Welcome to Seahawks Draft Blog, providing daily analysis on the Seattle Seahawks and the NFL Draft.
The blog started in 2008 and is now into its 16th year. I'm available for any radio or podcast invites, just reach out using the 'contact' section.
We have a great community in the comments, we just ask you keep things on topic.
Rob Staton
My top-3 takeaways
Penix is good.
Rattler is gooder than he’s getting credit for
The WR class is also goodish
IMO Penix should have taken advantage of the opportunity to really launch it once or twice. Next to the other QBs it would have looked even more impressive. Create some buzz and then follow it up at his pro day.
These measurements though… Not quite Anthony Richardson, but who is?
Really curious what he would have put up in the 40.
I don’t want him running unless there is 10 yards of empty space.
And I mean empty.
My biggest thoughts from the Combine so far:
1) We must take a WR. It’s a rich class so get a dude. Some teams will be able to get 2 or 3 dudes. Ideally, someone that can play outside and inside.
2) The TE class is more intriguing than I thought.
3) There are at least 1-3 CBs in each round. Again, target one.
4) The options for the ‘Mike’ position isn’t great. But, the options for ‘Will’ are much better. I can see multiple guys fitting the Patrick Queen role. The Raquon Smith role isn’t in this draft.
5) The safeties are a little weird to me. We have our favorites but it seems a little light. Still, there are some intriguing size/speed guys. But, will the team targets more average speed guys that have better football IQ?
Did a guy (WR Zavier Worthy) really just put up a 4.21 40 :O
LOL,
Rome Oduze doing his best Tin Cup impersonation.
Odunze is doing the 3-cone. He is the only WR prospect still on the field.
3-cone time is 6.88. Short shuttle 4.03.
This might make re-watching him a bit simpler:
The Worthy run was fun but now it’s getting way too much attention. Was good to see Penix and Odunze perform well. I really like McMillan’s potential. Polk has a high floor, looks like a guy who could be very dependable.
Was cool to see Rattler throw well. Clearly not as strong as Penix but I think he helped himself.
I thought Ja’Lynn Polk running a low 4.5 was great! Pretty big for him.
Adam Schefter tweeted the fastest 40 times in combine history. It is interesting that Tariq Woolen now ranks #5 at 4.26.
Raiders HC Pierce will see Penix as the second-coming… of Kenny Stabler(aka The Snake). HC Pierce sprang at birth from the Raider womb and subsequently baptised by skull and crossed bones. He will see Penix in enrobed in Black and Silver.
The only problem with your theory is that the Raiders are required to Select Xavier Worthy in the first round because he’s the fastest player in the draft.
I don’t care what anyone says, that is funny, my friend. Well said!
Dear God please no. Penix career would be .ruined playing for that SHITHOLE franchise
Can you imagine what would happen if Penix gets to the Seahawks and they pass? Oh the outrage would be legendary. The crazy thing is with the amount of intel they have on him it would send every team that liked him into a frenzy trying to figure out what they missed.
For the record I’d be cool with Penix at 16
I caught the end of the live broadcast starting around when you guys were talking about Spencer Rattler. I’ve been watching tape of him and JJ McCarthy today and find them very similar. Rattler had a pourous O line and his recievers dropped a lot of passes in the clips I saw. I feel that both QBs look to have good enough arm strength, but lack in good deep ball accuracy. McCarthy’s passes always seem to duck a little. Both QBs run agressively and throw well on the run, and are accurate in the short to intermediate range.
Frankly, I’m not sure there’s that much separation between Maye, Penix, McCarthy, or Rattler. Maye seems go make a lot of bad decisions, but has the best all around tools, while Penix has sublime deep ball skill, but serious issues handling the rush.
If the Seahawks have all the above (and maybe Nix) QBs rated similarly, then why not trade down in the first, maybe get that replacement second rounder to get back into the meat of the draft. In that sense, that could be supportive of a best player available argument, but for QBs…and a way to get back into good position.
Similar to my thoughts. I don’t know who may fall. I tend to think Maye will go high based on potential. I could see Penix, McCarthy and Nix going 1st, 2nd or even 3rd round. Very hard to predict. But at 16, we should be able to get a real difference maker. If the QBs are long shots, I’d rather take a chance on one of them falling to the next round. Maybe we can trade back into the 2nd if necessary.
I guess the difference may be that Penix and Maye seem to have deeper flaws right now, but they show high level physical abilities that might be impactful at the next level. I do wonder how hard it would be to coach out Penix’s poor play from the pocket, since he has a lot of speed to work with.
Guys, I just wanted to say that I think Robbie’s at his best when he gives some counter perspectives and/ or push back as he did today. It was entertaining, and I find myself agreeing with him more than not.
I thought Rob’s assertion that McCarthy could go top 5 was insane because I just don’t see anything special (which was further entrenched for me in his throwing session). However articles from ESPN and NFL.com seem to be gushing over his performance, with Chad Reuter suggesting that McCarthys performance made a strong case to be one of the top 3 QBs drafted, while brushing over Penix’s throwing performance and emphasizing that he’s a draft riser because his medicals came back positive. Similarly, ESPN gave a pretty honest assessment of McCarthys session but stated he doesn’t see him slipping past 13, while complimenting Penix and stating his draft range is somewhere between 39-44. Feels like a bizarro world where everyone seems to be seeing something in McCarthy that I’m not, but this seems to happen every year with a handful of QBs the media hypes up
I agree. However, teams more than ever are looking for x-factor things. I don’t love McCarthy but I understand why teams might love him. This is why the last couple of weeks, I have pushed back about people dismissing him. You don’t have to love him but at least understand why/how a team might dig him. Let’s have a balanced view about all players. Sometimes our biases sort of rear its ugly head and I’m guilty all of the time as well.
I thought Rob spelled it out beautifully in his video. He’s an advanced metric darling. Teams try to find edges and someone is going to like him based on that. He’s a leader and gets people going. He does enough to convince coaches and GMs to want him. I get it.
How about a comp for JJ as Baker Mayfield? Drafted higher than he should have been, charming fellow with no real standout qualities, might be good enough not to F-up the chance for a really good team, never going to be the difference maker for a deep playoff run.
I expect people to buy Robbie’s kids some snacks in the super chats tomorrow.
How much are Twizzlers? $40.00?
And the more I think about it, I think that sour candy bit with Caleb Williams was a setup so Rich Eisen could lure J.J. McCarthy into the back of his van.
Agents these days!
Teams either needing a QB or at least thinking about a QB. Chicago, Washington, New England, NY Giants or as Howard Cosell would the New York “football” Giants, Atlanta, NY Jets, Minnesota, Denver, Las Vegas, Seattle, LA Rams, Pittsburg, Tampa Bay.
That’s 13 teams. Looking for a QB. As usual their could be a surprise. Even though the Saints have Derek Carr and Carr had a pretty good season. They could be a surprised. But let’s say they don’t take a QB. That still leaves 12 teams.
The Rams have Matt Stafford. I don’t think they would take a QB in the first round. Maybe later on. But as you know when it comes to the NFL draft expect the unexpected. I think the Steelers are going to go sign a free agent. Let’s say it is Russell Wilson. Heard rumors that Atlanta is going to trade for Fields. Let’s say that Cousins resigns with the Vikings. And Mayfield resigns with Tamp Bay. So we can now eliminate Minnesota, Pittsburg, Tampa Bay, LA Rams, Atlanta, New Orleans.
Assuming Chicago trades Fields to Atlanta and Selects Caleb Williams. That leaves us with Washington. They will probably going to take Jayden Daniels. Unless they can swing a trade for Bears first overall pick (Williams) who they desperately want. Either way the first two QBs off the board are Williams/Daniels. That eliminates Chicago and Washington. So that leaves us with New England, both the NY Giants and Jets, Denver, Seattle, Lost Wages(I mean Las Vegas, BTW over the years their have been plenty of wages lost in Vegas. That leaves us with 6 teams and 4 QBs (Maye. Nix, Penix and J.J. McCarthy). Gut feeling is New England has way too many needs. They probably will trade their Number three overall pick to a team desperately looking for a QB. So now we are down to 5 teams(Both NY teams. Las Vegas, Denver, Seattle) and 4QBs. Assuming that is someone like LA Rams/ Steelers don’t trade up and move ahead of of Seattle.
There is a 99.9 % chance take Denver will select a QB. Now you have 4 teams and 3 QBs. There is a pretty good chance that Vegas will take a QB. So that leaves us with three teams the Jets, Giants and Seahawks that could take a QB in the first round. And only two QBs left The big question is will either or both NY teams take a QB.
So now we have the big question. Will the NY Teams take a QB? I don’t know. Gut feeling is that Rodgers is going to play two more years. With that said they could still take a QB. If I was going to bet I would say they will not. The Jets should be looking for an offensive lineman to protect Aaron Rodgers. Now you have the Daniel Jones situation with the Giants. What are the New York Giants going to do? One thing they might do is TANK the 2024 NFL season. They could decide not take a QB and ride with Daniels Jones. In the hope that they can snag either Sanders or Ewers in next years draft. The Giants also have plenty of needs. So that might be another reason they might not take a QB.
This is all speculation and some speculation is better than others. To sum it up. You have the two NY Teams and Seattle looking for QBs. Their are two QBs (of the top six) left. So the big question is what will the NY teams do?
There could be a wild card. The Tennessee Titans. They have Will Levis. But is Will Levis the long-term answer in Tennessee? Tennessee could lose their top sack leader Denico Autry. And also will probably lose Derek Henry. Just on offense they are going to need at least an OT, RB and WR. But they also have plenty of other needs like who is going to replace their sack leader Autry (if he leaves)?
So their you have the QB situation on March 2, 2024. As you know things can change in a New York second.
BTW: As far as I know Rob said very little about Bo Nix. Rob said Bo Nix had a good day. But not much else. So I was just curious if in Rob’s mind Bo Nix is a franchise QB?
You are speculating all over yourself! That fine, but If you are going to put so much effort into this, you should likely include Spencer Rattler. Based on the video content, he looked pretty good today.
Do you think Spencer Rattler is going to go in the top 16 of the draft?
I don’t think it’s outside the realm of possibility that he goes at #16…
No. I think he is drafted later, but still deserves to be considered in your “logic” above. The general consensus is bad dude, maybe just like Brett Favre! But, all it takes is one team, so could be 50-50 first round but likely late. I sure would like the Seahawks to get him in the third. I would pick him before Maye, Nix and JJ, but nobody knows right now. This will be very interesting both at the draft and watching these QB over the next few years. It reminds me a bit of the draft class with Russ in it. Sure Number one and two who ultimately disappeared. It is a tough job and toughs guys can keep doing it. Maybe that is Rattler this year.
If I had to guess. There is a good chance Rattler will go in the 2nd round.