I can only be honest with you, I thought day three of the draft was underwhelming for the Seahawks. Based on my Twitter timeline, some of you are having a hard time accepting a non-complimentary opinion of the day three picks. So I’m sure this article will go down an absolute storm!
A lot of talent remained on the board going into round four and the opportunity was there for the Seahawks to have a big day. They started with two fourth round picks and turned it into two fourths and a fifth rounder after a trade with the Broncos.
I’ve been watching these players for 12 months and build an annual horizontal board to be in a better position to have informed opinions on these players. If they take someone a round earlier than I think is warranted, I have to reflect that. When they started picking, I thought they reached on the players selected.
It’s not a totally outrageous suggestion:
Spare me the accusations of ‘thinking I know more’ than a NFL GM or that I’m overly negative. I hailed the selections of Byron Murphy and Christian Haynes and offered relentless praise for their last two drafts. I say what I think, not what I think you want to hear.
I had fifth round grades on Tyrice Knight and AJ Barner (both taken in round four) plus a sixth/seventh round projection for Nehemiah Pritchett (taken in round five). I had Sataoa Laumea rated in the range he was taken (round 6/7). I think they got value for DJ James (fifth round grade, taken in round six) and took Mike Jerrell in the area I thought he might go based purely on athletic potential.
I thought other teams did a better job finding value.
For example, Baltimore took a chance on TJ Tampa at the end of round four. He’s a very talented player and I’m not sure why he fell like he did. The Ravens are the ones who took a shot — so I’m inclined to think he isn’t a bad fit for Mike Macdonald’s defense. I think he’ll have a chance to start for the Ravens at outside cornerback in the future. With suspect tackling, run defense and ball-tracking, I don’t feel that way about Pritchett in Seattle. Maybe it was a speed thing but again, the Tampa pick was harder to take given his destination is Baltimore.
The 49ers were able to grab Malik Mustapha three picks after Seattle took Barner. It gave me flashbacks to 2021. I had a second round grade on Talanoa Hufanga that year. He lasted to round five, for whatever reason. San Francisco took him and turned him into one of the better safeties in the NFL. Now they’ve got Mustapha, who I also graded in round two, with a fourth round pick.
On top of this the Niners also took Isaac Guerendo (round four grade) and Jacob Cowing (round three grade) on day three — two offensive weapons with legit potential to carve out key roles in Kyle Shanahan’s offense. They both have a lot of potential.
Pittsburgh really committed to the offensive line in this draft — using their first two picks on Troy Fautanu and Zach Frazier. Yet they still snapped up Mason McCormick when he lasted to round four. I thought that was good value (third round grade) and an opportunistic move building on the commitment to the O-line in the first two rounds. All in all, the Steelers have used two firsts, a second and a fourth on their offensive line in the last two drafts.
The Chiefs sustain a contender with savvy moves to add talent on day two and three. Jared Wiley (third round grade) and Jaden Hicks (third round grade) are two picks today that you can easily imagine having a significant role down the line. Buffalo’s selection of Sedrick Van Pran in round five will give them a chance to find a good starting center in a value range.
Washington took shots on a linebacker with skill and the fastest short shuttle in the draft at his position in Jordan Magee (fourth round grade) before also adding the brilliant Dominique Hampton (third round grade). Meanwhile, the Rams added the highly talented and aggressive Brennan Jackson (third round grade).
The Eagles, who always prioritise replenishing and deepening their O-line, selected Trevor Keegan (fourth round grade) — who started more than 40 games for Michigan’s all-conquering front.
Seattle’s moves didn’t compare well in terms of value based on what I watched — and that’s the only way for me to judge.
In the last two years I thought the Seahawks did a good job on day three finding value. It’s possible I was just more aligned with their grading compared to this year. It also doesn’t mean I’m right and the team are wrong. The same goes for the reverse, though. I appreciate I could be way off the mark — it’s just hard to fathom Knight and Barner having clearly higher grades than Mustapha, Tampa, Hicks and others.
I think the Murphy and Haynes picks were a tremendous starting point for this class — two potential plug-and-play starters helping shape the identity of the team. I really liked both selections. Maybe there’s been a little bit of a missed opportunity to build on that today.
For my notes on each drafted player, see my live blog from earlier.
One of my main quibbles was the trade down from #102. I’m not sure the Seahawks got great value there, especially when other deals started happening with teams parting with 2025 stock to move around. For the sake of the fifth rounder, personally I would’ve preferred taking a chance on a safety like Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, linebacker like Cedric Gray, tight end like Theo Johnson or center like Tanner Bortolini. I think they traded out of a decent range.
With hindsight, knowing what they drafted on day three, I actually think it would’ve been more interesting to trade up from #102 to get into the late third round. A punt on Payton Wilson for example, who the Steelers rolled the dice on at #98, getting into a range where you could double-down on the O-line and grab Zak Zinter or Dominick Puni, or take a shot at Marist Liufau, who just feels like a supercharged version of Knight with greater athleticism and a more violent strike. There’s an argument for this — but a more compelling argument to just stick at #102 and #118 and take Theo Johnson and Malik Mustapha. Pairing those two with Murphy and Haynes would’ve been exceptional value.
Of course you give all of the drafted players a chance. I hope they all outperform the lukewarm review I’m offering. I’m a Seahawks fan. I want them to succeed. But as someone who studies and writes about the draft, I’m obliged to explain what I think about each of these players honestly. I don’t dabble in blind faith.
I think for the Seahawks to take the next step, it’s integral they hit on some players in rounds 3-5. All the good teams tend to have legit starters drafted in that range. Think Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw and George Kittle in San Fransico. Seattle’s day three picks felt a bit too ‘safe’ and depth-focused this year.
I certainly called it wrong on the quarterback situation. I thought they would take one before the end of round four. They didn’t take one at all.
Clearly the league was not enamoured with Spencer Rattler. I liked his tape and I maintain that I don’t think that’s the big problem. I had heard some concerns about his time at Oklahoma and made reference to that throughout the last three months. I’m not sure whether he was ever able to reassure teams on that period in his life and some may have already made their mind up. We’ll never know. But the whole league passed on him multiple times, so I don’t blame the Seahawks for doing the same.
Michael Pratt was another player I thought they’d show interest in. He had some limitations downfield but I also thought someone would take him at least in the round four range. He lasted far longer, going in the seventh to Green Bay.
I think there’s little point hand-wringing about the QB situation in this draft specifically. With so many reaches in the top-12, it made it a difficult class to invest in the position. I do think, though, that not investing a single pick in a quarterback in three drafts after trading Russell Wilson is a surprise.
I know they made a deal for Sam Howell so quarterback hasn’t been totally ignored. He’s under contract for two years and they’ll no doubt get a good look at him. I was hoping for a bit more activity to try and find a long term solution.
I mean, is it really too much to ask that they could have a couple of young guys in training camp with realistic ambitions of being the future? We had two years where it was Drew Lock next to Geno Smith and now it’s Howell with Smith. There may well be a great sense of urgency behind the scenes — but it’s not evident with their actions.
This team is going to need to do something more substantial at quarterback sooner rather than later, otherwise I fear they’ll just be treading water. They can’t always be the team shrugging its shoulders at not being able to land the perfect QB in the ideal spot of their choice. I also think they run the risk of missing out on Smith being a viable bridge. Having a bridge means adding someone to take over. If Smith departs next year, you’ve had no benefit on his three-years holding the fort. Unless the plan is Howell — but a reminder that his PFF grade last season was marginally better than Zach Wilson’s.
There are intriguing quarterbacks eligible for the draft next year. I like Quinn Ewers more than others. Recent Minnesota transfer Max Brosmer is a very intriguing player. Carson Beck has some talent at Georgia, Missouri has a good quarterback in Brady Cook, everyone knows about Shedeur Sanders and there are other veterans such as Tyler Van Dyke, Will Howard and Riley Leonard.
None of the group have an X-factor quality like Michael Penix Jr’s arm talent though. It feels a little bit like they’re treading water at the position — always too good to be in the mix for the Caleb Williams’ and Jayden Daniels’ in this class but not prepared to push the boat out and be aggressive to move up the board while also not taking any shots on players on day two or three. It’s a curious situation. I’m not sure anyone would’ve expected three drafts post-Wilson trade and zero quarterbacks drafted.
I’ll end with a positive. I do think the Byron Murphy pick presents a real opportunity for the Seahawks to have a dynamic defensive front for the first time in a long time. The Christian Haynes selection could pay off quickly — he’s ready to start in the league. The lack of a big investment at right tackle suggests good news on Abe Lucas’ knee injury.
Whether this draft combined with free agency has done enough to move the needle in terms of Seattle’s contending status, I’m unconvinced. Unless Murphy proves to be more of a game-wrecker than the college tape showed, it’s hard to look at the list of names taken and think this will transform the Seahawks.
I think they’re still waiting for that game-changing off-season that kicks them on to the next level. It’s a shame they’re not already there, given the stock they’ve used in the draft since 2022. I think they remain some way behind the better teams. Hopefully, the new staff can close the gap in September.
A few final things to share today. If you missed our ‘reaction to day-three’ live stream, check it out here:
I was on Cigar Thoughts for day two and they’ve published our conversation here:
And the Seahawks are signing Jack Westover as an UDFA — you can check out my pre-draft interview with the Washington tight end here:
