Work-outs are underway at the combine, with the offensive lineman and tight ends running through drills today. Defensive lineman and linebackers also arrived in Indianapolis ahead of their work-outs on Monday – Seahawks fans should make a point of tuning in for those drills. Tomorrow is also a key date with the running backs, receivers and quarterbacks performing. Seattle is likely to be watching the running backs closely, so keep an eye on the likes of Doug Martin, Lamar Miller and David Wilson. I’m a big fan of Boise State’s Martin in particular and believe he could work his way into the back end of round one – he’d be a steal in round two. For the receivers, watch Stephen Hill at Georgia Tech – a player we’ve highlighted on this blog during the season who’s created a bit of buzz in Indianapolis.
Seahawks fans will be glued to the quarterbacks too no doubt – I’d suggest keeping a check on some of the second or even third tier players such as Kirk Cousins, Austin Davis, Chandler Harnish and BJ Coleman. In the meantime, here are some links to keep you up to date with everything…
NFL.com has all of the official work-out results for the offensive lineman and tight ends. Georgia’s Cordy Glenn had an impressive showing today and will interest team’s at both tackle and guard. Missouri tight end Michael Egnew – a player we’ve mocked in round one at times during the 2011 season – also flashed major athletic potential. Be sure to check out the video highlights from today’s work-outs by clicking here.
Tony Pauline reports that St. Louis are actively looking to deal the #2 overall pick. Pauline: “The word in Indianapolis is the St Louis Rams will do everything possible to move the second pick of the draft. We hear there have been exploratory talks with the Washington Redskins in the early going.”
Pauline also says Jacksonville and Buffalo are showing interest in Alabama’s Courtney Upshaw. Pauline: “The scouting report being passed around to teams on Courtney Upshaw of Alabama includes a quote from the Tides head coach. Nick Saban emphatically refers to Upshaw as the “meanest player he’s ever coached” and someone that “would never back down in a fight.””
Marc Sessier reports that Michael Brockers weighed in at 322lbs at the combine, with a listed height of 6-5. He won’t run the forty yard dash or bench press, however, so has the extra weight had a negative impact on his mobility or strength? It’s hard to tell, but that’s nose tackle territory. A lot of people ask about Brockers on this blog, but the one thing Seattle doesn’t need on it’s defensive line is more size.
Evan Silva reports that Melvin Ingram has shed 12lbs since the Senior Bowl, weighing just 264lbs in Indianapolis. Silva: “Ingram measured 6-foot-1 7/8 and 276 pounds at the Senior Bowl weigh-in on January 23. One month later, he measured 6-foot-1 7/8 and 264 pounds at Saturday’s Scouting Combine weigh-in.” I’m not sure this was the best move – his versatility and ability to move inside was seen to be crucial towards his stock. He’s lost weight so he can run a great forty yard dash, but I can’t help but feel he’d still impress at his game-weight. Team’s will go away thinking, ‘Good forty time, but can he run that when we ask him to put the weight back on?’
Silva passes on comments from Mike Mayock regarding Ohio State offensive lineman Mike Adams – who only managed 19 reps of the bench press. Mayock: “That’s not acceptable for that position, not even close. (You) see a lot of defensive backs put up that many.” It’s worth noting that Nate Solder only managed 21 reps twelve months ago and had a fine rookie season with New England, although I was never enamoured with Adams’ tape.
Silva also points out that Iowa tackle Riley Reiff has short arms. Silva: “Reiff measured in with only 33 1/4-inch arms. Short arms for potential left tackle prospect.” This could be good news for Seattle if he’s available and interesting Miami at #8 overall. The Dolphins are potential competition for the Seahawks in terms of the draft’s top pass rushers.
Todd McShay says it’s a positive sign that Brock Osweiler only measured at 6-6 and not 6-8 at the combine. McShay: “That’s a good thing for him. He was listed at 6-8 in college, and no one is thrilled about quarterbacks that tall. Osweiler is rising based on film study, and he’s a former Gonzaga basketball recruit with good feet and mobility for his size. He currently ranks at the No. 27 overall prospect on my board.”
Charlie Bernstein reports that Osweiler met with the Seahawks last night, along with the Chiefs, Redskins and Bills. Although a lot of people like Ryan Tannehill (I’m not a fan), I have Osweiler ranked firmly as the third best quarterback in this draft class. If you get him in any round outside of the first, that’s a steal.
John Clayton spoke to Seahawks GM John Schneider today, discussing several issues including the future of free agent Red Bryant:
I can’t help but feel that Osweiler may be very highly rated with the Hawks. The two things that you hear this FO repeat over and over about what they look for at that position are toughness and a strong personality. Osweiler has both of those in spades. Honestly, I’m not sure if there is a tougher QB in this draft. Watch games like Illinois. He took some brutal hits in that game, yet still stood tall in the pocket, unfazed. The dudes a gamer.
Id love it if we got Upshaw then Osweiler in the 2nd, i know hes climbing but it would be nice maybe Irvin in the 3rd and L. James in the 4th, or the SDSU RB.
I wonder if there are any players on our team that we can trade for picks or will trade for picks
Obo, maybe one of our TE’s (Morrah,McCoy) to the Giants Maybe Mike Williams.
I know we wouldnt get alot, but Schnieder does like his draft picks and i wonder if hed want to trade some players for picks
maybe at best we can get 4th or 5th for these players (not collectively but per)
Danny O’Neill of the Seattle Times didn’t seem to think Osweiler would be on the Hawks radar, based upon what criteria they have been searching for. I’m not sure how he drew that conclusion though.
One big thing Schneider said about QB’s is he wants someone who can “tilt the room”. Personally, that throws out alot of guys (cough cough Kellen moore).
I wouldnt mind Moore, if he was like a R. Wilson, but he doesnt have any power when he throws, he just seems to float his passes alot and they dont have a zip. Schneider and Carroll also want a mobile QB and Moore isnt that.
There’s an interesting quote from John Schneider in Doug Farrar’s report at the following link: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/combine-notes-ryan-tannehill-third-man-wait-turn-182801112.html
Quote – “One personnel executive who agrees that Tannehill is on the right track is Seattle general manager John Schneider, who pointed to Tannehill this week as the perfect example of the kind of player he wants running his offense — as much an athlete as a quarterback.
“First and foremost, that’s what we’re looking for,” Schneider said on Thursday. “Especially at that position. Guys that have always been in the quarterback schools, the special camps, and all that kind of stuff. They make me a little nervous to a certain extent. This guy is a real football player. He played defense. You could see him last year when he stepped in, he just went out and played. He had this natural toughness about him that the players really rallied around and went on a winning streak and he did a great job. I felt like this year, he had well over 60 drops. He did a nice job.” ”
BTW, when JS said that Tannehill played defense, I think he was referring to Tannehill having played DB in his sophomore year in high school.
I’m always a little skeptical when you hear GM’s praise players with whom they’ll have to compete with teams to get. You heard this FO say similar things about Locker last season, and he was reportedly very low on their draft board. Conversely, they hardly ever mentioned Kaepernick whom they were very interested in.
troy – you could be right that JS was just putting up a smoke screen. As for Locker and Kaepernick, they didn’t get the chance to get Locker, and they passed on Kaepernick when they had a chance to draft him. So I don’t know if the reported draft board was correct.
The reports going around were that the Schnieder was planning on trading out of 25 into the top of the second to get Kaepernick or Dalton if Kaep wasn’t there (supposedly Locker was below both on their board). They didn’t have any takers and didn’t feel either quarterback was worth reaching for so they took the top O-lineman on their board in Carpenter.
At least that’s how I remember it. This was all per Robs source. I tend to think he knows what he’s talking about but others disagree, so take it how you will.
@FieldGulls: John Clayton on Brock Osweiler: It’s possible Osweiler is there for Seattle in 2nd round #11.
Rob, what is Bruce Irvin’s stock now that he measured to be 245 at the combine?
Based on what Rob told me from what his source told him, Seattle has a plan already in place for which areas of the draft they will target certain positions. We haven’t been given an exhaustive list of every position and where its going to be targeted, but we’ve been told a few. I get the impression that Seattle’s draft system does not target specific players but rather specific positions. Its no accident that many of the 1st round names we’ve been touting here on the blog are front 7 players.
So in other words, its not a question of “who” do they draft at QB, but “where.” If Tannehill/Osweiler reach our 2nd pick, would Seattle pull the trigger there, even if its hypothetically earlier than the area of the draft they had planned on targeting that position?
That’s something I wonder about. Schneider uses a roster construction system taken directly from Ron Wolf and Ted Thompson. Thompson didn’t really need a QB in 2008, and yet he still spent a 2nd round pick on Brian Brohm. Brohm had received late 1st round grades from many analysts, and it may have been a case of being too good a value to pass up.
Schneider, like Carroll, is not known for misdirection. He’s pretty up front and direct- he’s very confident in his system and feels that he doesn’t need to trick anyone else to make it work. I’m not surprised that he was very positive about Tannehill, since in many respects Tannehill is an outstanding point guard QB prospect. Its also not surprising that he’s showing some degree of interest in Osweiler. Of course, when a GM is very outwardly positive about a player before the draft, even if he means it, its often because he knows he won’t get him anyway. Just like how Pete Carroll gushed about Sam Bradford two years ago.
I think the 2nd round pick is going to be the wildcard pick in this draft for Seattle. I don’t think Seattle will draft a QB quite that early- but “opportunity” is one of the mantras of this front office. My hunch is that Seattle will draft a RB or LB in the 2nd (or a pass rusher if they didn’t take one in the 1st). QB in the 2nd seems unlikely, but it honestly wouldn’t shock me. If they rate Tannehill as highly for their system as I would or as highly of Osweiler as Rob does, they could put another pressing need on the back burner and make a move.
Sure sounds like the Redskins want the #2 pick from St. Louis. But, what do they have to offer that will be better than Cleveland offering the #4 and the #22? The Redskins have the #6 now. I wonder what they would give us for the #12 so they could then offer #6 and #12? How about their 2013 1st round pick and, say, their 2012 2nd or 3rd?
Same thing goes for Miami — what would they offer us for our #12 so they could pair it with their #8?
RG III runs a 4.38 – with his athleticism, poise and leadership he is exactly what the Hawks describe as their ideal QB. IMO do what it takes to draft him!
Also, Michael Floyd ran a 4.42. Totally surprised me. If his off field problems are not a problem with a team, he locked himself up as a 1st rounder
Phil, I like it. Sacrifice round 1 this year while bolstering the early/mid rounds as well as giving ourselves ammo in round 1 for next year. I think that if we could pull it off this is my preferred course of action. Let’s not forget that even if we can’t get Bi also can’t see Miamuarkley there’s bound to be other QBs and/or Jarvis Jones or other pass rush available.
There are absolutely no guarantees that Miami or Washington would be a playoff team. In fact, in each case I’d consider it doubtful.
Trade away our draft picks this year? Is this the same crowd calling for Pete Caroll’s scalp if we don’t show improvement? The best strategy we could have done was to play Charlie Whitehurst for the last half of the season. Our offensive line was shot anyway. If he would have thrown 2 or 3 wounded ducks a game our record would have matched the Colts. We could have improved our draft position without trading anything. We also could have played Portis, why not see what we have in him? Surely he had been coached up by the end of the season.
As for draft choices, I am thinking we will go defense in round 1 and 2, probably a DE and a LB. Of course any choice in that area or CB would make us stronger.
However we would have a tough choice if an extroardinary player falls to us like Trent Richardson in the first, or perhaps a great WR in the second.
I don’t think we will pick a running back in the second because only 3-4 RBs will be picked through the 2nd (versus about 10 DEs), most of the RBs are going in the third or fourth round. So we can wait and still get a quality RB.
There is a lot of depth at WR and we could probably get the 5-7 WR off the board in the second. That would still be a quality pick. There doesn’t seem to be much talent at TE, so I would avoid that position this year (plus we got four).
None of the defensive ends are really appealing to me. Coples has so many question marks, Ingram and Upshaw I think are too small and better suited for a 3-4, the guy from Illinois is the most intriguing to me but he’s a raw, one year wonder and isn’t worth that high of a pick. I really like the DT’s from LSU and Miss State.
Hawkspur – I think the Seahawks can say that this year’s draft (and free agency/trades) is a success if they (1) Improve their pass rush, and (2) Improve their QB play. There are lots of ways to get there and I think it’s important to be flexible. That’s why I posed the question about what the Redskins/Dolphins might offer us for this year’s #1.
I’d be happy to see Upshaw/Ingram/Coples in Rd. 1 and Cousins in Rd. 2. I know lots of folks are going to say this is too much for Cousins, but I was impressed with what I saw today. I didn’t see him make a poor throw.
If we did end up trading our #1, I still think there are some pass rushers who might fall to us in Rd.2 and Cousins may still be around in Rd. 3. Plus, I still think we can address our pass rushing need via free agency.
Patrick H – I assure you the QB board was correct. Having a player ranked as your #2 quarterback as Kaepernick was doesn’t mean you automatically take him with your pick. Seattle were prepared to take Kaepernick if they moved down the board a little where he would’ve been top of their list. The range he went was the range Seattle were prepared to draft him.
Jay – He’s always been a specialist for me, which is fine. He’s going to come in on third downs and go for it. I like the guy, but we have to temper expectations. At this stage he’s a R3-4 type for me.
See I feel Seattle drafting a RB in the 2nd would be a mistake. Watching some of the athletes with full on beast frames yesterday showed me that an early jump is absolutely not necessary. Bob Turbin can be had in the 4th and is faster and AS strong as Doug Martin, and is stronger and bigger than David Wilson. I would actually rather have us take Tommy Streeter or Stephen Hill in the 2nd and have our go-route reciever who could blow the top off the defense if we are reaching. Of course Sean Spence will likely be available also. I personally hope we take Osweiler but see that very unlikely. I am not a fan of Cousins (who is one of those QB’s who was always in the coaching camps that Scnheider mentioned) or Tannehill who just doesn’t impress me. No true pressure faced, never takes over a close game, never plays above the system. But QB in the second is iffy at best
I like the idea of a QB in the 2nd round this year. I would not be agains Cousins, Osweiler, Tannehill, but I have a gut feeling that defense will be the first 2 picks in the draft for the Hawks. Harnish in the 4th or 5th? BTW: Stephen Hill’s 40 time is fantastic. Good catches too. He is a huge unknown with so few catches but he is intriguing to say the least.
@alaskaHawk- You are not serious about throwing games at the end of the season? I hope so. The Hawks had been close to another playoff, wildcard, at the end of the season. Plus, playing time is huge for young players and taking that away for a draft position is silly in my opinion. Move to #6 from #12 by essentially not playing 6 games is bad on every level. The consequences of throwing games and what that could do to a team, city, fanbase. That is not the mantra of a professional team. Not to nitpick, but I am so against the idea for a team lto lose games just to move a couple spots in a draft. Sends the wrong message to the players, team, the most importantly the fans.