team than I’ve been in the past 7 seasons. I can see the light and it’s getting bright.
Think about my post. Digest it. The ONLY D to lead the NFL 4 straight seasons. Even most Hawk fans don’t know that stat.
I checked the Roster Seahawks Absolutely have QB’s on their roster. MAtter of fact they have 2 QB’s.
Can you have a Superbowl contender without a Franchise HOF QB – Yes. It helps to have a good team around him or ANY QB. Would the Seahawks be better with one of the Top QBs from last year. Probably. Good enough to go to or Win the Superbowl. Most likely not. If Jalen Hurts was on the Seahawks. I don’t think Jalen gets us to the Superbowl…because of our defense. Not sure Mahomes could even pull that one off. But who knows…it’s a “what if” type of question that know one knows the answer.
It takes more than a good QB to get to Superbowl. Ask many of the HOF QBs that never won or even played in a Superbowl. Our defense was terrible last year against the run. But, having a Franchise QB would be great. But, they are hard to find. Last year and this year the Seahawks were not in a position to find one in the drafts. SO what do you do? You do the best you can with what you have.
I remember when Joe Flacco helped lead the Baltimore Ravens to a Super Bowl title in 2012 despite a QB rating that ranked 12th in the NFL and 18th according to ESPN’s calculations. Sure QB rating is a deeply flawed stat but he didn’t rank in the top 10 in any category except for fourth quarter comebacks and game winning drives, both of which he had a knack for.
When the Giants beat the Patriots in the 2007 Super Bowl, Eli Manning was an atrocious QB, finishing 25th in both ratings, probably because he threw only 23 touchdown passes and tied for the league lead in interceptions with 20. It was the Giants’ defense and their game plan that took the Pats down, not to mention one of the greatest and craziest plays ever seen. Manning deserves credit for escaping what should have been a game-ending sack and throwing the ball where only David Tyree could catch it.
The 2000 Ravens won with Tony Banks (1st half of the season) and Trent Dilfer (second half) at QB and they ranked 27th and 20th, respectively in QB rating, and combined for 20 TDs and 19 INTs.
I could go on but the short answer is yes you can win a Superbowl without a Franchise HOF type QB, but it would be a lost easier to have one. Honestly only about a 1/4 of NFL teams do and every team is looking for the next HOF. Needle in a haystack. They are just hard to come by.
“I don’t think Jalen gets us to the Superbowl…because of our defense. Not sure Mahomes could even pull that one off.”
Kansas City had a bottom 5 defense in 2018 and Mahomes still willed that team to the AFC Championship game that year. It should have earned them their first Super Bowl appearance had his team won the coin toss and put the ball in his hands in overtime.
They win the coin toss and Chiefs very likely are SB champs in 2018 with the shittiest SB winning defense in history.
Just sayin.
Just sayin.
Do you see a large gap between Matt Hasselbeck and Geno Smith?
I think ownership has to change followed by some amount of purging before another championship window appears. 5-7 years seems ambitious, but if Pete & Co stack talent for the new guys, all the better for a quick turnaround.
Agree 100% Gross and I’m hoping 5-7 isn’t overly ambitious but you may well be correct, it may be.
Levis – and I’m not so sure he is off the Seahawks board, I suspect rather that they may have predicted his fall and due to his age and the other teams going a different direction. (LAR, TEN, OAK, TB & NO join us in potentially waiting and seeing). This is essentially what happened with Rodgers, Hurts, Wilson…
Lock – think that he could be the higher upside Geno. We will have a better idea after the preseason.
2024, but QB middle class arriving, which could open the door for a player to slip.
My nightmare was discussed on the post-draft livestream, Levis and McVay hoisting up Lombardi trophies while I sit in a comment section section arguing with someone who wants to take a 400lbs Nose Tackle that can’t defend the run.
I’m backing off the ledge a little this morning and there’s still plenty of draft left. I’m with you on the QB situation though Mike and I thought Levis at 20 made a lot of sense until the rest of the league continued to pass on him. Spoon and JSN are going to be very good players IMO but does a second corner and a 3rd wr move the needle that much? If you put Justin Jefferson and jalen Ramsey on last years squad does that result in 1-2 more wins? I get the BPA argument and that the draft didn’t fall the way we would have hoped but BPA is very subjective- they could have drafted bijan and Mayer and you could copy and paste the same reasoning.
Again there are many picks to be made with excellent players still on the board, but I’d rather roll with the unknown of Levis than the known of geno and lock.
So if we end up with 2 lock down corners, solve the run defense even 20% and a high flying offense led by Geno (he broke Wilson’s records didn’t he?), you still don’t think we have a chance?
Did Hurts outplay Geno? How much is Hurts getting paid now?
People really tend to forget how quickly team’s fortunes change year to year. While we didn’t have a great D last season, at least half the starters are changed. Their D *could* come together and do well enough to give us an 11 win season.
So for all the woe is me, we’re never going to contend, let’s just remember we contended with a 3rd Round QB for a decade and we did it on the back of a legendary secondary. Woolen and Witherspoon could change our fortunes dramatically.
I think we need to be realistic Ben
It’s year two of a rebuild
As of right now I would say they are still a long, long, long way away from being a serious playoff threat
That’s fine though. They’re trying to build
Agree with this. And this is why I am fine with not drafting a QB this year (if the right one fell, I think they would have done it). This roster is not a contending roster. It needs another off season. So get better this year, hopefully crush the next off season (I think they have done really well on the last two) and then see what the QB landscape looks like. If you have to trade some future draft capital, so be it.
In the meantime, they have a solid QB, and this team hopefully can contend for a playoff spot again, and learn what playoff ball is (again).
Disagree, Rob. Rebuild, yes, but long way off in this NFC?
This team is making dramatic strides forward. It’s a focus on the front 7, a few players. That is NOT a long, long, long way away.
This is going to be a top 3 NFC Offense in 2023 alone. We still have picks to upgrade the DL and LB core and reason I don’t want to grab a TE in rd 2. Why?
We don’t have enough footballs to go around as it is!!
This team is much closer in this NFC. Heck, with NO defense we played SF toe to toe for 1 half. Given another year of the 2022 class and this 2023 class, the SF Hawk gap is closing quickly.
I 100% disagree that we’re a long, long, long way from being a serious playoff threat.
I predict a playoff W this season! Wild card on the road like 2012 at Fed EX. I was there. It was awesome.
Yes, they are a long way off
The NFC doesn’t have to be loaded to still be incredibly far behind the top teams
Fans have had their heads turned by a nine win season with a ridiculously easy schedule and a half of competitive football in the playoffs
They are a long way away from being a serious playoff threat
And that’s fine. They are building again
One thing to take into consideration is the 2nd year jump by Cross Walker Lucas Mafe Bryant Woolen and Young. Fully agree this is the biggest schedule swing I can remember — from super easy to super difficult — but it’s not just about the new blood. Seattle had 7 rookies getting significant snaps
And they will have a chance to develop but for me I think this is 2011-esque not 2012
Also all that said, I want Levis. I’m not going to complain if we snag him up in round 2. But it feels like people are complaining about that possibility…
If they decide to roll a different direction though, it is what it is. You can’t force some things to happen.
Wilson had every bit as much to do with Seattle contending for a decade as that secondary did.
I would argue it was more Wilson than the LOB. That defense would have gone down in the history books on the same page as “sacksonville.” For those of you that dont remeber Jacksonville had a truly elite D for a few years that made it to a championship game, but with blake bortles they just werent ever a real threat. I also think anything said about the nfl prior to 2020 or so is moot because the rule changes are clearly rewarding offense.
And our historic 1992 defense that got the team to two wins.
LMAO. That was a NFL historic Defense!! Repeat…. 4 straight seasons leading the NFL in fewest points allowed! LMAO. Without that D, we don’t SNIFF a SB appearance, we may not even make the playoffs.
When we lost the D, Wilson wasn’t able to carry us, so why the fascination with over drafting a QB in this draft?
Look at the QB’s drafted in the top 10 recently.
2014 Blake Bortles #3
2015 J. Winston #1 M. Marriota #2
2016 J. Goff #1 C. Wentz #2
2017 M. Tribisky #2 P. Mahomes #10
2018 B. Mayfield #1 S. Darnold #3 J. Allen #7 J. Rosen #10
2019 K. Murray #1 D. Jones #6
2020 J. Burrow #1 Tua T #5 J. Herbert #6
2021 T. Lawrence #1 Z Wilson #2 T. Lance #3
How many great QB’s are there? Burrow and Mahomes to SB’s, J Allen still needs a team around him.
5 years from now, we’ll look back at this 2023 QB class and I doubt anyone of these QB’s will have been in the SB.
Do you think the Jets are happy about taking Z. Wilson? They had to go work a trade for ARod.
49ers happy they used 3 first rd selections on T. Lance? lmao! Had the 9ers BUILT their team, they likely are in and won a SB. HEck, a 7th rd QB almost took them there if not for serious injury.
This QB class is so overrated. Houston, Carolina, Indy won’t have done jack squat 5-7 years from now because they don’t have a team.
I like our TEAM building approach and GENO can get us to a SB.
A bit over-optimistic but I’m with you
“Had the 9ers BUILT their team, they likely are in and won a SB. HEck, a 7th rd QB almost took them there if not for serious injury.”
Homer goggles a bit too tight there. Drafting a 7th round starting quarterback isn’t considered team building? If Schneider had done that he’d be hailed a visionary.
*3rd round quarterback who will be in the Hall of Fame and reshaped what people think of short quarterbacks and is maybe the best clutch player at his position in his generation. He should have been a first round pick and it was only because of his height that he wasn’t. Put him straight out of college in this year’s draft and he goes ahead of Young.
There. fixed your statement.
And let’s not call this defense as anything remotely similar to the Legion.
And Hurts did outplay Geno. And is young. And hung with the Mahomes. And almost willed his team to the Super Bowl. Geno ain’t cutting it and the team said that with his contract.
Geno is fine. Broke the single season passing yards record with a whole extra game….color me “meh,” about that.
I agree. I feel a little better and can see the two picks helping.
There is still that giant hole at the most important position in sports. It’s too big of an unknown and too big of a “hope it gets figured out later.”
I was up late last night amped up on caffeine and salsa. I saw an old Twilight Zone episode where it was said “You can’t be the best by playing it safe all of the time ”
The Cross, Witherspoon and JSN seem like level headed decisions that have immediately made the Seahawks better. Seattle can keep adding quality players every year and maybe Geno will win a playoff game at some point. Winning a playoff game seems to be the ceiling with this current iteration of the roster build.
Rob has stated that this is year 2 of a rebuild. This team is at least a few years and several players away from being in contention regardless of who the QB is. There is no indication that Drew Lock is ever going to be a franchise QB. Any NFL team could have picked him up for cheap this offseason. Geno also could have been had for not that much money.
It seems to me that the current high risk is that the Seahawks are taking is that a 35-36 year old Geno Smith can lead a contender. At some point Seattle will have to take a risk on drafting an unproven signal caller. Is that today taking a risk on a pair of QBs in Levis or Hooker that the NFL is down on?
Good post. As for your question at the end, very doubtful imo. But I agree that if they want a championship, risk will have to be taken at some point. And no, a 4th rounder on DRT, Jake Haener is not the risk I’m talking about.
There is also a very real chance that a 4throunder like DRT or Jake Haener ends up better than an unpolished player like Richardson or even Levis. The bust factor is high for low-experience QBs.
Honest question, because I don’t see how you address it, how does Goodell prevent tanking as a strategy?
All I can come up with is a lottery like the NBA. Won’t eliminate it for sure but will limit it better. Anyone else with other suggestions, I’m all ears because this Colts franchise has done it twice and I’m frankly sick of them and sick of their shenanigans.
Ah yes lottery! I kinda like the lottery system. And you could do a lottery per round, to really randomize things out throughout the draft, so one team doesn’t get too much in their favor.
I’d be in on that.
I’m surprised they haven’t done it because the Lottery, as I understand it for the NBA, is a highly watched event, so it’s a revenue generator.
Thank you for being a Great fan. Those of us who are old enough to have been ‘buy-ins’ from the get-go have seen a lot of mishaps. We have also seen a tremendous amount of high-riding success.
Most of the best of the entire Seahawks’ history actually comes from the last regime. They have earned my trust. Like you, I have been a passionate Seahawk fan since well before they were even named (my submission to the naming was ‘SeaKings’ – they chose a Much better name). Even though I played the game, plus coached some, and watch a lot of film in my spare time, I simply do not have the ability to claim any level of expertise over what PC/JS’s provides.
The film on our picks is Far superior to film on the QBs. ‘Spoon is a welcome banger who will provide the kind of lift that Kam and Earl did, only from the CB position. Seriously. He is the Best tackling CB I-Have-Ever-Seen. Simply Wow…and he wears that number for a reason we can all appreciate.
JS-N is absolutely un-guardable (Hoops term intended) as his moves simply lose his man and against zone, he stops on a dime. Truly remarkable. I promise we all will be singing his praises in the post season.
Drafting QBs too early is often repeated by losing teams. I sure am pleased we did not make a NY Jets kind of mistake at the top of the draft. Despite my passionate wish for them to prioritize the ‘Bigs’, we sure got some Stellar ‘smalls’ with 8 picks left to work with so no tears in my coffee this morning.
I hope the rest of the draft picks up your mood. This short clip (link below) should help you…GO HAWKS!
https://www.google.com/search?q=devon+witherspoon&rlz=1C1RXQR_enUS1009US1012&oq=devon+witherspoon&aqs=chrome.0.0i271j46i131i433i512j35i39i650l2j0i20i131i263i433i512j69i60l3.15264j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:6623b23f,vid:kW-q9Al09jY
THIS is the kind of CB that would make Pete Carroll want to get him at #5. Coverage, Recognition, Hands, change of direction, Leadership and he brings the Boom back to our backfield.
JS-N looks like Largent. I did not want any highlight since he was “too slow” to be drafted by the Seahawks. That may have got a lot of us. Sometimes you know too much to consider all the options. When I did watch some highlights it was like looking at Largent. There is a special connection to the ground and a slant to the body that is special. I love the pick now.
“watch”
Comment fail.
Like the Carter equals tez.
One guy had a great single college season and the other guy is literally one of the very best to ever do it. At not just his position. But the entirety of the game.
I don’t know about Largent as a comp, would have to think about it some. I will admit though when I was watching JSNs highlights yesterday one player did enter my mind … Largent.
I hear your frustration Big Mike, but let’s be realistic: There was never a chance of Anthony Richardson falling to #5—at least never in my mind. Not once did I buy that Indy would take the vastly inferior Will Levis over Richardson, as my pre-draft commentary shows. I projected that the only way Seattle could have taken Richardson would have been via trading up with Houston, but that this might not be possible due to Houston wanting Richardson for themselves. As it turns out, Houston didn’t want Richardson, but—as we can all now see—neither were they willing to drop down to #5 and take leftovers. There’s nothing Seattle could have done to effect this trade-up other than to throw away their entire draft plan (Schneider mentioned in the post-draft interview that moving up from #5 was too “expensive”). To get a player of Richardson’s caliber, the Hawks would have needed Denver to gift them the #3 pick, and the football gods denied them that…
…So they did the best they could. Let’s hope that buck-eighty corner holds up.
This is where I’m at. I don’t think Pete Carroll sniffs another Super Bowl, hell I don’t think he sniffs another Championship round.
Who knows how we look back on all this in a few years. Hopefully with a lot of success even without a Super Bowl, BUT I fear that Geno’s little breakout will be looked back upon as something that probably would’ve been better off not happening.
My expectations are, well, I don’t really expect much until Geno and Pete are out of the building, so I can only be surprised at this point. I did like the draft, but I’ve long thought that Pete Carroll would not be the real reason why we get back to a Super Bowl, just like he was not the reason why we nearly made it back to a Championship game in 2019. That was ALL Russell Wilson against the Packers in the divisional round and Pete took the ball out of his hands.
Take heart, JP. It’s a long-term rebuild. You can’t get it all at once. The top three quarterbacks were simply out of Seattle’s reach. The trade-up costs would have been prohibitively costly, and the trade-down values simply were not worth missing out on a corner with a unicornily competitive mentality. Will Levis is clearly not the Hawks’ guy, and I couldn’t agree more on that. I never liked Levis. Richardson was my guy of guys—my biggest draft crush since Russell Wilson and Aaron Curry before him—but Denver handed over #5, not the #3 necessary to get Richardson. Yes, Witherspoon’s diminutiveness worries me, however, I can see what the Hawks are doing. They’re building. It’s Year Two. Chill.
Big Mike the world is not falling. Like you I am 66 and became a huge Seahawk fan when they announced a team was coming to Seattle in 1976. Although I wanted a qb my favorite all time player on the Hawks is Kenny Easley and overall Barry Sanders just loved to watch them and both never won a Super Bowl. I just enjoy watching great players.
I agree with the best player available approach and actually believe that Schneider has a good eye for qb’s so eventually we will get a qb at least capable of bringing a good overall team to the promised game. I have watched years and years (90’s) of poor Seahawk play and still enjoyed games by concentrating on the play of the few oustanding players such as Cortez that they had. Still think we will get to and win another superbowl (maybe more than 1) in my lifetime. I have been a season ticket holder for many years and will cheer on Geno as long as he is our qb. The sky is not falling and we are just in the middle of a rebuild and I think rebuilding is what Carroll and Schneider do best as opposed to maintaining a great roster or adding to it.
Enjoy the rest of the draft. I am sure there will be more surprises but ultimately think we will get a bunch of very good players with high character. I would rather have high character players on my team who I can get my grandchildren to cheer and look up to as opposed to someone with low character even if they may possibly have more talent.
I want to thank Rob and Robbie Robbie Robbie for preparing me beforehand to accept the draft for what it is – a rebuilding process where we are not putting on the finishing touches.
Being a huge fan of this blog and using it as my primary source for draft information made these picks surprising. But that is OK. Rob has done such a great job at identifying the Seahawks draft patterns and that has rightly heavily influenced discussion on the blog if what the team will do. Now they are breaking those patterns. That is probably not a bad thing, given the numerous bad drafts they had year after year.
I’m definitely disappointed that we could not parlay the RW trade compensation into QBOTF. But if they did not want Levis, I’m happy with Witherspoon over every other player available at #5. The ita gibles are so important at QB and the teams have much better info on intangibles than the general public, so I think we need to trust them. And I do love watching good DB play.
Ita gibles = intangibles
Have a hard time seeing JSN as a competitive Seahawks type after he sat for a year, and I just saw a usually sober commenter on another site comparing him to Justin Jefferson. But enough about yesterday, I had wanted an offensive weapon at 20, for better or worse that is what I got.
Still think they may be satisfied with their edge room at this point.
I’m also still Zacch Pickens #1 fan, curious to wonder how Pickens and Carter would have looked had they swapped places for the last 2 years.
JSN did not “sat for a year”. He was injured with a hamstring last year.
Agree to disagree
My take:
He either quit on his team to preserve his future, understandable, not my type of guy
Or
He is incredibly fragile, and will never play a full schedule in the NFL, not my type of guy.
So he was faking a hamstring injury? Is there any report or rumor about this?
Two things can be true.
He actually injured his hamstring and not being able to come back to play is a red flag that matches many past and present players in the roster.
Dee Eskridge does not like your post Peter.
Injuries happen. Tyler Lockett broke his leg his second season with us and is still playing at a high level. And Lockett is smaller than JSN.
Accusing a new Seahawks of quitting on his team is not cool, IMO.
I’m just making an observation based upon my own experiences.
I’m also not suggesting he’s of poor character for choosing to preserve his career over his teammates in the short term.
Seattle area reporters are more fawning that they are hard hitting…. So I doubt this will ever really be covered the way it would in a market such as Philadelphia.
I certainly hope the JSN proves me wrong, but for now he gets to where the crown of my least favorite Seahawk… one Mr. Eskridge
JS-N played in the Rose Bowl that two first-round WRs sat out of…the dude only collected 347 yards! That performance was incredible. I bet his teammates appreciated his big-time step up when abandoned by those other two players.
Seriously. He has had two games where he caught 17 passes, while two other NFL 1st-rounders were playing. The Seahawks have drafted an un-guardable weapon.
BTW – At over 1600 yards, he outproduced each of those other guys – one of which was last year’s O-ROY. So we got a guy who as a red-shirt freshman, outproduced the next NFL Rookie of the Year…pretty cool. Hamstrings are funny (I pulled one once). Word is, we tried to come back too soon. Sounds a little like he did not give up on his team. At least that is my take. Now let’s draft some Bigs…
Pointing out the bulk of his production occurred in a handful of games is…never mind.
He is megatron spliced with Jerry Rice.
But ask yourself, who would win in a fight, 100 mini JSNs or JSN himself?
Utah was incredibly banged up and playing with linebackers in their secondary. Still, 347 yards is a staggering number. Can’t knock that.
I didn’t say he quit on his team
Nope. You didn’t.
I did though. And I’m inclined to stand by that.
Maybe I’ll go off on some fan post to vent all my JSN concerns one day. For now I’ll just let people be excited wondering if he will break some of, or all of Jerry Rice’s records.
CJ Prosise would like to have a word with you, but can’t at the moment as he is currently “injured”
So would Jamal Adams but he’s too busy out shopping with Alan.
Shaun Springs had the same injury, came back too soon and ended up with a hole in his hammy. As talented as he was he was not the same player pre injury.
Didn’t say that.
I’m not into harsh in everyone’s buzz. I hope JSN proves me wrong. That is a very long time to be out with the hamstring injury he was supposed to have. That’s why I provided and either or.
Carryon with comparing him to Justin Jefferson or whomever, that was the last breathless comp I saw.
There was a sentiment during the season that he was protecting himself for the NFL, after picking up a nagging injury
I’m sure the Seahawks did their homework on all of that
I’m positive they did their homework on JSN.
That is why I am leaning towards sitting out versus fragility.
It’s interesting to note have a team views this, as it looks like a trend in college.
I’m wary of people who are motivated more by paycheck than by pride, I suspect JSN is the latter. I can see why the Seahawks made the pick, and I hope he proves me wrong.
JS mentioned they would continue to “take care of him and get him ready to go”.
https://youtu.be/IcY1oOgn78A?t=468
I don’t see Justin Jefferson at all in JSN. Very different players.
But few players will compare to Jefferson, a truly incredible talent
Careful….
JSN is not Cooper Kupp, Justin Jefferson, Steve Largent, Jerry Rice, or whatever wide receiver comp, somebody makes; appears to be the new ‘ the Seahawks may not take a Jalen Carter because of character concerns’.
I’ve said my peace, and I avoid discussing the player until the season, and then just his performance
OMG!!!!
Not all hamstring injuries are created equal. They actually come in degrees. Did you not know this? Did you not know that JSN’s hamstring remained in a state of risk even up to the time of his pro day? He wasn’t even going to run his forty, out of concern for inducing a setback in his rehab, but he went for it anyway, and now the Hawks are going to continue his rehab up until training camp. It was a very serious injury…
…Which could reflect on his unsuitability for the game, I’ll grant that. Maybe he’s going to be one of these “always in the shop” types like Dee Eskridge. That, I can’t say. But I won’t denigrate JSN’s competitiveness for not forcing himself back onto the field and potentially jeopardizing his career prospects. That’s not fair.
It’s gibles = intangibles
BPA all day you were so right on Carter and ultimately the Hawks ook the most SeaHawkey player.Lion Im sure wanted him and took their draft into a tailspin
Im using the cheat sheet big board you made all day!
Love what they did yesterday, even though I was a big proponent of adding a young quarterback. Obviously Houston wasn’t trading back, and I suspect getting a 2024 1st was attractive to them in case they want to reset at QB next year. Houston’s pick will likely be much higher than Seattle’s even if you would have wanted them to trade it (which I wouldn’t have).
WR and CB are premium positions and this builds on what we did in the draft last year, spending 8 of 9 picks on expensive to fill positions. If Witherspoon hits the ground running our CB and WR rooms could be amongst the best in the league. I am hoping for at least one big defensive lineman, but if BPA leads them in a different direction, I am fine with it.
I have no idea what they’ll do today.
But after these two picks I wouldn’t mind going truly BPA, especially if those align with needs or can further strengthen these units.
Like Branch or Skinner to make a young great secondary. Heck, even another CB is OK.
Mayer or Downs or Mingo or other TEs to help the passing game further.
I’m pretty disappointed but curious to see what they’ll do
5.Devon Witherspoon
CB Illinois
20.Jaxon Smith-Njigba
WR Ohio State
37.Michael Mayer
TE Notre Dame
52.Adetomiwa Adebawore
EDGE Northwestern
83.Luke Wypler
OC Ohio State
123.Byron Young
EDGE Tennessee
136.Byron Young
DT Alabama
trade icon
151.Andrew Vorhees
OG USC
154.Dorian Williams
LB Tulane
198.Deneric Prince
RB Tulsa
237.Chris Rodriguez Jr.
RB Kentucky
Love it!
How would we distinguish one Byron from the other? Jerseys with Byron #1 and Byron #2 stitched? lol
Awesome!
I would would literally attempt a backflip even if I landed on my head If this happens even close
Traded Fant for 136 with drafting Mayer so nice cap relief too. I’d love it for sure.
Sign me up for that draft for sure ! love it
Fun little PFN mock.
The only positions that BPA and need would not meet up are WR, S (unless it means a sure change of the gaurd), CB, OT, OLB/edge (If we have to move on from Nwosu for cap, our problem wasn’t edge/OLB last season) and possibly RB (but we really do need at least one) and TE (cap space with trade, and two of our three only have 1 year remaining). So only 3 positions WR, CB, OT are off my board for need meets BPA. 3 positions (TE, S, Edge/OLB) that would make me expect trade of player for pick mostly for possible cap reasons. Only one position RB that makes me ask, ok now how do we fill all the other needs? especially OL and DL.
How big of a meltdown will there be if we pick Skinner at #37? Love these picks btw
I must admit, I was fairly upset with the first pic of a little corner. He may be ferocious, but size matters in the NFL, and the first time he runs into a bigger guy, he could get hurt. This thing does not like the fog. I have a real swing for lunch or short short now fuck person second person right down the line on call Adam and I went like this shorter ones musically power it up there go home.
Am I having a stroke?
Nope, I think Sluggo had a stroke while he was typing!
Oh geez- Siri kept typing whilst golfing- and then was nice enuff to post- derrrr
I’m snorting laughing. I needed that.
Also need to go golfing to fix my current mood. Supposed to go last Saturday and it was 27 and 1.5 inches of snow in Denver….
If that was your typing, I’d hate to view your cognition!
Honestly, if I would have to vote who had the best draft so far, it would be the Cardinals for me. I love that trade down then the subsequent trade up.
On a different note, I would like to get O’Connell late in the draft at this point. I would say his major concern was that he ran an extremely simple offense in college. On that point, sitting for a couple years would give him a decent bit of upside in my opinion.
I’m kindia mad at Seattle for making me look like an idiot. I state here that JS/PC have never drafted a WR or CB in the 1st round and of course that’s not true anymore. You were right Rob about the Eagles trading down to get Carter although it was 1 spot. This draft also showed me that RB are no longer being taken for granite anymore with 2 going higher in the 1st round. Don’t be surprised if Steelers grab Michael Mayer early in the 2nd round because in interview with Tomlinson stressed TE strongly as the coach was talking about there needs. My mock draft I missed on Richardson but all my other players are still in play but I’m pretty sure the CB and WR I pick won’t be making the cut. The last thing I’d like to say is I know the 2 players we picked because of your website Rob.
If we hit the 2 best players at their positions in this draft then I’m happy. If Geno was the plan all along then why didn’t we trade Rw earlier and play him? The last 2 years doesn’t appear to have a QB plan – but hey what do I know. Run it back with Geno we made the playoffs right?
I don’t think it’s fair to say they don’t have a plan, because clearly they feel set with Geno and Lock. Everyone laughed at Pete’s “two #1s” comment until Geno went out and proved he is a legit QB1. And nobody can say they didn’t do their due diligence on this year’s QB crop. People might not like the Geno/Lock plan but it is A plan.
Yeah, definitely a plan. That’s about it.
The two #1’s comment is Pete being Pete. We have a trade throw in an a journeyman 32 year-old. Lock is a basic, one year contract. Geno’s is a short-term, easy out contract. They were planning on something else that fell through, whatever that is.
I think they have a situation that they are comfortable with more than a plan.
The Hawks passed twice on Levis; At some point, potential/value will outweigh draft position. Maybe the hawks are tempted into trading with Pitt. Get your QB and still have your second 2nd-rounder to get your center
Or maybe they just think he sucks.
Weird post and just my two cents.
Levis doesn’t suck, he’s just tightly wound and not relaxed. That’s the difference between being a high pick and leader of men to a later pick at the highest level.
Successful people are calm and focused. This makes them better leaders, more spontaneous and genuine, more in touch with their soul.
You might think this is trivial and not important to football, and to some degree you might be right. But perhaps he is susceptible to pressing or being controlling
But any psychologist will tell you that it the key to having an enjoyable life and truly being successful.
Well let’s use Young as an example. He said learning to control his breathing has gone a long way to being relaxed and poised.
So you are saying Levis needs to go the jarred kelenic school of leveling up before he can unleash his potential?
Does Joe Tippmann have the versatility to play OG or C?
Was thinking he could start his rookie season like Unger did at OG to get our best 5 on the field & then take over C year 2.
Yes, that’s one of the reasons I prefer him. Plus he’s the most athletic/twitchy center, which is very important for our type of offense.
I’m a sucker for good Offensive Linemen. Tippmann could kill 2 birds with one stone (C/G) if he’s the only OL they select in this draft. Could be where BPA meets need. Did he get the Hutch seal of approval??? We shall see.
Excited for tonight!
That versatility and the superior athleticism could be a good reason to prefer him over JMS. Then they would have both Evan Brown and Tippmann who could fill both C/G if (when?) Haynes misses time again.
Probably ‘when’. Perhaps Tippmann would beat out Haynes for the starting role out of the gate & we could keep Haynes mileage low until he’s absolutely required for injury fill in.
Make no mistake, sitting at number 5 and unwilling to get involved in trading up for the 1st pick or the 3rd pick, John passed on all these quarterbacks. And he might be right. Time will tell.
I don’t really agree Geoff
Arizona were always going to be inclined to deal with someone else at #3 if they got a good deal (and they did)
Moving up to #1 would’ve cost a fortune (it did)
Well when John says Arizona wouldn’t deal with us, I’ll agree, but that’s not what he said when explicitly asked. He could’ve easily answer that, slam dunk answer, everyone would be like “makes sense”, but he didn’t. I’m sure it would’ve been steeper, but going essentially from 3 to 6 gave AZ a 2024 1st rounder (or 2nd rounder today). And if we don’t take Witherspoon, Detroit doesn’t trade and they miss getting their tackle, so it was a gamble going down and back up rather than straight to 5. If John wanted Richardson, I think he could’ve got him, but it tells me he didn’t really want him all that much.
Moving to #1 would’ve cost us less than Carolina, going from 5 to 1 rather than 9. Yes, it would’ve cost a lot, but probably less than the Adams trade, and what that tells me is either John was asleep at the wheel or he didn’t think any of these QBs were worth it. I don’t think he even inquired about it. The Chiefs and the Bills gave up a bit too, but I’m sure they still believe it was worth it. Carolina’s probably thinking that now. And now we have to find a franchise QB the hard way.
I can’t prove it and we’ll never know, but Adams was imo 1000% Pete and only Pete.
Schneider did say the price to trade up was too high.
I know, and that’s quite a bit different than AZ being unwilling to trade with us, which I would accept. Was the price too high for Mahomes, or Allen, or Bryce Young? Or Tre Lance (lol)? The price was too high…for the player that was there. And they may have even preferred Anderson over Richardson too. A lot we don’t know, but if a franchise QB was there, why would it be too high? Which makes me think one wasn’t, and that would mean Richardson.
He did say they knew something was going on with HOU-AZ, which leads me to believe they were at least in some form of communication with AZ.
Personally, this roster has waaaaay too many holes in it to trade a bunch of draft stock for a QB. I want my roster set before I push chips in trading away first round picks.
And who’s fault is it the roster’s to bad? Anyway, QB was always going to sit for at least a year and rookie QBs take awhile to hit their stride, even if starting their first year. That opening just got pushed back a year. I just don’t think they were sold on any of these QBs. If they felt a true franchise QB was there, I think they would have made the effort. It absolutely gets a shit ton harder to find one now. You grab when when the opportunity is there, you don’t wait and plug them in when the team is ready. You could be waiting for a decade stuck in QB purgatory.
I’ve added scouting quotes on Witherspoon & JSN to the article
Thanks man amazing work!
Hate we didn’t get Richardson, but not sure what they could have done (nothing) to move up to get him. The Broncos winning late really killed it for us (Texans/Colts game, etc.). It’s really just unfortunate and bluntly – sucks.
That said, I’m thankful for BPA. If you get good enough all around – you can still win with a bum QB. It just makes it much harder.
I won’t complain about a consistent dose of BPA. One thing I’d like to see today is a trade down or two with the sole purpose to add 2024 draft picks. Adding a 2nd rounder somehow would be great.
So I noticed something watching the announcement of Witherspoon. Im preetty sure that the one other player in the green room who got up right away and gave Witherspoon a hug was JSN. I know it doesnt mean much but JSN was an extraordinary college receiver and I felt it was a moment of game recognizing game. Just cool to see and now they get to compete everyday.
Im higher than most on JSN. I think he is an amazing talent and I take Hartline’s word on him. He says he is the 2nd best from tOSU from recent years and he said Wilson and Olave agree that JSN is the best of those 3. Also putting him ahead of McLaurin. Only Harrison Jr he rated higher and I tthink anyone who pays any attention would agree with that.
I honestly hope they continue to go BPA atleast through today and then if we still need DL help then maybe you force the issue. I think our Edges are better today with the level of our secondary.
So BPA for today and possibly all the way if that means we get the DT we want. Im less concerned with edge than I was before and frankly I wasnt that concerned with edge. I would have wanted Anderson to add to that.
How nice it would be if after everyone has finally written Jamal off…even his defenders into last season…he actually comes out and has a good year to help the defense. Cause all of a sudden you have a lot of leadership on defense compared to a year ago if he can play 60-70% of snaps.
And Witherspoon excitedly ran out on an interview to go congratulate JSN when he was picked at 20.
Thanks for all you do here Rob. This site is truly amazing and I consider myself well spoiled by all this great content.
I was not originally that enthusiastic about the Witherspoon pick, but there’s a lot of moving parts to it. I don’t think they could trade up, and it sounds like they weren’t getting the offers they wanted to trade down. If Anderson or Richardson were there, I think they would have happily picked either one, but once the top three QBs and Anderson were gone, pick 5 is kind of no mans land in regard to value this year. BPA though, so I look forward to having two lock down CBs creating coverage sacks. I was hoping they would nab Levis at 20, but they obviously see something I don’t and they have forgotten more about football than I will probably ever know.
I think at this point, they have to abandon the BPA approach a little bit and address the D-line and center as well. They said as much about the D-line last night.
Keep up the great work Rob, and get some shuteye.
See some comments that the team went BPA last year and look how that worked…..
Sort of.
I mean they actually needed tackles. A running back. Better corners.
This year the guys could both be BPA and in the case of JSN Seattle has actually been very lucky to get by so long at such a high level with two recievers.
That’s kind of what I am trying to say (maybe poorly). Addressing BPA is fine, but now they need to do it in the same manner they did last year. Tackles, edge and RB were all needs that happened to be BPA as well.
Sometimes need meets BPA on your board. This year that obviously hasn’t been the case; Yet….
It was reported that the Cardinals would still have taken Paris Johnson Jr. at #3 and the Colts certainly weren‘t going to move off of Anthony Richardson which means that the Texans essentially traded in front of the Seahawks for Will Anderson. This would suggest he was probably plan A for PCJS at #5.
Almost certain, as we’ve been saying
Yup, and they said they had two players at #5 that they wouldn’t move down if they were there, Witherspoon being one of them. That means the QB thing in the end was never really the plan? Or their plan was Hooker/Levis later all along?
To be fair, they probably knew they wouldn’t have a shot at the top 3 QBs anyways, whether they liked them or not.
Yep, I saw the quote about having 2 guys they weren’t going to move for and that’s what we did or something to that effect and read it to mean probably Anderson as the other and not Richardson.
Correct. Anderson and Witherspoon were their guys at #5.
JS also said they got wind yesterday morning of the Texans laying the groundwork to move up from 12 to 3, so they probably knew at that moment that Anderson wouldn’t be there and it was simply too expensive for them to outbid them.
I think the QB’s they liked were gone but we’ll never know
Pete said they liked a couple of QB’s
And there was ample buzz about Richardson
Agree. In the end, seeing what we’ve now seen with Levis, it’s highly likely Stroud and Richardson were the two they liked, especially Richardson with what we know about JS’ preferences in the past.
Feels like a pretty safe reading of the tea leaves to me.
JS let slip that they had only two players on their board they were willing to take at #5 and Devon Witherspoon was one of them. The other had to be Will Anderson.
Meaning….Richardson was not a consideration.
That’s not how I parsed those comments at all
And Pete said the day before there were two QB’s they’d be happy to have
He didn’t say he like them at #5. He just said they two players they liked at #5 and that on e of them was Witherspoon. Considering his love of alphas, I can’t imagine the other guy wasn’t Will Anderson.
I think you’re reading into too much about that comment, which could easily mean anything
JS didn’t say, directly, ‘there were only two players in the whole draft we wanted at five’
To be honest, who even cares? Trying to make statements of fact based on fairly vague comments is futile
Interesting news on Levis’ fall. Sorry if this was already posted, lots of comments to sift through! Strange as I don’t recall every hearing concerns about a lingering injury. Wonder if maybe it’s less a case of us not liking him, and more a case that we either didn’t want the injury risk or knew that the injury would drive him out of the first round? Guess we’ll find out soon!
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/news/will-levis-falls-in-nfl-draft-heres-a-reason-that-may-have-caused-qbs-stock-to-plummet-per-report/
Interesting if a toe injury is the reason for the fall. Particularly since Tyree Wilson’s foot didn’t seem to affect his draft all that much.
He’d probably be sitting at least a year if we picked ’em. Wouldn’t think an injury would change the drafting decision much.
Something to think about…. Will Levis falls to round two. Word is maybe a ego issue. Maybe eats a little humble pie while learning from a guy who went through the same green room humiliation ….Geno Smith…..cheaper and if he doesn’t cut it not that big of loss🤔🤔🤔 comments?!?
Bingo! I can remember a relieved and distraught DK Metcalf asking Pete why they waited so long.
He went back and forth and proposed a few different scenarios, but amongst them all did also have this one out there:
Seattle went best player available last year and ended up with 4 really good rookie starters plus a CB3. They got one rookie starter yesterday plus a WR3. Can they add a starting C today? Or a starting G? And maybe a starting NT tomorrow?
I wish I knew what Hutchinson thought of the centers. If there was one he liked, draft that guy today. Add a BAMF like Chandler Zavala to the O-line. Ade Ade and Keion have been on my want list since the Senior Bowl.
I just want to see a couple dogs out of this list in the second round:
Will Levi’s, QB
Tippmann, C
Schmitz, C
Benton, DT
Ade, DE/DT
Pickens, DT
White, DE
Washington, TE
Mayer, TE
Musgrave, TE
I would really like to see the Hawks come away with Ade or White to play the LDE role if they are truly going back to Pete’s traditional 4-3. I think Nwosu or Taylor can play the Leo RDE role.
I’m just confused. I know “Spoon” & JSN were probably the BPA at the time, but Carroll keep stressing how our identity is to run the ball and to stop the run. We are spending more money and draft capital on the secondary and receivers. Lockett, Metcalf, Diggs & Adams make up about $80M in cap. With that investment we need to concede that we are going aerial.
I think that they are backed in a corner today. The need 2 DLs and a center . Otherwise, welcome back Poona and Shelby ( yikes). We can’t play physical football with the 49ers with this group.
Like BigMike said, sorry to be negative and I hope I’m wrong. Still watching every game.
Focusing on identity vs focusing on talent is reaching for need
Dre’Mont Jones, Jarran Reed, Bobby Wagner, Devin Bush (at some stage maybe Jordan Brooks & Jamal Adams) & now Witherspoon as a hard hitter. Defensively we are massively upgraded over last season, and we still have 8 picks (and if we did switch back to a 4-3 i think Ford will be re-signed and back to his best). They know we sucked a lot, they’ve splashed cash and the #5 to really work on fixing that.
And don’t sleep on Evan Brown. He was quietly very solid for the last two seasons and is an immediate big upgrade on Blythe. And again, 8 picks left in which to add another IOL or two. Our trenches are already improved, and if by the end of tonight we’ve added a Tippmann/Wypler and a Benton/Pickens then just wow – problem identified, problem fixed!
I like the optimism.
I’m not there that wagner ( not particularly good last go around) Reed ( not particularly good in last team) bush ( see reed)….Brooks literally an extremely solid but entirely one dimensional lb, and the always absent Adams….not sure any of this is an upgrade.
dremont Jones, love…that’s the upgrade. Witherspoon. Great hitter….okay ball skills. Could go either way.
“Okay ball skills” isn’t being fair to Witherspoon. PFF rated him the top cover corner in the draft.
I’m not sure if you know this but I don’t rate pff.
Like S2. When your data set is anything you want it to be I don’t put a ton of thought into it.
Pff will grade olinemen with literally several hundred snap differentials and call that “qualifying.”
I just look at the numbers. Dude has built himself up and that’s why I’m way stoked on him. But as of now…very great at passes defended. Not so on turnovers. The skill I put more care into than hardest hitting corner….a skill that is slowly becoming obsolete I’m the NFL.
They could still come away with Ade Ade and Tippman today or some combination of Ade Ade, Pickens, White, Benton, JMS, Tippman, Wypler, etc and get the trenches addressed to help the run and to stop the run. We signed a center/G and rehauled the defense with Jones, Reed, Wags, Bush and Love so far. The day is not lost yet. We need to just keep acquiring talent. But yeah, if no DL or OL today and instead RB, TE and S…
I think people are forgetting the free agency part a bit.
Dre’mont Jones, DT
Jarran Reed, DT
If the Hawks are going back to the 4-3 defense then there are your week 1 starters along with Nwosu at RDE (Leo). Looks like they may still need a big LDE.
Reasonable and moderate take. Rare these days.
End of the day they got the consensus top prospect at two of the most premium positions. Hard to be upset about that.
Random scatterings
* Obviously there was something about Levis either the lengthy media process did not uncover, or the league felt pretty strongly that his 2022 was not good enough. Yes there is a degree of ‘once you get past the QB needy teams it can be a freefall’ but in a QB league, if you’re good enough someone will trade up and take you.
* The best player on the Seahawks’ board at CB and WR are tremendous value picks, despite no crying need. If there wasn’t a QB or a pass rusher they liked enough to take, the next value spots were obviously OT and they are set there. It just so happened that their top players in 2022 also matched crying need.
* On that note, ‘it could have been worse’ in regard to value…the Seahawks could have drafted a second RB and a middling LB in the first round. Feels like Detroit got stung by Witherspoon not being there at 6.
* It would appear that the Seahawks were also attracted to DW and JSN’s versatility and lack of development needed. Both can have a significant role on the team in Week One, and that marries to the 2022 class nicely and portends good to great things for 2024.
* The depth and versatility of the defense has been maximized quite a bit. Love can play nickel or either safety spot. DW and TW can play either side if they want to follow a certain WR. Bryant can continue at nickel or move outside. Tre Brown is Witherspoon Lite. All of these guys can free up Jamal Adams (if he’s on the team) to roam and cause problems for offenses. Karl Scott must be absolutely giddy. Can the coaching staff take advantage of it?
* No excuses for the Bobsey Twins this year. $36m cap and tons of depth and versatility around them. Ride or die 2023.
* I want DW’s attitude and nasty on special teams. Sherman, Browner, Baldwin, all those guys had major snaps on ST. Baldwin once blocked a punt, Sherman had that goofy ‘wrong guy’ punt return vs Chicago, and Browner once took out 3 cardinals on the same punt coverage play. More please.
* Spilled milk: Will Anderson-Stroud-Richardson were clearly the Seahawks’ top picks at 5, and I like to think that McDonald was at 20. I also think Sedrick Van Pran would have been a slam dunk at 20 if he had declared.
* No Will Anderson or McDonald possibly opens the door for a Nwosu extension. Also Boye Mafe needs to earn more playing time.
* According to Rob’s board there is depth at G and interior DL still available. I’ll reserve judgement until we get all the way through our draft. But some snarl at those spots is sorely needed. Also counting on Phil Haynes to play a whole season is a mistake.
Thanks for this, wanted to hear your opinion. Between you, Rob, and Robbie, I can deal with the draft so far. Still a lot of work, and a lot of work besides the draft.
As always Curtis, you’re a big part of the blog and your level-headedness and your takes are always appreciated.
Can’t play chess without a full chess board.
So much good stuff here Cha.
Curious to hear about Levis. My best guess is something medical.He got banged around quite a bit last year.
After drafting value positions OT, OT, CB, CB and Edge last year, they add WR and CB this year. Plus they signed Geno to a QB-friendly deal. They are way overspent at S and TE compared to the League but they can clean that up in the next year and pursue FA for need.
I wanted Anderson or Richardson at 5 and McDonald at 20 but they weren’t there. Seattle didn’t fight the draft board.
JS was asked if they were close to trading up and he said no. He mentioned the price. Based on what Houston paid, it would have been 5, 37 this year and 2024 1st and 3rd. Maybe a premium since we are a rival. If they were ever even going to consider trading with a rival.
Absolutely. Feels like their plan was Witherspoon at 6 and Gibbs at 18. Once that got blown up, they reached a bit to make sure they at least got Gibbs and then pivoted to Campbell.
The Campbell pick was a jaw dropper for me.
Middle LBs just aren’t as valuable these days. I think he would have easily lated into round two
Agreed Cha- needs and talent available really aligned for Seattle last year and this year, not so much (at least in round one). But qb and DL can still definitely be addressed – I hope Levis is still being considered and we pull 3 more d linemen.
Rob are you doing another live recap tonight?
Sorry, didn’t see the note below the board…
The “bobsey twins”. Sigh
I don’t believe there’s a snowball’s chance Adams isn’t on the team this year cha.
Doesn’t either Adams or Fant or both, have to be cut to meet the cap limits?
They will need to make some moves, yes. But not necessarily those moves.
Cutting Fant does nothing for the cap. His option is fully guaranteed. If they grab Mayer, I am very hopeful they offer Fant and another pick to move up instead of just getting a 7th rounder.
They can still free up space via Adams and Lockett, or extend Nwosu. It pushes money out, but the cap is going to keep growing and they can cut guys like Dissly and Diggs next year.
Pick 37 comes up.
Levis, Ade Ade, and Mayer are all still available.
Who do you go with?
a) Levis – Look to the future post Geno days with the rare opportunity to draft a franchise QB you love in the 2nd rd
b) Ade – Fill the immediate need and arguably biggest remaining hole on the team
c) Mayer – Continue to bolster the O enough in the hope it can carry the D
Assuming they are 1-3 BPA on the remaining PC/JS big board
Feels like Levis just isnt what they want. Probably would have taken him at 20 if it was.
We should be done guessing with the Seahawks in the 2023 draft, unless it is to eliminate what will actually happen!
My Answer is Tippmann, or somebody who plays interior OL. Maybe Pickens on the other side of the trench. So there are two more off the board. Best bet? The field!
Posted something similar right at the same time.
It really depends on what they think of Levis. If they don’t believe in him enough to take him at #20, is that really going to change at #37 if it’s a full-on BPA Seahawks draft?
PC talked up how much they love their 3 guys at TE yesterday. Is that another deliberate little smokescreen or does it signal they might pass on Mayer? I would think he’s the kind of football dude they would fall in love with and have to have now at this value in R2.
I think they will look at a Center first though. Get ahead of the run on the position like they did with their first two picks.
In that order G-H, Levis, Ade, Mayer.
If he was a franchise WB they loved they wouldn’t have passed on him twice you’d think.
Was thinking just this: now that we know the BPA/character is the way they are drafting, how can we better guess whom they might target today?
They could still get their top:
C (JMS/Tippman?)
TE (Mayer?)
S (Branch?)
Or a value pick at:
QB (Levis/Hooker)
DL (Ade Ade)
Securing any two of those above would be a huge win for day 2 and all of them seem like character guys as well.
Or a very solid pick at a position of need, maybe even with a small trade up in R3:
RB (Charbonnet/Abanikanda)
OG (Bradford/Zavala)
LB (Hainley, Williams, To’oto’o)
Heck, is there any spot at all Josh Downs or Jon Mingo are simply BPA too good to pass up…? Seems highly unlikely given JSN and both of them are primarily a fit in the slot, but Lockett won’t last forever either if they believe any of them can play outside.
I found it interesting that PC highlighted in the presser yesterday how much they love their three guys at TE.
Could mean nothing more, of course, but could also mean Mayer is unlikely even if he lasts to our pick?
If they are sticking with BPA today (no reason to think they arent) you would have to think Center, DLine and TE could be options.
Seattle’s roster has so many holes that going BPA makes total sense.
After #37 though, I say we go BZA, or best Zach available.
🤣👍🏼
I do have to say I love this approach, I’m always about BPA, it’s just that it honestly feels 8 years too late. This would’ve been great when we had a franchise QB and now the future is in a pretty big limbo. If/when the team sells or Pete retires, which is sooner rather than later, it may very well all be getting reset. It took them 13 years to figure is out. It’s been a loooong road to enlightenment.
The Jets taking Will McDonald 15 was like watching Seattle pick Bruce Irving at 15. I’m pretty sure if he made it to 20 Seattle would have took him. I think you can blame the Steelers when they moved up and took the 3rd tackle.
Especially when Kancey got taken I thought they were left with what they didn’t want. They didn’t make their pick until there was virtually no time left on the clock.
JS said they had “5 or 6 teams they got really close with” for pick 20 and that’s why they ran the clock to the wire before ultimately deciding to stick and pick him. Here’s that timestamp:
Seahawks 2023 NFL Draft Day 1 Press Conference
https://youtu.be/IcY1oOgn78A?t=37
They always run out the clock, and why wouldn’t they? Maybe some team at the last second decides they absolutely positively have to move up and offers a haul. It’s not like you can bank the time you don’t use
Agree. Why wouldn’t you use the whole clock? Not like anyone can jump in front of you during that time.
The NFL doesn’t want to deprive us of more commercials. Highly scripted down to the commercial breaks? Yes Please, May I have Another?
It may have been a reach, but I don’t hate it
They play in a division with Josh Allen, Tua, and Mac Jones. If they make the playoffs, they have to compete with Burrow, Mahomes, and the rest of the AFC Elite
Hate to say it, but as someone mentioned yesterday, the Cardinals played it absolutely perfectly. In the end, for moving down 3 spots and getting their guy anyways, they:
– swapped up one spot in R2 (#34 to #33)
– swapped up from a R5 to R3 (#168 for #81)
– and added 2024 R1 + R3 picks for their troubles.
Masterful.
Of course, they did give up the chance to draft Will Anderson in the process, so that has to be taken into account as well when evaluating down the line.
Agree about Anderson but that roster is so bad they need a lot of good players and they have a chance to get them with these moves
Yup. A good start for a new regime. Here’s to hoping they don’t find any easy way to offload Hopkins’ contract.
If they go center at #33 it sure would make Kyler happy. I can easily see them continue to build up the trenches.
Maybe. They also need CB help badly though it seems.
How can you watch the tape on these kids and not be excited? Splash play after splash play. Need meets talent. Poaching Detroit’s pick. Surprising picks that make total sense. Pick of cornerbacks and wide receivers. Looking forward to today! (Stetson Bennett later on??)
I think it’s very unlikely the Seahawks take Levis after passing on him twice (not impossible, the Ravens took a TE before going for Lamar).
I have to say though, his drop is stunning to me. He was my QB4 so I agree that the other 3 should have gone ahead of him, but this was a monumental fall. I’ve heard discussion of bad interviews and a toe injury, but neither seems enough for this and I’m just left with the conclusion that the NFL just didn’t rate him.
Folks, let’s not forget that nearly every QB picked in the 2nd round throughout NFL history was passed on by their team and all/most other teams in the 1st (some teams won’t have a 1st round pick) before they were picked. There’s no reason to assume Levis is totally off the board for the Hawks. Just turns out he’s a 2nd round quarterback.
This is true. But it is also true that there is a huge difference between a QB expected to be selected in the second round and one that was expected to be picked in the first with some reports even saying that he would not last past pick 4 or 5.
WE expected him to be a 1st round pick. None of the NFL teams did. They all passed. To everyone that matters in the NFL, this guy is a round 2 QB.
The more I think about it the more I come to a happy realization that this is PCJS, in essence, saying ‘we think we can win our way’, ‘we aren’t going to try and beat the 49ers at their own game’…
I believe that is the right call.
consider the Eagles game as a blueprint for how to beat San Francisco, then apply that to our roster is constructed. With that in mind, I’m definitely thinking 37 May get flipped for more picks… unless Branch or Mayer are there. I also haven’t ruled out Levis… especially around pick 52, feels kind of like one of my favorite draft picks last year…K9.
I do still love the Witherspoon pick, definitely one of my guys and much more palatable with AR off the board. Legitimately possible we put an elite secondary out there this year.
It is almost certain that AR was NOT going to be the pick at #5, even if he was available. With the FO saying they had two players on their board at #5 when the draft started and one of them was Witherspoon, I can’t imagine that the other wasn’t Will Anderson.
Adetomiwa Adebawore could legally change his name to John Clayton.
.
Love the how the 1st round went..thanks for all you do Rob Staton!!
I think my big board for our 1st pick at #37 today, with a weighting for positional preference, would in order, be something like;
Ade Ade
Keion White
Michael Mayer
Keeanu Benton
Trade Down
Derick Hall
Will Levis
I’m not sure I’d trade up before before drafting starts, but would with the Colts if Ade Ade or Keion White are still on the board at #35. It’d frighten me to have Ade Ade taken by the Rams to be mentored by Aaron Donald!
No wonder Jim thought the Hawks had a great draft. He called it from last year already:
https://twitter.com/JimNagy_SB/status/1651753161579720706
I think it’s good that you’re good with this draft so far, and also that whatever Seattle decides to do today/tomorrow, you’re good with that too. So am I.
But you surprised me. Took a few pretty strong positions which didn’t play out and aren’t defending them. Even though I didn’t agree with those positions, I respected that you stuck to your guns. As you did for example with the Jamal Adams trade, which you ranted against when it was made, and continue to call out Seattle for having done (and you’re right, even though I argued against you at the time).
Thought you’d equally be equally ranting that they had a shot at Levis at #5 AND at #20, and whiffed. That they cannot ever dream of a Super Bowl with Geno and Drew. That JS/PC had a strong QB pick as part of their grand plan the minute they traded Russ, and pick 5 was the big oppty, or worst case pick 20. And that JS’s predilection for traitsy QB’s clearly pointed to Richardson or Levy (unless Stroud was still there). Levis in particular has been your choice, despite Nagy’s clear alert that he wasn’t viewed as highly in the decision-makers’ minds.
I’d prefer you continuing to rail at JS/PC for them not following what you think they should have done. As you’ve so eloquently done on Jamal Adams. I don’t agree with you, but it’s always good to have a contrary opinion. A little discouraging to sense you sort of backing down on such fundamental beliefs pre-draft: that Seattle must have a stronger QB, and that Levis is that QB.
One of the fun part of being a Seahawks fan is Rob Staton.
Routinely, everywhere I go, when I share his big boards or analysis or videos with other fan bases, their reaction is jealousy. A couple of my buddies who are fans of other NFC teams in the central always read his stuff in the off-season
Sometimes it’s important to stop and remember how lucky we are
I second that. We are lucky, and Rob is a Fan first – just like most of the rest of us. We are in this together for the pleasure of it, and it really has been a pleasure this year.
I’m not Rob but my guess is when he saw the entire league pass on Levis he reassessed his position and changed his mind which we are all allowed to do. I’ll do the same in the unlikely event that Geno Smith ever leads us to at least a conference championship game. I’m guessing Rob will come in and address your post.
Absolutely it seems that Rob was incorrect on his belief that the league would view Levis as a high end 1st Round Draft Pick. Thing is so were a lot of people. Levis was the odds on favorite to be the second overall pick just this week. How ofter does the expected #2 pick drop to the Second Round? Almost never . I was watching on ESPN and McShay was just antagonizing Kiper because Kiper was so surprised by Levis’ draft fall.
Whether Levis will be a good QB or not is TBD. It does seem that many in the league do not expect that to happen.
Also, to be fair, if you have been following SDB at all Rob” preference has been Will Anderson then the 4 QBs. He had those 5 rated above all the other players in the draft. 4 of those players were the first four picks and Levis dropped way down.
Rob said all along if a QB was available at #5 and Schneider didn’t take him he would respect the choice; based on Schneider’s previous QB scouting.
This is why I respect Rob, he sticks to what he says; and if wrong on something he owns it.
Just like when he was on VSN saying no Carter at #5. If Anderson or Richardson are gone then possibly Witherspoon.
Had AZ taking Paris & Philly moving up for Carter.
Came across well in those analytical interviews.
One of the things I’ve really appreciated about Rob’s this year (especially) is actually how much he hasn’t picked a position and decided to die on that hill. He had opinions about what would be best for the team, but has been willing to step back and recognize that there may be other ways of doing things, and those ways could actually end up working out great. Very refreshing compared to most sports analysts.
Props from the guys at VSiN
https://twitter.com/1TimMurray/status/1651751706047418368
Now that’s a bold prediction
Lol just saw this after posting above. Totally agree Rob proved spot on after appearing on VSN. Big congrats
If they take Levis or Hooker at #37, I can forgive them for 2 underwhelming first-round picks. If they don’t a QB of the future with upside now, when will they?
I don’t think drafting a QB was ever in play for us, I think Pete is going to ride off into the sunset when his contract is done. He doesn’t want to develop a QB, he’s in win now mode, and he thinks he can do that while drafting BPA. We shall see, I wish we got AR15 but I’m happy with our round 1 picks.
I think your assessment of Pete’s attitude is entirely possible but of course we’ll never know for sure.
I think Hawks4life probably just exactly cracked the code of what is happening.
Honestly I would hate that so much as a fan of this franchise. Why should we let a near-80 year old coach dictate how we build our team for long-term success? It’s one thing if they just took the best player or really truly believe we can win now, but quite another to be all-in on trying to win with Geno Smith before our coach retires. I don’t really believe that’s the case, but my lord it would be infuriating if it was true.
Then he should’ve went after Aaron Rodgers
If in my opinion, they won’t.
Hooker would start off as an underwhelming second-round pick. He is Geno.
And when will they? Probably when Pete is gone.
We’re talking Day 2 talents, they can get one of those any year. Unfortunately none of the QBs worth the #5 pick were still there at #5. It happens.
They weren’t ever going to pick a QB at #5. It was going to be Will Anderson or Devon Witherspoon.
I’m not sure I buy those 4 teams would be trading up for Levis. People had ample opportunity to trade into the back end of the first and get the fifth year option, which is so valuable for quarterbacks. I think Levis will fall a bit into round two to be honest, especially with the talent remaining.
Certainly possible, but reports were that several teams were on the phone with Philly yesterday at 30, but Roseman didn’t want to miss out on their other Georgia guy, Nolan Smith. So who knows?
But it does seem that KC almost certainly could have moved down a few spots and still gotten Uzomah. So maybe you’re right and teams weren’t trying to hard to move up.
Yeah KC would have been the one I’d have thought would have probably welcomed dropping back, but maybe after Smith went they thought that limited the edge rusher options much they couldn’t miss out!
We will see, thankfully not too long to wait this time!
I would have died laughing had KC made all their fans wait another day after the turnout in Kansas City! LOL
I think someone would have massively had to overpay to get KC to move. They had all those fans in attendance and a local guy they were happy with taking.
I find it odd how very few here refuse the idea that maybe they were just wrong on the QBs. I don’t think PCJS ever wanted anything to do with them.
I find it odd how many of the smokescreen truthers are trying to take an extremely unearned victory lap on this one. 3 of the QBs were gone before our pick. We had no chance to draft any of them. Maybe they just didn’t like Levis. Going to his pro day doesn’t mean they saw what they wanted to see. It’s entirely possible they were genuinely interested in those QBs, but didn’t grade them highly after doing more research. Or maybe they really love Levis and thought he’d be available today. Nobody gets to “win” that debate until one of them comes out and says it was all a ruse.
Or 3/4 were taken before their pick…
It is 100% plausible that if one of those guys fell to 5 they would have been the pick.
If they weren’t at least halfway interested in the quarterbacks, then we have a serious, serious foundational problem with the team.
What do you mean by wrong? 3 QBs went in the top 4. Hawks may have been interested in Stroud and Richardson but weren’t able to trade up as the price was steep. They did say they liked a couple of the QBs. Just because Levis slid and the Hawks passed on him, everyone is wrong? Richardson easily could have been one of the guys Schneider mentioned as someone they wouldn’t have moved down from if he was there as well.
No way they had Richardson over Will Anderson.
They said in the presser afterward there were 2 players that they would draft at 5, if both were gone they would have looked to move back.
We can all speculate, but I think the other player was Will Anderson. If true, then they decided QB wasn’t a priority at the top of the draft. I trust their assessments, and can also hold space for long-term concern at the position.
They seem content to build a quality roster before adding QBOTF.
We agree it was likely Anderson. Discussed above:
https://seahawksdraftblog.com/day-one-thoughts-day-two-primer#comment-760654
It might not be that QB wasn’t a priority, but that they knew that, barring a huge upset, one of Stroud or Richardson just wasn’t going to be there for them and trading up, as we saw yesterday, was very expensive.
I know others have said it, but they 3/4 went before. The teams that needed a QB were all over it and picked them. If you want to say they didn’t like Levis, go for it. But with 3 of 4 gone it’s pretty hard to say, particularly with Levis falling out of the first entirely. The league just isn’t rating him for whatever reason (skills, injury concerns, etc).
Sure we didn’t trade up, but the cost was high enough it wasn’t a gimme to just go trade up.
You could totally be right, but this draft didn’t provide the chance for the theory to be tested.
Favorite Wr check, Favorite CB check, now if we could get favorite DL Ade, Favorite Rb Chardonnay, and a Bradford I’ll be walking on clouds all offseason. Wouldn’t mind a Levi’s, Hooker, Tune, Bennett, or DTR joining in either. Schneider is far more patient than I am luckily as proven with Wilson both at the start of his career and end of it.
The pattern is actually CB1 and WR1. To continue that it could be C1 S1 or OG1 if you list Skoronski at a tackle.
Oh come on Gritty don’t you know they took Jodie’s private jet and flew all over the country for a little vacation time not to check out the quarterbacks?
The best value pick in this draft I believe was the Patriot’s pick 17 to get Christian Gonzalez CB.
Exactly where I’m at and hope the Seahawks feel this relaxed too! It sure sounded like it. JS said they would like to move around a bit if they can but if not, they are ready to sit and pick good players according to their board. Awesome.
Wonder if the desire to move is to add more picks or to move up for a certain guy?
If BPA is the approach and Levis was say 20th on their board instead of 4th or 5th, I’d be happy with a trade-up to get him in front of the Rams. Maybe they just are sticking to the board and Levis has more value in their eyes now(at least I hope.) If that’s not the case, I’m happy with BPA and am hoping for Ade Ade at 37 and a small trade up the board to snag Tippman after that.
Can you imagine how pissed he has to be? Chip on his shoulder that some of the greats had. Would be ideal for Seattle, but I think they have decided against that route.
I really don’t want him going to the Rams now, being that way.
Fun little PFN mock, grabbed 4 extra picks via trades.
37. Michael Mayer, TE Notre Dame
63. Joe Tippmann, OC Wisconsin
89. Zacch Pickens, DT South Carolina
95. Ji’Ayir Brown, S Penn State
128. Byron Young, DT Alabama
141. Isaiah McGuire, EDGE Missouri
151. Tyjae Spears, RB Tulane
154. Chandler Zavala, OG NC State
174. Moro Ojomo, DT Texas
190. Chris Rodriguez Jr., RB Kentucky
198. Shaka Heyward, LB Duke
203. YaYa Diaby, EDGE Louisville
Sets up year #2 pretty well. Takes care of the gritty positions for the most part. Limits what is left to fill out the roster for sure.
Please do not draft Mayer. Obviously, with JSN we will be going to 3 receivers as our base. We already have the highest paid TE room in the league. He may be the BPA; but not a good fit for us.
After drafting Mayer, I traded pick 83 and Noah Fant with the Giants for pick 89 and 128.
We have 2 TEs are going to be UFAs next year, and one who has had what… 3 season-ending injuries already? And whose contract will very likely make him a cap casualty. TE is as big a need as Safety. We shouldn’t let Dissly’s dumb contract prevent us from doing what’s best for the future of the team.
Pick 20, to me, represents them knowing they’re screwed at QB so they’re going to try to get him so much help that he’ll perform statistically better than superior QBs who won’t have the surrounding talent Geno has. So fools will say how great he is but they’re definitely putting him in a great position for him to look better than he is. Great bookend tackles, three great WRs, three good TEs, a stud RB… this offense is set up for a circus clown to succeed and he will because of how great the supporting cast is.
I don’t understand, if Geno plays well you’re going to be mad… because the team surrounded him with weapons?
Weird take, man.
I think they probably just want to win, but I get the frustration…
I’m really bummed that we didn’t get my two guys (Richardson and McDonald).
Once I read up on both, Witherspoon and JSN, made me feel better.
They didn’t screw up.
I mean, yeah man. That’s what every team does? Try to surround their QB with as good a team as possible to try and make them better than they are?
Building a good offense is proof the QB is bad? This sounds like you already staked out a negative position on Geno, realize it was a bad take, and are pre emptively trying to make excuses for being wrong. Come on man.
Rob nailed ma few specific cases like Bijan 8, Njigba 20 and Nolan Smith at 30 (Philly had the draft I was hoping we’d have), but his mock for the top 10 were pretty darn poor and I suspect he was influenced by late noise. Despite the late betting swings, the top 10 reverted extremely close to the original consensus on spots, as close as I can recall actually. I was all over the bet of Stroud +575 at #2 and Will Anderson +275 at #3 when those changed and Levis became late favorite at #2… First four picks really went exactly as guessed, with Indy taking a QB and preferring Richardson to Levis. I thought the Hawks would take Carter at 5 though and I’m sad we didn’t, but at least hearing Carroll compare Witherspoon to Polamalu gave me some comfort. I just feel like you can get elite corners all throughout the draft and this position is more of a crapshoot that beef on the inside, but again Hawks obviously have extreme confidence in Witherspoon being great and so guess will give benefit of doubt as have much better than average track record when drafting skill positions early (Thomas, Griffen highest previous DB’s). Anyway, wonder if Torrence will be available at 37 or Shmitz 52 and whether they consider Brents at 52, would also not mind Charbonnet 2 or 3 either, just really wished had waited till second round to go skill. Also, seemed like they were going to take Kancey at 20, so that was kinda rough, Tampa seems to evaluate the D line well.
Hey Rob,
I wanted to share some things about JSN. At Ohio State, both Garrett Wilson (last year’s OROY) and Chris Olave said he was the best of the 3. Some of his coaches (including Brian Hartline) ranked him above Wilson, Olave, and Terry McClaurin.
In this interview, Olave and Wilson both point to JSN when asked who is the best athlete. They seem like they know his potential.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0Eznzo7Ad0
My point is that this may be indicative of JSN’s potential. I feel confident saying he won’t be a bust!
Thanks for this
I don’t think the Hawks have had a really good WR over the middle since Baldwin. JSN should be a great paring with DK and Lockett.
Also, Bruce Feldman said that the opposing coaches he talked to unanimously said that JSN was the best OSU receiver the faced.
With so many great prospects still on the board, I’m even more amped for day 2 than I was for yesterday. Like others have said, if we come away with a combination of Center (Tippman/JMS/Wypler), TE (Michael Mayer/Darnell Washington/Kraft), Edge/DE/DT (Ade Ade, Keion White, Keeanu Benton, Zach Pickens, Alabama’s Byron Young), or IOL (Avilia, Zavala). You could talk me into QB or Safety if the FO really believes a player is too good to pass up at their draft position. Maybe even an RB day 3 onwards.
I’ve cooled off a bit on Levis as it seems like the league has told us how they value him, but if pick him in the 2nd I’d also be happy.
While obvious they are going BPA, just prefer that it is not BPTA at the top of the draft. Recent record is one of JSN not being Available but just got drafted because he is Theoretically Available. Way to much invested in TA as it stands, this was an addition to the BPTA ledger. It is what it is, hope it works out.
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2023/04/28/jalen-carter-overcame-not-great-feedback-from-georgia-coaches-to-stay-in-top-10/
Whoa OK. If that doesn’t get you to think twice, nothing will.
Carter is lucky he ended up in Philly. They are good at developing defenses. They have that historic tradition that he is a part of now.
I don’t know … Philly fans aren’t going to root for a dude that doesn’t put in the effort. Could get real ugly.
Maybe that is what Carter needs to motivate him. A bunch of mad fans that call out his lazy attitude.
Exactly, I could see the philly mafia getting Carter to produce, the “tell me, how goood is Wagz” fawning over lattes croud likely not.
The number of terms last night we heard about only “off-field” concerns with Carter last night was mind-boggling. Yes, he has horrific off-field issues that should make anyone question taking him in the first place.
However, from a football perspective (only), his ON-FIELD concerns were equally if not more concerning. Let’s add more to the list: 1) he can’t keep himself in shape… like at all; 2) his motor turns off frequently; 3) his coaches (teammates?) are happy to see him go and don’t have much nice to say after the fact.
Why in the world would you want to spend a top pick on this guy?
His interview after getting picked, body language, to me was all bad. Just screamed “doesnt care” to me. He also looks fat.
Been saying for awhile, he’s gonna take his guaranteed money and go home. Or the strip club.
My hopes are that they pick a defensive lineman and a tight end in the second round. Ade Ade would be fine with me or others mentioned. My second choice would be two defensive linemen. Either way it would add some meat to the lines.
Have you guys seen the article touting Georgia QB Stetson Bennett? The forgotten undersized game manager for Georgia? He could be a good late round pick as a backup.
Hooker and Levis are also still available. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Seahawks took one of them in the third round if they were still available and also a center in the third round.
QUESTION:
Who goes first… Levis or Hooker??
; )
Everyone says go BPA then get pissed when they don’t select DL or the guy they want. Fact is they took the first CB and first WR in the draft, both positions which are not an immediate need so it’s pretty obvious they went BPA off their board. I can’t fault them for just adding quality talent even if I personally wanted a QB.
The BPA happened to also be first player chosen in that position and started a run on those positions. Based on that, the next player would be a center or safety or punter/field goal kicker 🙂
100% – BPA means BPA. I definitely think JSN fit the bill and Witherspoon wasn’t far off (if at all).
Gimme a Tippmann and a Benton. White would be a nice consolation. Hell, hopefully they package Fant and another pick to get back into the 3rd or 2nd.
Congrats Rob couldn’t have done better on VSN.
Nailed no Carter at #5 or Wilson because of injury.
If Richardson & Anderson gone look at Witherspoon.
Paris Johnson to AZ.
I’m guessing they’ll be bringing you back. Loved listening to you get those extra opportunities.
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2023/04/28/jalen-carter-overcame-not-great-feedback-from-georgia-coaches-to-stay-in-top-10/
I don’t know why it’s taken me this long to notice but Devon Witherspoon wears #31. Certified BAMF.
The only jersey I have ever bought.
Every year a few guys drop well below their rankings based on, what seems to be the only reason is because everyone else passed on them.
Let’s say they take Levis at 37 today, not too crazy to believe. If someone had told you yesterday that we would have gotten Levis @5, Witherspoon @20 and JSN @37 I think everyone would be stoked. The same 3 players in a different order and it would be seen as an amazing draft so far. The only difference being Levis falling and nobody knowing exactly why. It’s happened before and it backfired on almost every other team in the league (i.e. RW, Rodgers, Brady, Montana, Mahomes, etc)
If you told me yesterday we took Levis at 5 I’d have been pissed, but then amazed we got two insane steals afterward
Here’s what I like about JSN. When healthy, he outperformed 2 great WRs in Garrett Wilson & Chris Olave. We saw what both of them did last year and both are on record stating that JSN is better than they are.
JSN & OBJ have some eerily similar #s too. But, I see another Greg Jennings or, and this might sound crazy, a Marvin Harrison in terms of his route running and finding ways to get open.
Though I wouldn’t comp him to Jefferson directly, I think his incredible production in 2021 (as you mention, sharing targets and outperforming two very good NFL WRs) might have been similarly overlooked.
Posted about him a couple weeks back:
https://seahawksdraftblog.com/my-apologies-if-youre-bored-of-jalen-carter-speculation#comment-747032
JS said in yesterday’s presser he has “elite” hands as well and they highlighted his thick lower body and body control that allows him to change directions so fluidly. They also said that if he had come out after his big season, he would have been a top 10 pick, and I agree.
I, too, like him and like his fit in our offense.
Yep. U nailed it. Exactly why they like him.
Good to see the band back together.
Rob,
Your best draft post ever. I love your attitude and approach to this draft, it points people in the correct direction, and “accentuates the positive.”
I made a comment on another site that “I would like to attend the draft part at the Space Needle, that way if they take Jalen Carter at 5, I can just jump off.”
Last night I got so tired of “They’re idiots for passing on Jalen Carter!” This from the same people saying “They’re idiots for drafting Malik McDowell!”
I appreciate your dedication and hard work. At 245+ comments, it looks like many other Seahawks fans do too. 🙂
I left two sites yesterday because the hate was so prevalent. Mention anything about being happy they passed on Carter and you’d get lambasted with Aaron Donald hyperbole.
I will not be going back to those sites. They’re now populated by asshats who pounce on anything other than groupthink.
Why people strain to attach Malik McDowell to this situation I have no idea. Why not Frank Clark (for all either make remote sense)?
I just don’t understand how people can watch his tape and not be astounded by Jalen Carter, he makes plays routinely like “how did he just do that, how is that possible”.
He’s going to an already stacked d line I guess we’ll just see what happens, but don’t forget to remind others what you thought of him as time passes.
I’d say Isaiah Wilson is a better comparison than McDowell.
Detroit is going to have a fun Round 2… hopefully make up for a bizarre Round 1
From all the interviews I’ve seen with DW, he just seems like a cool guy to hang out with and likes to have some fun. Talk about focusing on character, guy is an A+
My favourite trade idea for today.
Seahawks draft Micheal Mayer at 37 then trade Noah Fant to the Lions for Deondre Swift who wants out of Detroit now. Hawks get the cap savings and a much needed RB. The Lions get a TE1.
This assumes the Lions don’t just take Mayer.
Ugh. I love Swift’s talent, but the injuries are a massive concern. Speaking as someone who stupidly drafted him in fantasy football the last two years, I hope I never have to hear his name again.
Well…
I am hoping we move up above the Rams and take Will Levi’s at this point. Assuming his grade is 2 nd round or higher. How could it not be?
Continuing the BPA + Character + Immediate Production approach they’ve taken so far, and adding in JS’ comments yesterday about wanting to move around, I think these picks could make sense:
R2P37: TE Michael Mayer
There’s just no way they don’t love this guy IMO. All football. Plug and play across from Dissly and great safety valve for Geno. Him and JSN working the middle of the field with DK and Lockett outside and Walker coming downhill could be deadly.
Trade down:
HOU gets: 52 (109 pts.)
SEA gets: 65, 104 (78+33=112 pts.)
Houston has two picks right at the top of R4. They send us one of them in order to move up into the middle of R2 so they don’t have such a huge gap between R1P3 and R3P65. Usually teams like to spread out their picks so they can pick a player much higher on their board that falls a bit.
R3P65: C/G Joe Tippmann
C/G flexibility and athleticism, fallback Wypler if you don’t think Tippmann will be there.
R3P83: DT Zacch Pickens
It’s not uncommon for DTs to last into this mid R3 range.
That would also leave them with double picks in both R4 and R5 to continue day 3 strong. Two RBs, an EDGE project, LB and S depth for ST would be a solid plan with those.
And a pick at the top of R4 is valuable because teams have all night to re-assess their boards and work out trades.
R4P104: Daiyan Henley
Would love Dorian Williams here, but I think he probably goes in R3. Henley might too so To’oTo’o could always be a fallback.
R4P123: EDGE YaYa Diaby
There’s great depth at this position on day 3 and some dang good player is going to be there.
R5P151: RB Chris Rodriguez
Mini Beast Mode? Yes, please!
R5P154: S Jammie Robinson
VMAC visitor, right up their alley.
R6P198: S Ty Okada
ST demon, might as well double dip in this deep, deep S class.
R7P237: RB Hassan Hall
Need another body here, Pauline reported interest
I like it. Think I’d go for another OL late on day 3.
Hoping for 1 of Tippman, JMS, Avila, Bergeron, and yes Torrence (I like him in this range).
I think Bergeron could be an elite level guard. Being from Canada, I wonder I’d he was 1 of the hockey clues.
I’d be down for OL later as well. Just looking for value, depth, and developmental projects at that point.
They worked out Utah’s Braedon Daniels at his pro day AND brought him in for a VMAC visit, so that could be an option on day 3 as well.
While Daniels is a lot smaller, Anthony Bradford was also a VMAC visitor and would fit the Damien Lewis/Phil Haynes mold quite well if they want to continue in that direction at guard.
Who do you take at 37 if Mayer is gone (which I expect he will be)?
Darnell Washington
I am still disappointed that JS wan’t able to trade up to secure Richardson, but as Rob points out, it’s entirely possible that he tried but the other teams were just completely unwilling to play ball.
The picks tell me they went BPA, which gives me comfort. Only time will tell if they really were BPA, but it does hammer home that they weren’t just playing lip service to drafting talent over need. Keep this up for a few years, and we could well be dominating the league again.
Devon Witherspoon is a beast and I LOVE that he is a Seahawk. Not good value at #5, but can’t really complain about it given the way the board fell.
I want to be a believer in JSN and hope he proves to be the gamewrecker he was two years ago. But a WR with what could be a chronic hamstring issue scares me. Downs and Mingo can be had day 2 and seemed better fits to me. That said, I have to trust their evaluation – they wanted this guy and were right that he wasn’t going to be their later as witnessed by the run of receivers that immediately followed.
The Levis fall is quite fascinating to me. Don’t know how legit this report is but it’s kind of hilarious if true, to think teams will spend literal years scouting a prospect, hope for him to fall to you, and then suddenly get cold feet because the teams ahead of you did exactly what you wanted and passed on him. Real smoothbrain stuff right there.
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2023/04/28/team-insecurities-may-have-fueled-the-will-levis-slide/
I bet the shaky on their own evaluation gets taken up a notch when its a Quarterback as well because of how a 1st round selection of a QB is presuambly a guarantee on a QB of the future for the team. I have to think if 20-25 teams had a 1st round grade on him that he will be off the board quickly today. Someone will finally pull that card.
It is possible.
I think teams are also afraid to say ‘we don’t like this guy’ or ‘this guy wasn’t on our board’ when it comes to QBs. For fear that they look foolish if he becomes a star.
The toe issue is a convenient excuse. Far easier to say ‘whew we decided not to take a chance on a medical, but the other team got lucky.’
Walter Sobchak: You want a toe? I can get you a toe, believe me. There are ways, Dude. You don’t wanna know about it, believe me.
Hopefully they just stick to drafting the BPA
37: Mayer / Branch / Ade Ade
52: Ade Ade / Keion White / Benton/ Tippmann / JMS
That’s a good plan, I hope they go defensive linemen first as I don’t think the tight ends will start to go until mid round.
I’d honestly be okay with Branch. I’ve been pretty against in the first, but if it means we can move off highly paid safeties, and move that money to d line. We could easily have plenty to spend next year on whoever makes it past the franchise tag.
Good players are good to have!
I do wonder how they view Genos window with these picks
~I read that both Darnell Washington and S. Ika were failed medically by a few teams.
~BPA is the way
~Mayer and the top C would be a coup in round two. I also really like Musgrave.
~They seem to be going “good football player” over traits. Maybe a guy like Ade Ade who isn’t yet really good at football won’t be their type of guy anymore? Keanu Benton or Keion White could be options. Oujulari or. Young at Edge.
~The value here, however, in round two parlays well with TE and Center.
~I wouldn’t mind a swing at a QB but I was pretty much out once Stroud and Arich were gone (😔).
Oh, yeah! Agree.
Is it that he’s not that good yet or was he asked to play out of position at Northwestern instead of in the attacking role he might be better suited for with his elite athleticism?
I don’t think Mayer gets to 37, but if he did and they grabbed him…sweet lord a lot of the fan base would go nuclear. Not me. BPA baby.
I have a feeling they will be gunning for Tippmann. JMS is still on the board too, so it’s not like they have to make a major move. And you also have Wypler hovering in the background.
I think I’m more.excited for today than yesterday, honestly. They can go in so many directions and move around without it costing a fortune.
Same for me with Mayer!
Curious to see if ARI takes a center before us at 33. I seem to remember Wypler reportedly being their guy, but they don’t pick again until 83 so they might have to move or reach a bit.
So many fans act like R1 is the only way you can really improve your team. Today is the money day if you get it right: Bobby Wagner, Russell Wilson, DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Kenneth Walker, etc…
37: Will Levis or a Center
57. Ade Ade or Keion White
No AR was a bummer, but waking up today I feel much more into what they did. I always like the BPA strategy and I love there commitment to serious football players.
Watching Addison act classless screaming get paid and talking about scoring tonight. Dude just screamed me me me. Witherspoon and Jsn look and sound like pros. No maliks, jalen carter’s, or brand guys. Just get the dudes that breath football.
Yikes I just looked that video up. Terrible look for Addison,
Although I’m pretty disappointed they didn’t get their future franchise quarterback I will say if BPA is the way to go for them then they don’t need to chase will levis. Just keep on with your same approach and then you’ll have to do in New York Jets Aaron Rodgers or Denver Bronco Russell Wilson thing at some point if you get good enough unless you get lucky in the draft at some point which you can’t really Bank on. But I would not go chasing at this point if you’ve started an approach unless they really think Levis is BPA. But to me this also means no more stupid Jamal Adams trades. You can’t handicap your team with trades like that and then not use your draft resources to fill the holes that that creates
This analysis is actually pretty simple.
***How many elite receivers and db’s have been drafted in rounds two or later?
***How many elite lineman have been drafted in rounds two or later?
Max Crosby, Frank Clark and Chris Jones-high second round coming to mind.
It’s just nearly impossible to find elite d line talent past the start of round two, yet theirs elite receivers and db’s drafter throughout the draft widely in second and third rounds. I know every draft is different, but theirs unequivocally less variability drafting d-line high vs other positions.
I’d have even been good with a trade to near 10 and getting Skoronski. Needed to go beef.
Clearly, none of Will Levis’ teammates went to his birthday party.
Jim Irsay started early today
I’m a Colts hater now for sure
Yawn
That would actually be a fun competition to watch
Fuck him
Hope you’re prepared to sit him for a year to learn and adjust Jimmy or he’ll be a bust because you can’t be patient and have a plan. Dumbass
how badly do we think people would lose their shit if we got to the third round pick and still hadn’t taken a dt….
37.
Will Levis
QB Kentucky
SEA
52.
Joe Tippmann
OC Wisconsin
SEA
83.
Zacch Pickens
DT South Carolina
SEA
123.
Roschon Johnson
RB Texas
SEA
151.
Keondre Coburn
DT Texas
SEA
154.
Marte Mapu
LB Sacramento State
SEA
198.
Anthony Bradford
OG LSU
SEA
237.
Jose Ramirez
EDGE Eastern Michigan
Not me if we got Pickens and Coburn!
CB Devon Witherspoon Gets The Draft Call at No. 5 Overall
https://youtu.be/m_Zjy0npXsI
WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba Gets The Draft Call at No. 20 Overall
https://youtu.be/ynl19BLEbkY
JS mentions they spent time with him at his pro day.
Tyler and DK super excited to have him. And they should be. Geno too. Now legitimately a top WR core in the entire league.
Thank you, I love seeing these. For some reason the players don’t seem to me as enthusiastic as they were say in 2020.
The battle cry of cutlery: https://youtu.be/4iGSAFjzBd8
The picks the Seahawks made yesterday were solid.
They are good players and very likely to improve the team this coming season.
I also do not blame the Seahawks for being unable to get Richardson since I subscribe to others’ thoughts that the other teams were NOT willing to help us.
But that doesn’t make me any less depressed.
Why?
Because more than not you seem to need that remarkable QB under center to get you to and to win a Super Bowl. That’s what I want. We don’t have one and I have no idea how the Seahawks get that QB in the next few years.
We seem set to be locked into middling status, which will limit future draft stock.
Of course we will know more after today and tomorrow. And again, I don’t fault the Seahawks picks, I just see the ceiling of where we are going.
You are correct, agree with it all.
ditto
This is how I feel. Nothing against the players they picked at all I actually like both players a lot. It’s just a rare opportunity to be picking that number five, although I’m not sure what they could have done and I doubt if we’ll ever know the details
Think positive, Houston Texans will be picking after the Seahawks instead of before them next year.
That…has the opposite affect for me. That means that they will be better than us. The team that got a quarterback.
This is where I was yesterday. Eventually you have to look ahead. I like the guys we got. Great fit. Let’s see what they can do
BINGO
This argument keeps getting repeated, but it’s literally just “The Seahawks didn’t take one player in one draft that I wanted them to and now they’re doomed forever” and it’s just hilarious levels of hubris.
I don’t know when you became a hawks fan but it’s not hubristic.
Last year was a repeat of every year since 2017. Good qb play can’t get over bad defense. For all the russ acrimony there was a common theme they he couldn’t “elevate,” the team.
Turns out geno couldn’t either.
I’m coming around on the picks so far.
Maybe we go TE and Center today. That’s cool too. We still last I checked will be fielding the just a guy dline plus jones,who has had injuries often,….so the weak spot of the team could well remain.
Clear some cap and sign some cheap veterans…..where have I seen that before.
Saying the fact they didn’t burn massive draft capital to trade up and get one or two specific players dooms them forever is the definition of hubris. I love AR but there’s no guarantee he’ll be any good. I don’t like Stroud and ditto for him. In either case saying that we only had one chance to ever be good is just silly.
See this is where I guess we diverge. I really don’t care for good. I care for great.
We’re already good.
And yeah….actually when you have extra picks you go get franchise altering players.
I like witherspoon. Little concerned that if we didn’t like potential I jury risk qb young that I’m supposed to love a guy his exact size. Not sure the last franchise altering corner was…..certainly on a non loaded defense like ours.
Sure don’t burn draft capitol. That’s one way. Or do burn picks and if you see your guy don’t look back.
Maybe that’s it right there. Maybe none of them were the guy.
And that’s fine too. But someday we’ll need a game altering qb….or….the whole LOB. Including the front. Now we have hopefully at least the back four.
Hoping geno earns his whole 105 million and we get a ring in two years. Otherwise….yeah I’m not going to be stoked on him getting near his 105 if we’re still getting bounced from the playoffs.
I certainly don’t think that we are doomed forever.
A lot of us waited a long time for that first Super Bowl appearance and forever is a very long time.
My concern is that a quarterback is needed and we had a very high pick where you would try to get one. And it just didn’t work out. One more time – I don’t care to blame the Seahawks for that, it’s just where we are, which will be more years of watching other quarterbacks take their teams deep.
Things will change, but probably only after Jody sells the team. That will be after a key deadline in 2024, so one more draft at least with the current crew.
Re-posted this on the live blog yesterday, but kind of lost there. Look who PC was hovering around at the Ohio St. pro day:
Pick 37. Too’o Too’o or Sanders, B Young Ala?
Waaay too early for To’oTo’o, IMO.
I think Rob is probably right and they most likely go center. The Pauline reports about them loving JMS, the Hutchinson workouts. Where there’s smoke…
Per Breer
Really interesting info. And makes a lot of sense.
That would also help explain the deviation from the norm on the JSN pick as well.
I just hope it’s not a following-the-pack tendency as opposed to innovating.
Yeah, they had their success by being the innovators; being ahead of the curve. I think they woefully fell behind that. Which is why so many contracts for team are more of a giant hinderance than any benefit.
Hopefully they are turning a corner, but might not see the fruits for a while.
Also, on Branch
Interesting all-around R2-R3 mock from Lance.
https://www.nfl.com/news/2023-nfl-draft-day-2-mock-steelers-open-second-round-with-cb-joey-porter-jr-will
Has us taking
37: OC JMS
52: EDGE Derick Hall
83: DT Gervon Dexter
I imagine the fallout we’re seeing after yesterday would be similar to what we would have seen if JS had taken Mahomes or Allen while we still had Wilson. I’ll take the guy PC thinks will be a star, at any position that doesn’t kick, over the leftovers at QB/DE/DT.
While Levis is still a chance, at least not getting a QB avoids the mind numbing qb arguments.
I just can’t see them picking a tight end today. Not going to happen. Def tackle, linebacker and running back is my bet. Maybe OL.
“Not going to happen” is a phrase I’d be wary of for a team going BPA during a great TE draft
💯
NFL mock draft for 2nd Round has Musgrave going before Mayer, Seattle picking up John Michael Schmitz at 37 and Derrick Hall at 52 and Levis lasting to 55 and being picked up by the Lions.
I don’t see how Levis falls that far or how Musgrave gets taken before Mayer. John Michael Schmitz to Seattle? Possible, but if Mayer was still on the board, or Levis, then those are two players to really consider.
I loved hearing both of these guys talk and Pete mentioning that these guys have a chip on their shoulder, and that there’s a drive for them to prove something. That competitive nature and just hardnose football helps bring out the best in guys and you can never have enough of those guys on the team.
https://twitter.com/Seahawks/status/1652042524863926272
Will Levis certainly has a major chip on his shoulder today.
He certainly does! On that fact alone I’d draft him just because he would be extra pissed off for greatness! 🙂
Pittsburg has the 1st pick in the 2nd round and they are going to take Mayer you bank on it.
Porter would be their perfect fit.
Porter would be a great fit
But Joey Porter Jr just makes good story sense and why shouldn’t teams make decisions based on a good narrative?
This joey porter jr exchange inadvertently encapsulates my thoughts on BPA.
If he’s the bpa for pick 32….but he lasts til 37 is he still bpa….or is bpa more what the royal you think is bpa for your team? Do tge bpa goal posts switch to….I dunno….let’s say a TE whom many on this site actually would want?
Like I’ve said a zillion times. BPA is a bit of a myth.
It’s more like best player your team wants at that time relative to if other teams would take that player if given the chance….which is a crappy acronym waiting to happen.
Watching interview with Tomlin and the GM they were asked about needs and GM talks needs on at a couple and Tomlin jumped in with excitement about TE. You have to see that interview after the 1st round because the way he jump in over GM to throw out TE. It could be they had been Darnell Washington they want because they didn’t plan on MM being in the 2nd. I will amend what I said and that is Steelers will take TE to start the 2nd round.
I think many would argue the Hawks were the predestined pick for Shaw Griffin because they had his brother… the narrative story works at times
Which worked out about as well as expected
If we picked Branch, I think we would hv a top 5 secondary. This has to be an option if we truly are bpa
Yes. If it’s BPA you take Branch. You’re not winning the Super Bowl anyway so why not get the best players. Diggs won’t even probably be a Seahawk next year. Continue thinking long-term.
You think he lasts 6 picks into the second round?
No. Just if he does you should pull the trigger.
Ah yes, it’s well known that nothing hurts your chances of success in the NFL as much as drafting really good players that don’t fit in with the preferred choices of randos on the internet. Obviously we’re never winning a Super Bowl ever again.
I think Bobby means short-term they are not going to win it. And he’s most likely right. They have A LOT of work to still do and are still burdened by their short-term thinking mistakes.
This is only year two.
You’re right. He just can’t comprehend that and goes into attack a fellow fan mode.
You’re not totally wrong….
On the other hand getting just some guys on your dline to fill in holes hasn’t worked either. And we might very well be doing that again.
And if Kancey is 60-70% of donald we could have had him….but those pesky arm length metrics keep us from deviating from that.
Heck maybe it’s almost like Bobby, myself, and you regardless of player choice might all be wrong.
Well it might never be again. Took him something like 38 years the first time. Look at the Vikings look at the bills look at the Lions
It might be the right move.
It would also be hilarious.
The entire NFL has devalued the safety position.
The Seahawks have $40m on the books for safeties and aren’t satisfied. They have to draft another in the 2nd round – the first safety off the board I might add.
Top corner, top receiver, top safety. Who knows, perhaps we’ll even trade up for the top center.
(sunglasses emoji)
Yeah, I was questioning that in the previous thread. Intentionally or not they’ve not only gone BPA but highest rated player at a position. There are a few positions still out there where you can grab BPAP (best player at position) Center, Safety, and arguably TE.
If Meyer is off the board at 37, I’d love Benton in that spot.
However, looking at the Top 30 visits, seems like EDGE and Center were the biggest focus for this range. Will have solid options there too.
Just did a PFN sim (made a couple of modest trade downs)
John Michael Schmitz
Derick Hall
Zacch Pickens
Byron Young (ALA)
Chandler Zavala
Jay Ward
Calvin Avery
Deuce Vaughan
Nesta Jade Silvera
Nick Herbig
Boo yeah!
Not a big fan of Deuce personally, but some useful RB will be there.
sounds fun, sign me up!
Hey Rob, I believe most mocks you’re doing are to predict what’s going to happen… But what would you do with the upcoming pick?
BPA
Sorry if this is already answered why Rams are picking ahead of Denver ?
36. Los Angeles Rams
37. Seattle Seahawks (from DEN)
“Once the order for the first round is determined as described above, the selection order remains the same for subsequent rounds with the exception of teams with identical records within their tier. These tied teams “cycle” picks in each subsequent round. For example, in the 2014 draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars, Cleveland Browns, Oakland Raiders, Atlanta Falcons, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers all finished 4–12, and selected in that order in the first round (based on the tiebreakers described above). In the second round, Jacksonville cycled to the back of the line with the order becoming Cleveland, Oakland, Atlanta, Tampa Bay, and Jacksonville. That cycling continued in each round.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Football_League_Draft
Teams with the same record rotate order round by round
Rob,
My first thought today after reading your story and watching the video from last night was how frustrating it must be for you to put all the work into the Seahawk draft and then see them go an entirely different direction (although I know you had Witherspoon as a real possibility).
But then after reflecting another moment, I felt different. The work you have done, and the discussion you have sponsored, has better educated all of us in this draft community, made all of us potentially better fans of the team, even if we were disappointed (which I wasn’t — I was thrilled with their two picks).
All the QB talk, Jalen Carter (I can’t believe that anyone would bring him into a professional program, he is so obviously unprofessional), the big board, the tireless enthusiasm — you make this place special. Very nicely done.
I’m not frustrated at all to be honest. I thought Witherspoon’s playing style and mentality screamed Seahawks, I just carried a ‘need to see it to believe it’ approach on a cornerback that early (which I think was justified). Now I see it, believe it and understand it.
At the end of the day in my mock I had Devon Witherspoon going 6th overall and Jaxon Smith-Njigba going 20th overall. In reality, they went 5th overall and 20th overall. So I can live with that projection. My mock was joint 30th in the world. Not amazing but not bad for a bloke from Rotherham doing this in his spare time.
I can also understand what they’re trying to do. That’s all I ever wanted. I didn’t understand the Adams trade or the 2019/20/21 approach to the pass rush. I thought it was nuts. I can see what they’re doing here and I like it.
I feel validated by the Carter stuff. I knew they wouldn’t take him for a number of reasons, some I discussed and some I didn’t. I got two months of shit for it. So far nobody has come forward with the crow I would’ve eaten if he’d been taken. I had a whole apology article ready to go because I wanted to front up immediately if I was wrong (even though I never expected to have to publish it). I wasn’t wrong so we move on with life.
I appreciate the kind words here and from everyone else. I won’t get everything right, won’t agree with everyone, but I think this place is a good resource and no other team has a blog like this. Some don’t like my candour but I’m a Yorkshire lad. I prefer to just say it how it is and get on with it. Seattle folk aren’t really used to that. It’s either modest and polite or strikingly passive aggressive in Seattle. A clash but frankly I kind of think WGAF.
Bring on day two.
Well said!
Another huge day for us with the extra pick and once again we won’t have to wait long to get in on the action.
Because the NFL has deemed it that every draft someone from the NFC West has to be ahead of us to snag someone that we want
Not staying up for the 2&3 round, but man do i hope when i open this blog tomorrow there is good vibes!
It’s the Seahawks and Seattle fanbase, what could go wrong…? 😉
The vibes are fine.
There’s truly no Como of players that the whole fanbase would like.
Tony with some chatter for day 2:
https://www.profootballnetwork.com/nfl-draft-rumors-will-levis-hooker-2023/
And says the three top centers might go early. Bills like Wypler.
In my PFN mock, I was able to grab Mayer and then JMS…I didn’t think I would want to go 3/4 offense but holy BPA draft that would be sick…
Also able to grab Benton at 83