The Seahawks did trade up quite aggressively. Just not in the way we expected.
Having discussed the possibility of moving up a few spots in round two using a fourth round pick, Seattle had another plan. Several possible targets went in the early stages of round two (Dorial Green-Beckham, Donovan Smith, Preston Smith) making a move from #63 less appealing. Instead they traded from #95 to #69, giving up a fourth, fifth and sixth round pick in the process.
You might think that’s a steep price. It’s not easy, however, to move up nearly a whole round in a draft without giving up some serious compensation. If they were willing to give up a fourth to move from #63 to around #54 — is giving up a fifth and sixth in the 60’s such a big deal?
We’ll come on to the two players they picked in a moment. First — how did events before the #63 selection impact the Seahawks?
— The Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded above New England, Seattle and Green Bay to draft Ali Marpet at #61. It doesn’t mean the Seahawks would’ve taken Marpet but the Packers have a starting center. Seattle and New England could’ve been in the market for one.
— So close:
Rumor is two move up names for SEA were DGB & Mitch Morse @robstaton
— DAVIS HSU (@DavisHsuSeattle) May 2, 2015
We talked extensively about a move up for Dorial Green-Beckham and Mitch Morse was our pick in the final 2015 mock draft for Seattle. It seems both were considered targets. Both perhaps went just that little bit too early to get into range.
— There are always things you get right and wrong in a draft. It’s shocking to see Eli Harold drop into round three. It was more reassuring to see Morse and Ty Sambrailo go in the second round as projected, to see Markus Golden go in the second frame and Jalen Collins land on a team being moulded to copy the Seahawks.
So… what about the picks?
We’ve talked about both players extensively. The Frank Clark (DE, Michigan) selection is going to dominate sports radio chat shows on Monday. Possibly for the rest of the week, if not longer. Anyone uncomfortable with the Greg Hardy signing will be equally as uncomfortable with this pick.
I wrote about Clark’s troubles in a piece back in March. I’m going to stick to football in this review — because I think that’s what the community would want from this blog. The Seahawks drafted Clark and therefore we shall talk about him as a prospect.
For me he is a terrific pass rusher that offers an immediate impact to the D-line rotation. Without the character issues he would’ve been a possible first rounder or at least an early second round pick. You can find a tape review of his game vs Northwestern here.
So what does he do well?
Hand technique is vital for a pass rusher. Clark shows adequate get-off and foot-speed but he can also engage, disconnect from a blocker and finish. He’s got a classic bull-rush. He possibly won’t be a sack artist but he’ll create splash plays, move the QB off the spot and make his life uncomfortable. He could also line up in various spots to create pressure.
He has an explosive lower body (38.5 inch vertical) and he excelled in several other drills at the combine. He’s a shade under 6-3 and 271lbs. He’s not a LEO. He’s closer to Michael Bennett. But he can act as a pure edge rusher.
Seattle now has a loaded D-line rotation again. They’ve addressed the defensive front and with good reason. The options left in the draft after round three are weak. It would’ve been tempting to go O-line at #63 but the options available are much more attractive on day three.
If there are character concerns surrounding Clark’s addition, there are no such issues with Tyler Lockett. Another player we frequently discussed as a community, he has a slightly thicker lower body akin to Golden Tate that contains a surprising amount of power. He high points the ball, explodes out of his breaks and just knows how to get open. Isn’t that what you want from your receivers?
He’s a special teams dynamo and will be Seattle’s starting kick returner in 2015. He can also act as a gunner. He can high point the ball, make the spectacular grab. He’s not a SPARQ demon like Clark, but he’s tough, gritty and made to play for the Seahawks.
He comes from a football family and broke numerous records at Kansas State. That’s despite poor QB play pretty much from start to finish. Lockett will score touchdowns, will move the chains and will provide a reliable target for Russell Wilson.
Is it a costly price tag to move up? Not if you believe in the player. Seattle needed a receiver and clearly zoned in on Lockett. Despite giving up three additional picks, they were able to move up nearly a whole round and they still retain a further six selections:
Round four — #130, #134
Round five — #170
Round six — #209, #214
Round seven — #248
That’s ample opportunity to draft at least two offensive linemen, a running back and three other players.
So who remains on the board?
South Carolina running back Mike Davis is still there. Tre McBride is still on the board. There are options galore at the three-technique but Rakeem Nunez-Roches seems like a better fit later on.
Filling the two big holes on the O-line must be the priority though. Guard and center. Neither addressed on days one or two.
Luckily there’s still a wealth of options. Josue Matias remains a personal favourite as a hulking left guard convert. Shaq Mason will make one tough NFL center, while Andy Gallik and B.J. Finney are technically adept. Daryl Williams is still available and so is possible left tackle project Rob Crisp. Mark Glowinski and Quinton Spain are both there. Reece Dismukes will appeal to some, as will Max Garcia. Terry Poole can play guard or center as another ex-left tackle.
T.J. Clemmings, La’el Collins and Tre Jackson also remain available with no end in sight for their fall.
Even though the Seahawks didn’t go O-line today, they’ll have plenty of opportunities to add some pieces on Saturday.
#SEAPick Seahawks planned to be aggressive with 11 picks coming into today. Traded up for Tyler Lockett. Paul Richardson rehabbing knee.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) May 2, 2015
Congrats to Frank Clark! Two Wolverines in the 2nd Round! #GoBlue
— Coach Harbaugh (@CoachJim4UM) May 2, 2015
Very happy about the Lockett pick! I also thinks picking him makes me think there is a concern if PRich will make it back for the season. John said that returner was a need.
The presser by Pete and John discussing Clark – disappointing.
Why?
People keep emphasizing Tyler Lockett as a returner – understand that this is a very good, very refined RECEIVER (yes, he also is a very good returner). He’s very quick and agile, runs good sharp routes, gets open and catches. Basically a good safety valve for Russell. Similar to the roles that Welker and Edelman have played.
So, while he is a very good returner, the thing I like the most about him is what a polished route-runner he is.
I think you’re right about his receiving skills and ability to get open. I think the question is more about wondering whether he’ll be able to earn a spot in the starting 3 wide sets that is paramount to playing more than a cursory 6-8 snaps a game where Wilson might drop back to pass on 3 of them and not look once his way. Because that’s pretty much the fate consigned to guys that aren’t top 3 on the depth chart.
OTOH, we know for a fact he will be the starting kick and punt returner since there’s no one else on the team that can do that.
hmabdou – when I have studied film on Lockett, I have been impressed by the multiple routes he runs. His quickness makes his double moves deadly. So, even though his height is like Welker or Edelman, I think he is more than just a smurfy slot receiver. I think he will eventually be moved all over, playing the slot, coming out of the backfield, and even being split out wide.
Gee, I’d be thrilled if he turned into an Edelman or Welker caliber player. You dismiss them as if they weren’t two of the very best at what they did and still do.
I did not mean to dismiss them. I just think that Lockett is more versatile.
Pretty sure our picks netted us an ok TE too…can’t remember his name…think he has some potential though
Did it cost a pro-bowl center? Hmm, maybe we’ll find a new pro bowl center in the 4th round.
I think the way this draft has played out so far indicates the Hawks will sign the FA center from the Texans. He’s pretty good.
Why do you think they chose Lockett when Jaelen Strong was still available? Is it for what he brings to special teams or is he simply a better, albeit smaller, receiver?
I personally prefer the guys who are polished route-runners. Those guys tend to be shorter guys (they run great routes partly because their center of gravity is so low).
i’d like to see Pete and John target Corey Grant, if possible. Really good Sproles-style RB.
hmabdou, this is a gross broadbrush statement that is totally untrue. In no way is route running skill a matter of height. Ridiculous. It is also an apples to orange comparison. Tall receivers run different routes, have different roles.Some of greatest WRs in the NFL and in NFL history are taller.
His preference for polished route-runners is perfectly sensible. His statement that lower centers of gravity help receivers get into and out of their cuts is also sensible. Doesn’t mean taller receivers can’t do it. We know you don’t like the Lockett pick. But labeling a post like this “ridiculous” is not only wrong, it is unnecessary.
Lockett is the better player. Strong overrated from minute one of his college career.
I personally think this was as much a “personality” decision on Lockett over Strong as it was a receiving style decision. And that is not necessarily an indictment on Strong, but I think they were in love with Lockett’s mentality. I tend to agree with them.
I like Bobby Richardson for 3 tech as well.
Will be interesting tomorrow
This would be a really good pick. He’s been under the radar a bit, probably because he played on a mediocre team.
This is already a special draft, one where Seattle has added three players we can from whom we can expect an immediate impact: Graham (obviously), Clark (who will figure in the d-line rotation on day one) and Lockett, who will start as the punt/kick returner and add an element to the offense that currently doesn’t exist (smurf speed and elusiveness).
I wouldn’t expect Lockett to start at WR, or figure significantly into the offensive game plan until mid-year or so, perhaps later, but ultimately he will likely contribute on a regular basis. Probably never be a star #1 WR, but a contributor, very likely.
And still a bunch of day three picks to add. Very nice already.
I agree. Faith restored. Targeting DL with their first pick was really smart and demonstrates that Pete and John did the correct post-mortem on the Super Bowl. After the Harvin debacle (a trade I hated right from jump street) and the last two poor drafts, I was beginning to wonder whether our FO lost its mojo. This offseason has answered some areas of critical need: RZ target (Graham), KR (Lockett), Route running WR (Lockett), Rotational Pass Rusher (Clark). I think the FO is back on track.
If we can get some talented OL in these latter rounds I think we could wind up with a better team than the one that nearly won the Super Bowl last year.
I’d rate this Draft Day D- for SEA.
If they weren’t influenced by off-field issues, why didn’t they trade up a little bit to grab Randy Gregory? Maybe Clark could slip to rd3 and SEA can use their original rd3 pick to grab him, and use the rd2 pick to grab Lockett.
Bad, bad scenario.
I’m not as gloomy on the picks from a football perspective (like Rob, the only perspective that I will speak from here). But I do think you make an interesting point–seems possible that they could’ve drafted Lockett at #63 and Clark may have been there at the original 3rd round spot. The fact that they didn’t probably means either 1. the Hawks knew another team would draft Clark before then or 2. the team simply did not want to risk it because they feel so strongly about him as a player.
The point is SEA sacrificed too much to grab Lockett. AND seriously, why didn’t they trade up to grab gregory? A top 10 prospect before.
Because Gregory poses far greater risk to be a repeat offender who can’t seem to stop smoking the weed in spite of multiple past transgressions and the most important event in his life to that point, the combine, coming up where he KNEW he’d be tested. That’s why.
Far greater risk of Gregory repeating as an already repeat offender than Clark as a one time offender.
also Gregory simply doesn’t fit Seattle’s scheme.
Really? I read he was being checked out as a possible LEO for Gus. If he could play in Gus’s scheme I figured he could play in ours. Not saying they should have selected him given his repeat substance violations, but I never heard that he wasn’t a scheme fit.
Yes. Plus, the Seahawks also value players that can survive in the ultra competitive environment that is the Seattle lockerroom. There are whispers that Gregory is also dealing with psychological issues. If true, it could be a reason why the Seahawks passed.
Psych issues? Wow, that could easily plummet a guy’s stock depending on what it was. Yeah he already has a proven track record of being unable to control his impulses with weed and the way he’s talking makes it sound like he hasn’t figured out how to stop any time soon.
His excuse that his positive combine test was from the levels of THC in his system from back in December is just mind blowing. It’s not even conceivable he could have had THC from two months earlier in his urine.
I know Anthony McCoy was in the same boat but he was a 6th round pick that Pete had personal history with at USC. I can understand not wanting to roll the dice on a player that’s already enrolled in the NFL drug program and poised to miss time on the first failed test.
I wonder if the legalization of marijuana in WA has anything to do with the thought process? (I also agree with peter that he’s not as good a scheme fit.)
Schneider said three different teams told him after the Clark pick that they were gong to pick him with their pick if he was available in the third round. Given that the Hawks’ pick was the second to the last in the third round, Clark almost certainly would not have been there at 95.
So they quaked in fear about losing out on Clark and his baggage, but Eli Harold is sitting there and they ignore him.
I know, I already hear your responses to this. “How do you know Schneider doesn’t have secret information that something is wrong with Eli Harold?” We don’t. Maybe we find out later. But right now, based on available research, JSPC chose the inferior prospect.
How is Clark an inferior prospect? Outside of the off field concerns, on field I don’t see him as inferior at all.
I think he is inferior to Eli Harold. And many others.
I think Eli Harold is inferior. At least Frank Clark doesn’t take plays off and has got a constant motor. I don’t think PCJS are big on drafting guys who they might suspect of being lazy.
In fact they drafted only 1 good guy on D-Line here, Jordan Hill. They rely on FA and heritages(Mebane) to build their D-line. Besides, their mid-round D-line picks almost contributed nothing to this team(Jesse Williams, Greg Scruggs). So questioning their ability in this area is legit.
Questioning their ability to do so is legit.
Using poor criteria to do so is not so is fair game to take open potshots at.
I think Frank Clarck is superior to both Eli Harold and Randy Gregory overall. Gregory may be a better pur rusher, but I have my doubts he can be more than a pass rush specialist.
I really don’t get what you all see in Harold except measurables. I guess there is potential, but the Seahawks usually wait on potential for day 3.
Maybe because their investigation of Gregory lead them to believe that he was more of a risk than Clark. Not all “off-field issues” are equally reconciled in the mind of the team. Gregory had different sorts of warning signs, and his behavior at the combine was not that of one who understood that it was time to get serious.
And this doesn’t even touch on whether Gregory or Clark fit the team’s needs on the field better. Personally, a 225 lb pass rush only OLB with inconsistent effort is not a Seahawk type, compared to a 270 lb D-linemen with a 38″ vertical and a great motor.
Maybe they just didn’t expect that Gregory could fall into SEA’s range and ignore the investigation.
Maybe you’re not being reasonable in your accusations about them not doing due diligence. I think it’s ridiculous to think they didn’t.
Considering PCJS have nearly done nothing right since they won Super Bowl XLIII, my accusations are legit. They admitted that they started their offseason too late last year and made major mistakes again and again. The loss of Golden Tate, a totally bust draft. There is no reason that they won’t make the same mistake again this year.
wait what? getting back to the super the next year and they did nearly nothing right?
I think 31 other teams would disagree with that statement. Two trips in a row is doing nearly everything right
They should win the Super Bowl XLIV if they do everything right. The Harvin-based offense totally ruined the offense, and they lost valuable defensive players. I only rate the decisions of PCJS F class.
You’re kidding, right? You think that winning a Superbowl is a “right”? Even if all the chips fall the right way, nothing is ever guaranteed. You’re expectations are way out of whack.
And win SB49 easily. It’s not that hard to maintain that roster, and we saw a huge drop in both Defense and offense last year.
Number one defense?
Easily bullied by Chargers and Broncos. And don’t forget that SEA faced 6 backup QBs in final 6 games. Otherwise they will give No.1 D to Detroit.
Did you really just say it’s not “hard to maintain that roster” in the age of the salary cap? WAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH.
Wow, so you think managing a football team is that easy? It’s really remarkable that you’re not the one being paid as a GM right now and taking your team to Super Bowls while PC and JS are that you think you could do their job better than they do their own.
I’ve heard the term ‘armchair GM’ thrown around before but I really didn’t think there were people out there that actually lived up to the term. I really had no idea there were people arrogant enough to think GM’ing in the NFL is “not hard”, as if the delicate maintenance of the salary cap and not screwing yourself over in future years isn’t a constant concern and issue.
So what exactly do you base your “expertise” on?
I think your perspective is a little off. You do realize that in the entire history of our team, we’ve been to only 3 Super Bowls and won only one? The offense and defense fall off is grossly overstated and the front office has taken some aggressive actions to improve the team in all aspects.
The Super Bowl loss last year was not based on an inability to convert from 1 yard out, it was lost because we had defensive issues after Avril went out and we allowed the Patriots to get up and down the field due to a lack of pressure on the QB. The secondary reason for the loss is that the offense could not get more than 3 and outs late in the game and possess the ball, wearing out our defense that was injured especially in the secondary. Finally, the field position took a huge step back because it seemed for the entire year in 2014 our plan was “hope” and no one really took over the dominant returner role in this critical 3rd part of the game of football.
In the off season, PC/JS go out and get the best TD scoring TE in the game who just happens to be a 3rd down target to rotate coverage away from other WR and remove 8 and 9 man boxes on 3rd and short. They then went out and drafted another DL player (Clark) to allow a DL rotation that is similar in depth to the 2013 team. By the way, we get many players DL back from injury (Hill, Marsh, Scruggs) that is like getting a bunch of free agents in the offseason. Depth has returned. The return game took a huge step up with the draft of Tyler Lockette, a pro bowl capable return man from his scouting reports and performance in college.
It’s one thing to criticize the front office, but en entirely different thing to be a revisionist to history. The Seahawks had the number one rated defense again last year and there really is no reason that they cannot be the same this year. I am not saying they will, but get real this isn’t the Raiders we are talking about.
Motor doesn’t mean a thing if all the player does is churn in place. Clark does that a lot.
It still means more than a guy that takes plays off. Harold does that.
Gregory’s issues not isolated to one horrible incident. Clark has convinced teams he is not a bad person. Gregory doesn’t have anything hanging over him like Clark’s horrendous cause of dismissal at Michigan, but he is a threat to face long term suspensions in the league.
I’m not sure if SEA buys his words, fans have to do that too. The FO also had confidence in trading for Harvin, and it turns out to be the biggest failure in PCJS era.
And to be honest, PCJS had nearly made no right decisions since they bring SB XLIII to Seattle.
Paul Richardson looked like a legit WR before he got hurt- not a poor choice at all picking him.
Justin Britt- day one started already a good run blocker at RT-a reach maybe but not a poor choice.
Rest of class is still TBD but KPL and Marsh both looked promising. Saying they have made no good decisions since the SB win is crazy talk. They did make it to another SB since then after all.
If they successfully keep Golden Tate($6M APY for him is much?) or land a big receiver in 2013 draft or keep D-Line rotation players(Clemons, Bryant. Don’t forget that Bennett and Avril play much more snaps because there’re no reinforcements after them), Seahawks can win SB49 easily.
But they trusted Harvin and Bevell and lost many valuable players. I can only rate their work F.
This kind of hyperbole doesn’t belong here-“PCJS had nearly made no right decisions since they bring SB XLIII to Seattle.” What a moronic statement. Getting one yard away from back to back championships? “I can only rate their work F.” Then i don’t think any bit of info here is going to change your mind so try another blog for everyones benefit.
You can count their right decisions and make your own judgement. IMO they simply do nothing right and ruined a potential Dynasty.
Signing Sherman, Thomas and Lynch were mistakes? Signing Kevin Williams for pennies and having him start last year when Mebane went down was a mistake? Signing Chris Mathews from Canada for pennies was a mistake?
Just how is a potential dynasty ruined?
Moondust is either A)a Niner troll. B) A 2012th Seahawk Bandwagon fan. Or C) Mel Kiper Jr, giving us a low grade, none of them make him pertinent tho
We all need to remember that Schneider has talked about the importance of how a player will fit in the Hawks locker room. Yes there are lots of guys we like but if they don’t think they will fit in that ultra competitive atmosphere they won’t draft them.
That argument can be used both ways. How do you know the guys they passed up were not great for the locker room? How do you know Frank Clark won’t explode and bring the locker room down?
If that’s your argument then why even bother to speculate?
We know the team does its best to fit guys within the mold of what they want and Schneider has mentioned that there have been mistakes in the past of guys they liked but who just couldn’t handle the competitive locker room atmosphere they had. They do their due diligence, but as with anything you make your best judgement based on the available data available.
So unless you have clear and incontrovertible evidence that Frank Clark would bring the locker room down, I think it’s safe to assume the FO did their diligence and determined he wouldn’t have. So what is really your point in speculating?
I’m sure PC had his eye on Clark for a while. Clark if from Southern California and most certainly was on PC’s radar at some point before he left USC. Considering the Southern California connection, I’m sure there was extra digging that PC/JS were able to do in order to figure out exactly what type of person Frank Clark is.
You kind of have to think about Frank as you would have thought about Bruce Irvin, another guy Carroll tried to recruit earlier in his career.
Our FO drafts these guys for a reason.
I’m sorry, but Bruce Irvin is simply a bust. He’s never a good SAM or a every-down pass rusher. That’s not what a 1st round pick for. I don’t understand that most SEA fans regard him as a important player. He’s only average player and will turn 27 this year.
Bruce Irvin is actually a really good SAM and has not been an every down pass rusher since the whole time he has been here.
In his Rookie year he was equal to or better then all other pass rushers taken that year (ingram, mercilous, coples, jones)
Lets stop with the bust talk and lets stop across the board with just throwing out blanket statements
Moondust have you been drinking tonight? To call Irvin a bust just does not make sense. I assure you there are 31 other teams who would disagree.
As for your critique of PC/ JS I agree the last 2 drafts have not been great but that happens more when you draft at the end of each round. Do grade a Front office an F when they have been to back to back Super Bowls is laughable. I assume you are a 49ers troll.
Good comment. You can imagine that a 49ers fan’s first love of football is Kam Chancellor.
Just a reminder, Irvin was picked 15th overall. And Colts picked fleener, Dwayne Allen and T.Y. Hilton after that. Each of the three players are all the 31 teams dreamed for. So I thought Irvin pick was a totally bust.
Irvin is a bust and the Front office getting an F after back to back Super Bowls?
I agree the last 2 draft have not been great but lets not over react here.
Fleener? Really? Ty Hilton?
Wow MoondustV. Calling Irvin a bust is probably the single most ignorant thing I’ve ever heard from a fellow fan here and it’s really hard to believe that any non bandwagon fan could actually believe such tripe.
Maybe it’s time for you to consult that PFF subscription you bought last month to prep you for the draft and see what they think about Irvin and some of the games where they graded him the best player on the field.
It almost makes me wonder if you even know what the word ‘bust’ means.
I agree Arias. This person is the worst person giving his opinions on this site ever.
“How do you know Frank Clark won’t explode and bring the locker room down?”
What evidence is there for this? That he can ‘bring down the locker room’? Don’t go too far to the side of being displeased with these picks.
I agree Rob. Just because a guy does something incredibly stupid in his personal life does not mean he will be a bad team mate or cancer in the room.
I don’t like the domestic violence issue and really hope it was an isolated one time incident not for the Seahawks but for Clark and his family / partner. If the incident is just unforgivable for a fan and they decide on moral grounds to stop cheering for the Hawks or the player then that is fine and a decision each person makes when deciding to cheer for a team. I didn’t hear anyone boycott the K Willams signing last year however and he had domestic violence in his past as well.
if you don’t like the pick on moral grounds that is fine and your choice but to say he will be a bad team mate and blow up the room is beyond presumptuous and totally impossible to know until he joins the team. There were no reports of him being a bad team mate however and I am sure PC/JS would have looked into it.
From a prospect standpoint he is everything you look for in an edge rusher. Check out this article and his SPAQ / Physical Comps. It is very interesting.
From an analytics perspective, Clark ticks every possible box. He ranks fifth in the 2015 EDGE class in SPARQ, and 3rd among 4-3 end types. Clark combines 4.64 speed with an outrageous 4.05 short shuttle and 38.5″ vertical. He’s also not yet 22 years old.
It’s not just the athleticism, either. The 83-7/8″ wingspan and 34-3/8″ arm length both ranked 3rd among all Edge players invited to the 2015 NFL Combine. It’s a combination of length and athleticism that’s incredibly rare; dating back to 1999, the only edge players with greater length and the athleticism of Clark are Manny Lawson, Justin Houston, and Michael Johnson… and DeMarcus Ware and Mario Williams only miss the cut into that club by a few ticks of arm length.
Clark’s player comparisons are, frankly, ridiculous.
http://www.fieldgulls.com/2015/5/1/8533745/nfl-draft-2015-sparq-seahawks-frank-clark-tyler-lockett
I have to say, I’m fairly alarmed at the lack of intellect on why so many people think this draft is bad. The common denominator being “they didn’t draft for need”. Well that’s a typical knee jerk reaction, and it’s not entirely unwarranted, but I don’t believe the Seahawks walked away with a couple of scrubs.
Frank Clark can absolutely rush the passer. Sure, he’s not a classic edge rusher with speed, but that’s not a requirement to be an effective rusher. His tape is really good with him constantly pushing tackles back into the QB. I don’t understand the dislike of this pick (for on the field purposes. Off the field is a different discussion.)
Trading up for Tyler Lockett is interesting. I don’t know much about him, but the freak out over trading “so many picks” seems silly. You aren’t going to be able to keep every player you draft, and there is quite a bit of positive feedback on his abilities. Let’s see how this plays out.
Yes, the Seahawks need offensive lineman. They still have quite a few picks to accomplish that with. Let’s not lose our cool because they didn’t draft “need” with the early picks. Drafting for need early on is NOT a guarantee of success. Disagree with the picks all you want, but these comments about “not trusting PC/JS anymore” are absurd. You should be absolved to watch Santa Clara this year. Then you’ll really know what a crappy front office looks like.
I will say that I understand and agree with other 12s being worried about this draft (so far). I mean it seems that the Seahawks arguably are having the worst draft in the whole league (again, so far). They reached tremendously for Clark – even if some other teams were targeting him if the Seahawks had passed on him at 63, they could have gotten a similar player later on. If they were really high on Lockett, probably should have taken him at 63.
So I agree with other comments (and Tweets) that the Seahawks are not having a good draft (in terms of value) thus far.
There is not a similar player to Clark with his measurables and upside later in the draft. He’s a potential 1st round pick without the off field concerns.
I think we are set up to have a great draft. We got 2 immediate contributors with our first 2 picks, and we can still get a couple of day 1 OL starters tomorrow. That’s a pretty good draft. Throw in Jimmy Graham and Marcus Burley, I’d say it’s a slam dunk. Of course, it all hinges on getting some solid picks for the OL.
I’d still love us to get Grady Jarrett if he falls further.
I really think so too. It’s mind boggling to me that anyone would claim they “didn’t draft for need” when DL was clearly a need.
Plus, just because WR and OL are needs doesn’t justify overreaching by spending high round draft capital to fill those positions if the players that warrant that price aren’t available. It really is short sighted for people to assume otherwise.
I think clark is a great value. Tremendous upside and potential 1st rd pick without his history. I think he fits perfectly with what they want out of their RE. He can rush the passer play the run and even play the screen. His hand usage is superb and his motor really doesn’t stop.
I think they’ve had a fantastic draft. Compared to last year at this time is like night and day. Last year at this stage I felt they were having a horrible draft. This year I feel the opposite.
Hmabdou-
You’ve got to remember when in 2012 Seattle had an F grad drat from fans and writers across the board, right?
That draft turned out pretty good.
I will never compare that draft or any other draft together but why do people do this every year? They place value on positions and when players they like aren’t pick they say the sky is falling?
Tyler Lockette is an absolute steal. The man explodes out of his breaks and runs probably the best routes in all of college football. I see a whole lot of Antonio Brown with him. He could potentially be the steal of the draft.
Now, on to Clark…
His football plating ability is unquestioned. However, I know everyone’s a little antsy regarding his off the field issues.
Let me ask y’all this: Has PCJS done anything to have us lose faith in them, both as people and as football personnel? Do you really think the two wizards of the Emerald City would have picked him if they hadn’t done extensive digging into his past? Let’s just wait and see. I’m not going to condemn the man. Until I’m proven wrong, I’m not going to join the hysteria around Clark. He is a solid football player. What happened that night has been thoroughly investigated by former FBI agents. Let’s all just take a deep breath.
Johnny – I like the Lockett (one “E”, unlike Ricardo Lockette) pick, too. He reminds me of John Brown of the Cardinals.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLRdw3IjKY2gnEZWlOUlCSknDr_FFezYgk&v=MJEdWZuXo6Q
Hey guys, look at this, they are going to be teammates now.
Training camp should produce some great battles between these two. I like Lockett’s confidence a lot and he does well on the field to back it up
Love it.
This is great – thanks!
I love Tyler’s moxie that he wants to go against Sherm – he’s going to become a better WR, I also think this pick helps the defense prepare for these fast WRs as well.
This is the psychological makeup that is so critical in our locker room with challenging the alpha dogs. Iron sharpens iron and our new rookie WR called out Richard Sherman on national TV. I love it!
Actually, practice is going to be great fun. Lockett strikes me as the kind of receiver that could give Sherm the most trouble.
awesome link.
Can’t stress it enough, what a day!
Clark and Lockett are respective steals, dynamic weapons, and there’s still right around 10 really good O-lineman just in the 4th round.
Clark only 21, put on 60 lbs over the last four years’, showing a great wor k ethic. Had 13.5 TFL, was the 5th highest rated edge rusher in terms of SPARQ score, and is quite the phsical specimen with a flair for the spalsh plays.Perfect fit.
Lockett is just what this team needed on offense. Griity, hard worker, high character, no ego, pays bigger than he is, one of the better route runners in this class, him and Montgomery were the best returners, and you can use Lockett all over the formation as well.
Oh, and Jimmy Graham, money in the red zone and a compleye headache/sleepless nights for opposing DCs.
I mostly agree with you on football issues, but I don’t think Lockett was a steal. We used 4 picks on a small receiver with very short arms and tiny hands. I’m worried about Russell Wilson being able to see him, even if he has gained separation. That said, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. It may kill me, however, watching Ty Montgomery become a pro bowl returner and WR for another team lol.
He is about the same size as Baldwin, Wilson’s favorite receiver.
Lockett a steal? Come on now. We gave up three picks for him. He may end being a decent player but it is a steal when you get to draft him at an unexpectedly low position without having to move up. That is a far reach from a steal. And as it sounds, Clark would be gone soon after our pick so perhaps we was drafted appropriately. I think we all need to temper our fanatacism and anger respectively. Some of these guys on here are starting to get kind of rude, on both sides of the fence.
If he turns into Antonio Brown or TY Hilton he will be a steal. His floor I believe is a good return man/gunner. If thats all he becomes then sure not great value, but I have a feeling he will be more than that.
I thought we gave up 4 picks for him; a 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th round pick. It was a steep price for sure, so they had to think he was worth it and there was no one that could come close to producing like him if they waited until they picked.
Excited about the Lockett pick. Then I think about how we could have gotten Lockett at 63 and Grady Jarrett at the end of the third. Then I think about the picks we gave up 🙁
I would rather have Jarrett + 4/5/6 round picks instead of Clark. I guess we will never know what player(s) we would have missed out on.
Exactly. Clark’s character concerns are too great and he’s too much of a gamble. Should’ve taken Lockett at 63 and Jarrett in the 3rd, kept the picks. So far a questionable and mediocre draft for the Hawks.
Wow – must be great to have that 20:20 hindsight!
I think Clark after a few seasons will make you forget all about Grady Jarrett. Clark is that much better.
well I don’t know about that! but Grady jarret who I love as a player doesn’t have Seattle’s size requirements and until they budge on those it’s hard to get bummed out on losing a player they were not going to draft
Well, I think we not only scored a first round worthy talent at a bargain because of off the field issues, but we also made a trade up for our guy. My first comment was last night, and it regarded La’el Collins. I still think it was a mistake not to trade up into the end of the third to grab him, as he has said he won’t sign a contract for any team that drafts him outside the third. Maybe that was posturing when he had no leverage, but I think his talent will make him a first or second round pick next year if he is cleared, so maybe he really will stick to his guns. Drafting him would have been an unreal score at the end of the third, and all we really would have needed to address would have been a center with our comp pick in the fourth. Maybe we take a flier on him coming to camp in the 6th or something, but this situation is kind of unprecedented. I just know the Hawks aren’t going to get a shot at OL talent of that caliber drafting late in the first, and this was a chance to have a top notch player at that position for pennies for four years.
It is the height of non-intellect to fall back on the usual “we trust the front office no matter what” line to defend what is certainly a highly controversial set of moves that is splitting the opinions of not only Seahawks observers but analysts across the NFL.
Frank Clark is not a great pass rusher. He fails to get to the QB. His footwork is suspect, he wrestles and twists without penetrating. Poor change of direction. He gets pushed back himself as much as he pushes blockers. What we need to do is put him in the correct category. Like Mario Edwards, he is not really an edge rusher. He is base defensive end/defensive tackle. Who does he replace? Not Irvin. Not Bennett. Not even Schofield.
They took Clark, with all of his explosive baggage, over Eli Harold. They didn’t make a move for Randy Gregory, a far superior talent with personal issues, but take Clark with criminal issues.
Lockett is one of several slot receivers in this draft with similar qualities. I stick by my view that he is not terrible, but not special not uniquely gifted, and not worth multiple players. His hands are questionable. Lots of body catching. Nor is he that gifted at separation, currently lacks the technique to separate consistently. His speed is overrated. He is undersized and gets outmuscled by bigger defenders, struggles to win contested catches. Watch the tape of him at Baylor. It is full of mistakes.
What besides special teams does Lockett provide beyond Baldwin/PRich/Kearse? He replicates more than adds. You think he’s a threat along the lines of Edelman? Wrong. Edelman is far stronger than Lockett, far tougher. A great underneath threat? Russell Wilson—short with a unique passing style— does not throw underneath with much skill. Baldwin was often open underneath, Russell did not connect well with him. Russ also did not connect that well with PRich either. RW needs taller targets, and Lockett is not one.
The high cost of these two picks cannot be brushed aside as “absurd’, considering the talent they passed up, and the many talents and potential team depth that they now will not have a shot at landing.
JSPC went out of their way for these guys, in love with Clark despite the controversy, in love with Lockett, that he is worth multiple players.
We have no choice now but to accept it.
Nobody says we have to like it.
As for those who say Lockett is the new Golden Tate. Lockett is 5-10 170. Golden 5-11 202. That is thirty pounds of muscle difference. Tyler must eat a lot of protein, hit the weights, and become far stronger in order to begin to compare.
Same point could be made for Clark vs. Harold.
Lockett and Tate are a like for like comparison.
Clark is a base defensive end.
Harold is a linebacker.
Clark and Harold weigh about right for what they do. Lockett is underweight.
Steele, how much tape of Frank Clark have you bothered to look at?
Because it’s hard to read this evaluation and think you’ve seen much outside of the Northwestern game:
“Frank Clark is not a great pass rusher. He fails to get to the QB. His footwork is suspect, he wrestles and twists without penetrating. Poor change of direction. He gets pushed back himself as much as he pushes blockers. What we need to do is put him in the correct category. Like Mario Edwards, he is not really an edge rusher. He is base defensive end/defensive tackle.”
Look, I get it. You don’t like the guy because of his off field incident. But let’s not try to pretend like it’s for any other reason. When you try to dress up arguments like this as to reason why he wasn’t worthy of the pick, the arguments are so poor that you just end up coming across as disingenuous. I also encourage you to go watch some more tape.
Lockett is 182 lbs, I think if they can get him up to 190 he’d be fine.
Not to pick on you but the Hawks considered cutting Golden before the 2012 season. The guy couldn’t run routes. As an ND fan I’ve followed him since high school, he was a terrible route runner when he got here. Lockett is an excellent route runner. They’re apples to oranges but Lockett will actually contribute before year 3.
I’ve been trying to make this exact point as well. Not all 5’10” WR’s are automatically comparable. Not to mention the weight difference between the two.
Does Frank Clark have criminal issues lurking in his past? Yes, he does. Does any person on Earth know definitively what he did that night, except for those that were present? No, absolutely not, and for anyone to assume him guilty of committing domestic violence is wrong(http://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2015/05/01/michigan-football-frank-clark/26736985/). Yes he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct (http://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2015/05/01/michigan-football-frank-clark/26736985/), and that cannot be overlooked; which I would imagine that PC/JS investigated thoroughly. No one has presented any solid evidence to warrant the continuing tarnishing of his reputation as the media has done. This person has plead his case, and it was determined hitherto that what he was accountable for was solely disorderly conduct.
As for not being capable to get to the quarterback and make a sack, or tackle for loss, look at the individual on #19 http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/individual/39 (Tackle for Loss). No sacks? 4.5 according to sports-reference.com (http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/frank-clark-1/gamelog/2014/). Were there more accomplished players in this draft? No doubt, but at pick # 63 I think given Clark’s athletic potential based on Davis Hsu’s VMAC visit post (http://www.fieldgulls.com/2015/4/22/8468519/nfl-draft-2015-seahawks-visits-tracker-update), where Clark was nearly 2 standard deviations above the typical SPARQ number, is indicative of a player the Seahawks would typically draft; especially at pick number 63. Is Clark a finished product, possibly not, but is his potential worth the pick at #63? I think that time will tell the answer is yes, so long as his heart is in the game.
Smash,
Your comments are thoughtful and well-defended and I want to use them as a springboard. I read an article by Terry Blount this morning where Schneider talked about the Hawks’ investigation into Clark. Schneider was quoted as having said what I pointed out in our earlier debates about Clark: “You can’t just go with one police report. You have to talk to everyone that’s involved. Everybody.” Schneider also said that they spent several months talking to people about Clark and investigated/scrutinized him more than any other player they’ve drafted.
My office represented an alleged DV perpetrator. The defendant vehemently asserted innocence, but the woman had facial injuries. When we got discovery of the web browser history of the alleged victim’s cell phone, she had visited websites which gave advice about how to give yourself facial injuries and black eyes. Our world is a strange one, and J.S. is right to point out that there are two sides to every story.
A lot of folks are upset by this pick; and I guess I hope we just give it the 1-2 years that is typically necessary to get a sense of whether the pick is a hit or a miss. I still put our front office up against any other one in the NFL, and we shouldn’t jump ship or cry “foul” just because our knee-jerk first impressions of the picks don’t add up to our aspirations for the draft so far.
Remember what others have pointed out–this is a copycat league and a ton of savvy teams were picking ahead of us and mining the sort of talent we would select. Perhaps they are starting to see the Hawks’ approach and are mimicking it. If this is the case (as I believe is nearly 100% likely) then you can expect for it to get more difficult for our front office as long as we’re picking near the end of each round.
Sadly, your experience with the DV case is not unique. I had a similar experience. There is a class of people in our society who are regulars in the criminal justice system. They know how it works and will lie or falsify evidence to win in court. It happens all too often. That is why the public should never assume what is reported is the truth. Using the media is often a part of the scam.
I agree 100%
I am not one of those fans that blindly believes PC/JS is perfect at judging talent and say ” in them we trust”, not after the poor draft results of the past two years. Last year the Hawks took Richardson when Jordan Matthews was available, and Matthews had the better and more productive year. Yes hindsight is 20/20, but there were those of us shaking our heads afterwards wondering what they were thinking. I am thinking that again this year.
All the talk of finding players that “tilt the field” leaves me with high expectations, then I see the average tape of Clark and Lockett and I am disappointed because to me there were better options. Time will tell, but this same talent level I have seen with many other players projected to be in the later rounds.
One more thing. I swear there must be some kind of intel leak for their to be 4 teams taking OL right before the Hawks first pick, with Tampa Bay trading up in the last minute to grab one of the OL that the Hawks had in for a visit . They need to be more secretive if they want to get who they are targeting.
Donald, it does seem that teams focus on what the Hawks need, and that comprises their own shopping list. I don’t see either Lockett or Clark tilting the field, either. Lockett is more of the same. Clark is D line rotational/backup. Both costly.
I agree.
With the Hawks success there are teams who study and mirror the same model of success. Tall corners, SPARQ numbers, emphasis on running and defense. It is harder to find the diamonds in the rough in the mid to late rounds. The misfit players other teams scoffed at and ignored before are now sought after.
Yet we are the ones up late at night because we are too upset at the draft to sleep. Most of the other fans are happy with the mediocre draft talent and can blissfully fall asleep, unaware of the overall talent level collapsing around them.
Look at Atlanta who had an excellent draft. Jacksonville, phili, even St Louis, Ariz and 49rs are mimicking the Hawks model of success.
Notice how all of the teams you mentioned picked before the Seahawks, so one should suspect that their draft candidates should be better, statistically. Like the pundits say “It’s a copycat league!” It costs to be the boss.
You are so upset you cannot sleep? For context and perspective, I submit that we leveraged our Draft capital to obtain Graham who ends our impotence in the red zone and transforms our efficiency on 3rd downs while blowing up opposing D’s who dare to stack the box to slow down our Beast game, which effectively opens up our Beast game! Clark is currently a good base DE that can effectively set the edge. He has great power and length and upside to become a terror like Bennett. Lockett is a massive Day 1 upgrade as return specialist. He is lightning in a bottle and will tilt field position and infuse our team with dangerous momentum and energy every time he breaks one or almost does. Even a 20 yard punt return is a huge factor! and finally Burley has some time in our system and will be a quality contributor in our depth at CB. I think PCJS are killing it!
Actually, I think it is the height of non-intellect to be upset or have strong opinions at this stage. Most fans and virtually all NFL analysts thought PCJS had lost their minds after the 2012 Draft. A lot of fans whimper about the poor ’13 and ’14 Drafts. But many of those prospects are developing nicely and are poised to emerge as major contributors. It just takes a little longer to crack our championship roster. It’s likely that PCJS have much better information than we do and a better understanding of what that information means. They have much more accurate expectations for emerging players already on the roster. They are great at creating a vision for what type of player a young prospect can ultimately become after indoctrination, coaching, practice, off season programs etc. With a little hope, faith and patience, I can imagine a lot of upside potential when I watch Clark’s film and listen to his interviews. I expect him to contribute to the DL rotation this year and develop into a good – great player over the next couple years. Same with Lockett. He will be a big upgrade on our return teams. And he is very sudden and accomplished with his routes. That could be a big help in our 3rd down packages in conjunction with Graham. I mean I hate the way he catches the ball with his puny hands. If I were the GM, I would have nabbed Coxsan in the 5th for his speed, route running, YAC, ball plucking and ferocious run blocking. But this might work out great. So far we have used our 2015 Draft stock to acquire 4 players that will all contribute significantly! They are our players now; let’s see how they do!
But the fact is SEA’s 13′ and 14′ draft is extremely poor. P-Rich and Britt are two joke picks, and never ever reminds me of Harvin trade. Your trustful PCJS did have messed up the offensive theme of this team last year, and it finally showed in the last play of Super Bowl XLIV.
IMO, it’s more difficult to do worse than PCJS do last two years than do better than them.
Maybe some of the prospects they drafted the last 2 years will continue to develop and make more significant contributions this year and beyond. If we had a crappy team, we would have higher draft picks. And since our crappy team would be full of crappy players, we could use those high draft picks to draft players who would crack the starting lineup on Day 1. Actually, the Seahawks did just that in ’10, ’11 and ’12, didn’t we? But now it is much harder to draft Day 1 starters that can crack our Championship roster. So we draft prospects and develop them to be contributors in the short term and starters after a year or two.
OK, so where’re our draft prospects? Some of them do continue playing football – for other teams. You cannot blame the failure of draft on having later picks.What a Good GM and a good HC should do is to change strategy after two consecutive bad drafts. Unfortunately they never do that.
Besides, a team made back to back SBs are strong, but SEA may be the team that has the most obvious weaknesses into the draft, so it’s easy for them to pick Day 1 starters in many areas. O-Line, WR, TE. You name it.
I am not blaming anything because I think we did fine the lat 2.5 drafts. But I think PCJS strategy is evolving. Now they draft for prospects that are mostly expected to provide depth and relatively small contributions as they work hard and develop. Some will move on as they run out of timeline or are replaced by other, younger players. But that doesn’t mean that they were a wasted pick. Because we need the depth players. And some of them will develop to the point where they contribute more significantly or bust into the starting lineup allowing us to move on from more expensive, older players. I think it is unlikely for more than 1 or 2 rookies per year to crack our starting lineup going forward.
If I’m drafting players for SEA, I’ll set my standards for at least 4 starters every year. And considering the poor cast of WR, O-line and Special teams last year, it’s very easy to achieve that. IMO, PCJS have wasted at least 3 first round picks(Carpenter, Irvin, traded one for Harvin), so I don’t think that they did well recently.
That’s the fail rate of all picks across the board…though Moondust….who has nailed it on all of there picks?
Wasting 4 consecutive 1st round picks(2011-2014) is not forgivable.
Not forgivable? Beware, the language you use creates your world and not just in football fandom. I agree that PH was a very costly mistake. But it happened and all people make mistakes. Bruce Irvin is a great player and will have his best season this year!
they took a chance on harvin and it didnt pay off but not every first round pick will pay off anyways. A hit rate of 4 starters while picking 30-32 is unrealistic. You can argue all you want, but the fact is, this team is very solid and like Robert says it will be hard for rookies to compete.
Really a starting right tackle is a joke? Prich got hurt. No one can control that.
A second round pick can bring much more quality than Britt. And Britt’s passing protect level is worse than a joke.
And to be honest, durability is among the things I considered first for a player. I don’t like the two picks at all.
How can you plan for his injury. Yep Britt sucks except he doesn’t for a run first team
Britt is a mauling run blocker and subpar pass protector. Beast averaged 5.6 YPC running behind him and Sweezy, a full YPC better than runs to the left. Britt is a hard worker and will nail his off season program, which probably will improve his foot speed, kick slide, hands etc, making him a much improved pass protector this year. PC always says his players take a BIG jump in year 2! Or what if Gary Gilliam shows up at camp having added 20 pounds of muscle and functional strength in his off season program like Sweezy last year? Maybe Gilliam, the SPARQ freak with great length takes over RT allowing Britt to slide to LG and become a mauling road grader there! Then everyone will see that JSPC’s plan was never to draft a starting OL this year, but rather a couple OL prospects with high upside to serve as competition, depth and developmental prospects!
My soccer fan experience always reminds me that fans should never 100% trust their HC and must have their own judgement. It’s quite fair to say SEA’s 13′ and 14′ drafts are two major failures. So I don’t see the reason why we have to trust FO 100% especially after the Harvin trade – Failure from the beginning to the end.
To be honest, a team cannot survive if they had the worst draft result of the whole NFL in three consecutive years. Maybe this is the sign of the end of this Super Bowl window and PCJS era.
What??? The last two classes were objective failures? Did you not see Jordan hill? Luke Willson running two lro bowl linebackers out of the league? KPL, Cassius and prich are AJ Jenkins now? This is lazy analyses.
Jordan Hill is the only success in 13′ draft. And considering the bust of CM33…
Luke Willson cannot simply catch the ball. He can only outrun some big OLBs, but he cannot get any seperation against corners and safetys.
Cassius Marsh offers SEA nearly nothing so far. KPL the same.
AJ Jenkins… I almost forgot the name.
Sorry, I think I could definitely draft better players than PCJS in last two drafts.
Luke WIllson’s catch rate was exactly the same as Julius Thomas. And he is a at a younger point in his career arc.
Marsh got hurt so did KPL so that’s not really strong anaylysis
To be fair, Luke Willson’s catch rate may have been the same as Julius Thomas’ catch rate, but that is not a measure of their respective impact on games. Willson has been a (sometimes frustrating) work in progress since he arrived.
To be fair Wilsson has been an excellent acquisition and constantly improving player for the Seahawks. I cannot wait to see our 2 and 3 TE sets this year!!!
When your ‘success’ has missed two thirds of his games due to injury, I’d think it says something about the rest of the class. He’s right – the last two classes have been poor.
I think every person creates their own fan experience based on beliefs and rules that they make up. Since I have no power to impact the Draft decisions, I hope for the best. After the new players are chosen, I like to find out all I can about them and construct a hopeful vision on how they might contribute to the team and ultimately develop
as mature NFL players. I like to remain hopeful and optimistic until proven otherwise. That makes it fun for me. If I had a weird little rule that I will become angry and worried if they do not chose a prospect I agree with, I would either change the rule or replace the activity with something fun. Life is too short to indulge in activities that are upsetting???
The 2014 draft is already a bust? When did that happen. Did I miss something? They still have 8 guys from that draft on the roster plus UDFAs like Brock Coyle. It’s fair to say that the 2013 draft is disappointing, but it was a very poor draft year and that kind of thing happens. To judge the 2014 and 2015 drafts at this point is silly. To say that JSPC have done nothing since they won a Superbowl is also ridiculous.
SEA can collect far better players than P-Rich, Britt, KPL and Marsh. And to be honest, the 2012 draft year is also very disappointing, but look at the players we grabbed that year. This shouldn’t be an excuse for a bust draft year.
Seriously the draft that brought, Wagz, WIlson, is a bust?
I mean we can grab RW3 BW54 in a bad draft year.(2012 was not comparable to 2011) So why couldn’t we do that again in 2013? A bad draft year cannot stop great GM and HC to grab good players.
The 2012 draft a disappointment? Simply the most ridiculous statement I’ve ever read on this site.
Wilson has won more games during his first thee years than any QB in NFL history
Wagner is an all-pro
Irvin is a solid LB and pass rusher
Turbin is an excellent backup to Lynch
Jeremy Lane’s injury during the SB REALLY hurt the team’s ability to stop those short underneath passes
JR Sweezy is one of Seattle’s most consistent OL and is tough as nails
Making statements like that will not help you win any debates
Why did all of you misunderstand my words?
2012 was a bad draft year for the whole NFL, and IMO the real winners are only SEA and IND(Luck, Fleener, Hilton, Dwayne Allen). At least the quality was not comparable to 2011( Just imagine that J.J.Watt was only picked in 11th).
This proved that SEA can grab excellent players in a bad draft year. But unfortunately they never do that again.
OK – I can see the point your are trying to make, but who is to say that the players Seattle picked in ’13 and ’14 aren’t going to step up? In 2012, we didn’t have a QB, we didn’t have a MLB, we didn’t have a pass-rusher. The class of 2012 (as well as the classes of ’10 and ’11) joined a team with major holes, and as a a result, draftees had opportunities to step in as immediate starters – opportunities that haven’t been there the past 2 years. The classes of ’13 and ’14 stepped into a loaded team with the best starting 22 in the entire NFL. Which of the starters during the past 2 seasons are you going to sit so that a rookie could take their place? Also, the Russell Wilson pick is an extreme outlier, If he keeps improving and winning, it could go down as an all-time great pick. Being critical because they can’t pull off once-in-a-generation picks like that every year is completely unrealistic. Lets just be happy, and consider ourselves very lucky that we got him in the manner we did, because it is extremely rare.
Only 5 players of the 11 draftees in 13′ remains in SEA roster now, and Jesse Williams and Spencer Ware almost contributed nothing to this franchise. Step up? I don’t even look forward to only 1 starter.
14′ draftees are not any better so far.
All I know is Seattle was one really bad play away from winning consecutive Super Bowls and they may be fielding an even better team in 2015. The window for championships is now, the core team that will hopefully win more championships has been built, the job at this point is to find areas of weakness – holes – and strengthen them. Since Carroll & Schneider have obviously lost their Midas touch, who should they have picked in the middle rounds in ’13 and ’14 that would be playing at a pro bowl level for us? And no using your 20/20 hindsight vision in answering that question….
Do you realize that your expectations are for a rookie player to join one of the deepest rosters in the NFL and make an impact in the first two seasons are unrealistic?
What on earth are you talking about? You clearly have not watched tape of either player. Spoilers: our special teams were 19th in DVOA. We’ve gone from top of the league to bottom third in a year. Also Lockett is a legit deep threat. He was 3rd in receiving on deep threats despite shitty Tim tebow at qb for k state. Seriously I don’t know how you formed these opinions of these players. It wasn’t tape,
None of the evidence on tape suggests Clark is a bad pass rusher. I would argue he’s an excellent, adept pass rusher with a terrific bull rush, the hands to disengage and enough speed to finish. Yesterday you commented that he wasn’t Dante Fowler Jr and that’s what Seattle should be shooting for. And yet they’re taking a guy 60 picks AFTER Fowler Jr. I think you might have unrealistic expectations on what a pass rusher drafted at #63 should look like. Clark is a first or second round talent with a huge character flag hanging over his head. Seattle satisfied itself with the flag and the tape speaks for itself.
But what does one see when they view the tape? People tend to see what they are looking for. There is quite a post draft pick phenomena going on around here!
It’s useless to argue with ignorance…
You are clearly not watching the same tape that Rob, the Hawks or many of the rest of us are, on either prosepect.
The Hawks have absolutely addressed 3 needs in the first three rounds. They needed a big pass catching receiver: check, Jimmy Graham. They needed to add depth at pass rusher in a pretty shallow draft for pass rushers: check, Frank Clark. They needed to upgrade the special teams play on both return games: check, Tyler Lockett (sp?). PC and JS are master scouts. Do we know for sure they got the picks right? No. Drafting is an imprecise science. But, this team is better today than the one that was one play away from winning back to back Super Bowls.
They will likely address O-Line tomorrow with at least one of the options that Rob outlined in his article. It wouldn’t surprise me if they took a wide receiver with unique skills to compete with the current group tomorrow. They’ve taken their shots from Durham to Harper in rounds 4 and beyond in previous drafts.
I believe them when they say they did a thorough investigation that included team security, team psychologists and many more. I also respect them for letting Frank Clark decide what he wants to share with the public. I hope Frank goes on to have a successful, multi-year run as a Hawk, someone the 12’s can cheer on Sundays.
JS and PC have a plan and quite frankly more information available to them than what’s publicly available on draft breakdown and YouTube. Wouldn’t surprise me to see at least one OL tomorrow and a veteran OL in secondary free agency, once the comp pick date has passed. I’m not saying this to belittle any of the work that is done on this blog because Rob and the commenters have hit early on a number of prospects. Quite impressive work guys. In reading the comments, I’ve seen a lot of black and white thought in the last couple weeks, when the real answer is usually somewhere between.
So, I’m ready to root for all the Hawks and continue this special run. The offseason’s not over and we can only see part of the plan today.
Did you say, “…quite Frankly…?” Yeaaaaah….
I fell into a few deep pits in route to your comment. So I appreciate and share your positive outlook. It seems ludicrous to me to be gloomy at this point. All the experts gave us an F in 2012 and that turned out alright. Since then, our Draft strategy has changed. We mostly draft prospects expecting them to contribute a bit and work hard as we invest a couple years into developing the player. The guys from ’13 and ’14 will make more noise this year. And so far in ’15, we have leveraged our Draft capital to significantly improve our team!
Cheers Jeremy! Now 6 more picks on day 3. I’m steeped in anticipation! Go Hawks!
I think the reaction to the Clark pick by many in the local media, especially KJR, has been over the top. There are unrealistic expectations that the Seahawks are the NFL’s paragon of virtue and crap rose petals or something… I don’t think the team has shown some pattern of selecting players who have shady backgrounds, but they also haven’t been a receptacle for guys with rap sheets. Players with criminal records that are good enough for teams to overlook the off the field transgressions are going somewhere, they are playing in the league, so absent a designated team for all of those players with spotty records, the 32 teams at some point will have players that fit that situation. If you have 2 or 3 guys like this on a team, that’s probably consistent with the rest of the league, and I can live with that.
I have no problem with anyone who hates this pick on ethical grounds.
Thanks to Lockett, there are six more picks left. They have legit needs at OL, WR, CB, S, LB. They need 2 or 3 OL. UDFA is going to be where the majority of the business gets done.
Only thing is keep in mind that just because the Seahawks have had success in the past mining UDFA’s for talent, doesn’t mean they always will. Those players are undrafted for a reason, and I think if we methodically listed the successes and failures the team has had under Carroll (regarding UDFA’s), it would be much less than most people probably think or assume.
The only way they meet all of the needs, some positions needing multiple new additions, is by trading down to get them more low round picks and/or with UDFA.
Look at the VMAC visit list. It is full of UDFAs of interest.
Hating the draft is what we do best every year. With two SBs in the last two years i don’t see a reason to change the way we do things.
Still, what we think we know about the current roster and the potential picks is nothing compared with what the FO knows..it’s there job to do it and it’s my job to complain so here goes…
I love Clark the player. He can be a steal if some NFL team picks a female LT and you just know you wont find him without his (or someone’s…) laptop and playbook. sorry, could not resist it….very immature of me…but…
Lockett is the negative of the Clark picture. If you check him under a magnifying glass you won’t find anything about this kid you do not like. However, when you move the magnifying glass he looks kinda small. He is the perfect answer for KR, i’m not sure i want him facing gunner in PR at 182 pounds. For a team with such explicit physical requirements all over the field – height, wingspan, arm and hand size etc. it’s funny to see those sweet tiny hands on a ball catcher.
I can see the value of thew pick at creating miss matches. For example, if the opposing DC tells his CB to stick to Lockett on 3rd and long, we can field 2 Locketts on opposite sides and confuse them….
That’s me grumpy, sleepless and with Harold a 49er and Conley gone…
I’m just going to watch the Gibbs tape again and allow him to convince me that he can take garbage men and turn them into ZBS offensive linemen in a year. That’s what TC will need to do again.
Maybe, Lockett the film room rat will spend quality time with RW and together they can work out the low ball. Just find something that goes under all those big bullies…
OK, i’m done, i’m going to love those guys in a few days or a week or two or three…i always do…i’m a fan…
Ohhh…i almost forgot….
We also solved the problem of not having room on the roster for 11 picks…..talk about crafty drafting….we are the best!!!!
EranUnger, I think Lockett’s spindly frame is an issue on a couple of fronts. Watch his tape—not just highlight reels, guys—and you see him losing because of his lack of size and physicality. Put a corner on his hip, he doesn’t win consistently the way (the not big either) Devin Smith does. He is going to face serious challenges with NFL defenders coming for him.
With only six more picks left, the nice dream of another tall receiver is seriously fading.
Yes Steele, No tall receiver for us.
And, no robust pass protecting OL to keep RW in place ready to find those shifty small targets on time when they do get open.
Ohh well, after the Graham trade it would have been too good to be true…
Lockett does run great routes, he’ll get open just as RW starts to scramble for his life and can’t let the pass go on time.
By the time he gets too banged up, say week 8, we’ll get Prich back so the offense can go on as planned.
Devin Smith was gone though so he wasn’t an option for us. We will expect special teams contributions from Pickett as a rookie and he can hopefully add some good weight and strength going forward. Hard to say a guy struggled to greatly when he had 1500 yards last year.
Lockett not Pickett…auto correct…
Last year they took smallish Richardson over the bigger stronger and still 4.4 / 40 Matthews. This year history repeats itself with the Hawks taking the smaller Lockett over the 6′-3″ Conley with 4.35 / 40 speed and 10″ hands and long arms.
They say they want bigger stronger faster, yet actions don’t match. They could have taken Lockett or a similar ST returner later in the 4th.
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Donald, why did you have to remind me of Matthews, why?
He was my pick last year. Rob kept shooting me down and i kept banging the drums for Matthews.
Prich and now Lockett….IR here we come…
I share your misery. I also was a big fan of Matthews last year and I got scoffed at. Matthews is doing great, and is big enough to take the hits and last all season.
I wanted so much for the hawks to take Conley this year. But NOOOOOOOO…….
Seattle clearly weren’t that interested in Matthews either though. I thought his rookie season was overrated.
Rob, you are probably right regarding the Seahawks interest. You may even be right about his rookie season that i see colored by my previous interest in him.
But, it wouldn’t be this much fun if i treated it any other way would it?
Clark and Lockett may end up being 2 great additions to this team.
Still, “With the seahawks 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th round picks in the 2015 draft the Seahawks picked clark & Lockett” sounds a bit underwhelming.
Just because Lockett is small doesn’t mean he’s an injury concern. There’s plenty of big time NFL WR’s with similar size that continually avoid the injury bug. Lockett has stayed healthy throughout his illustrious career at K State. No reason to think he can’t do the same in the league. Richardson has a skinny build and had a previous ACL tear. Lockett, while small, is not rail thin like P-Rich.
We’ll see how Lockett does when he meets with NFL power and size. Won’t be easy for him at 170 lbs.
If Richardson or Lockett fulfills my high expectations based on the high draft selection and cost, then everything is fine. But until then, I will be left wishing the Hawks had Matthews and Conley. Mario Alford can do what Lockett can do and he will be available in the 4th rd, and he has larger hands and fewer drops.
Maybe the doctors in IR can combine them into one reliable tall receiver…
I have a better chance of getting the doctor to prescribe me some pills to make my blood pressure lower and keep me in make believe world. 🙂
I think all of you are WAY overrating Jordan Matthews. He was essentially a short yardage slot receiver in a high volume offense, and you are treating him like he is Odell Beckham. Again, he was not an outside receiver last year.
I am not saying you need to love Richardson or Lockett, but man, take a bit of a breather on Matthews.
I hate the lockett pick, only because that means we’re not going to get kenny bell now, one of my favorites of the draft. I don’t have any problem with the picks given up because we had to jump a whole round and lockett was a good value there. So my only problem is I didn’t get the player I want which probably makes it a better pick. But if they can get josh robinson, my other favorite, they would make it up to me. And yes my favorites are always low round guys. Senaca Wallace was my favorite player in the in the 2000s.
I like both picks, two players who can come in and impact straight away. Hate what they gave up to trade up though, especially when you look at some of the players likely to be there for that early fourth.
Some ol help absolutely essential now, hopefully two of Williams/glowinski/Jackson/crisp/Gibson.
Would love to see Nunez-roches as well
The way the draft played out, even if the Seahawks do add a center, they gotta try to get Chris Myers signed. One of the remaining Cs could start for us week 1 but we must hedge our bets.
I’m fine with the Hawks waiting on OL the first 3 rounds. The sweet spot for O-linemen will hit in the 4th and 5th rounds to be sure.
Really surprised at all the doom and gloom here. On a normal football site, sure. But these are the guys Rob has been touting all along and it only takes a little bit of searching SDB to go find out how they fit this team. It’s far to early to grade anything, but I like it so far.
Just because Rob touts someone, we don’t necessarily like him. Like Rob, we have researched, too. I like neither Clark nor Lockett.
Josh — I think there are lots of contributors to this blog who are happy with the draft so far. The criticisms we are reading seems to be limited to a few guys who are bitter because PCJS did not validate their views of specific players. Their egos are bruised.
If I am upset on missing on anyone it is Henry Anderson. I think that guy is going to be a bell of a player.
It’s a little late to be ringing the “bell” for Anderson. 😉
If you ask an Front office a great draft is getting 3 Starters and 3-4 rotational guys. On that metric we are on our way to having a great draft.
Rd #1 Jimmy Graham – All Pro Tight End
Rd #2 Frank Clark – A Day #1 starter on our DL rotation that lets Bennett move back inside on pass rush situations. From an analytics perspective, Clark ticks every possible box. He ranks fifth in the 2015 EDGE class in SPARQ, and 3rd among 4-3 end types. Clark combines 4.64 speed with an outrageous 4.05 short shuttle and 38.5″ vertical. He’s also not yet 22 years old.
It’s not just the athleticism, either. The 83-7/8″ wingspan and 34-3/8″ arm length both ranked 3rd among all Edge players invited to the 2015 NFL Combine. It’s a combination of length and athleticism that’s incredibly rare; dating back to 1999, the only edge players with greater length and the athleticism of Clark are Manny Lawson, Justin Houston, and Michael Johnson… and DeMarcus Ware and Mario Williams only miss the cut into that club by a few ticks of arm length.
Rd#3 Tyler Lockette – A huge upgrade to our special teams and Day #1 starter. I agree giving up 3 picks was hard but this is a dynamic player with incredible character who instantly solves one of our major areas of concern last year in the punt and kick return game.
So with our 1st 3 picks we have an All Pro Tight End, a huge upside Edge Rusher and a dynamic kick returner with the potential to be a play making receiver as well.
We went to the Super Bowl last year and our roster looks much better now than then with injured players returning and additions.
Well put Trevor agree completely. 6 more picks to fill needs is plenty to continue upgrading our roster.
This says it all. Well done. Having these players makes us better than the team that was one yard away from its second consecutive Lombardi. If these players produce as expected they will fill massive holes. Last year we had no red zone target, no kick returner, and a very diminished DL rotation with no Clem, Red or McDonald. Graham, Lockett and Clark fix those issues and we still have half a draft to go. Not sure why people aren’t more excited. We’re a championship level team that just got better!
Look guys. As much as everyone loves to hear themselves talk, please let the professionals do their jobs. Everyone is a freaking scout these days. They shoulda did this, they shoulda did that, just stop it. Nobody knows the specifics of Clark’s DV case.
As a Law enforcement Employee I can say I’ve seen lots of DV situations that dosent warrant that title or the speculation that comes with that title. Sometimes people have to plea based on risk not necessarily guilt. Now this Clark vs the Cornhusker guy, the latter will enter the league already in the drug problem with absolutely no wiggle room.
One mistake and he is suspended. That’s a lot of pressure for a guy coming to a city where Weed is legal. I’m sure P&J weighed their options. There is a reasor why people get paid to scout and we are posting on a blog. A great blog I might add. Let the pros do their thing and be happy we can root for a great organization.
11 picks would be over kill. So trading away a few 3rd day picks won’t kill us. The most important thing is you get the guy you want. You don’t get cute trying to wait on players.
Now on day three we still have some great OL players to target.
I agree Lenny!
We certainly could have added 11 great players with no where to play. We are targeting specific players who fit into the open roster spots we have available. Why draft another WR if he is going to end up on the PS because he is not a great special teams player?
Rob, what do you think the likelihood is Seattle moving down from 130 or 134 to get another pick or two? I thought that JS stated awhile back that he likes to have 9 picks in any draft.
This seems like a good idea to me. Let’s take advantage of another team’s confusion.
I hope they sign Free Agent C Chris Myers now after the draft to be the anchor that we need in the middle of our line. I’m sure that some team that didn’t get the center they wanted in the draft will scoop him up right away. I hope that team is us! Thoughts? Go Hawks!!
I think that ship has sailed. We will draft a center to compete.
Mason, Jackson, Clemmings, Gibson, Glowinski, Garcia…the list goes longer for OL prospects that could come in and work for a role on our OL. We are sitting pretty to get 2 OL, CB, S, DT, LB maybe another RB or backup QB. Remember people teams are allocated 7 picks per draft. We got an all pro TE in Graham, a high upside very athletic DE in Clark-who has great length and motor, and a elite return man who was highly productive and improved throughout his fantastic 4 year career in Lockett. Now we still have 6 more picks!? This is a time to rejoice in our belief in JS/PC to field a championship roster year in year out. In days 1 and 2 we’ve made a stellar roster better…and there’s a lot more to come! Go Hawks!
I’m ok with Clarke pick, especially if PC and JS can look past or have info that nullifies the off-field concerns. I think he’s the future end opposite avril. I don’t think you can do much better with 63 pick, especially when all the other names we talked about were gone. I’m not such a fan of the Lockett pick, which has nothing really to do with him, but more so of WHEN they got him and what they had to give up for him. Still plenty of picks, but I would’ve liked the 3 options in the 4th. If Lockett was 6’1″+, I’d be more on board with the pick. When DGB left the board, I don’t there was going to be a WR that would make me happy anyway. I’m just not sure what the apparent affinity for small receivers is. I know he’s not a PRich clone, but he’s still smaller both in height and weight. So I have to worry about how he handle the bigger DBs, etc. But if turns into the next Antonio Brown or TY Hilton, I’d be ok with that.
I would imagine the Seahawks did there research on Clark. He is young and stupid but was known as a team leader and great locker room guy. I hope he learned his lesson, but Frank Clark the football player is no locker room cancer. Love the pick, red chip prospects at 63 is a steal.
Lockett was three picks but we only get to field 11 guys at a time. Most of our picks are going to have to fight for a roster spot anyway. We had to many late picks and needed to liquidate some of them anyway. This draft is going as well as could be expected, if not a little boring for being so predictable. Looking forward to some unexpected pick or trades today.
Rob,
I have followed the blog for the last year and a half. First time commenting. First of all, wanted to tell you your analysis is as good as any I heard yesterday. Significantly better than most of the “experts” on ESPN.
To the people that are upset about not drafting Gregory, I would point out that pcjs have never and will never take a guy where desire and love of the game of football is ever an issue. They have brought in guys that love the game so much many enjoy competing at practice. If you think adding a guy who showed up late to two meetings with teams in the lead up to the draft and didn’t show up to a third meeting at all fits that mold, sorry it doesn’t?
The seahawks are letting the draft come to them today. The strength of this draft were WR, OL, and RB. They had to get their edge rusher early before the drop off the cliff. The WR they were looking for after DGB was clearly one that was a special teams player as well. I think they were looking at Lockett and Montgomery. Clearly they thought Montgomery wasn’t as good as Lockett at least as a wr which I strongly agree with. Still very surprising how high Montgomery went. Which means had the seahawks stood pat they would have gotten neither with their third round pick and would not have addressed the glaring special teams need or would have reached. So they had to trade up In the third and ended up with the better overall player.
And now they can address guard and center which coincidentally enough plays right into the strengths of this draft! They will pick two lineman and possibly a RB today depending on how their board falls. Anyone who thinks PCJS don’t know what they’re doing, the Seahawks will be competing for a super bowl in 3 straight years. That is crazy in the modern day NFL. And has NEVER happened in SEATTLE and trust me I say this as someone who has followed the Seahawks my whole life and had to get excited when draft day yielded names like Dan McGuire.
How about next year’s 3rd to move up and target Clemmings. Considering we got a extra 3RD coming from losing Maxwell. Clemmings was a 1st rd prospect but has falling due to a report about a foot injury. A report his agent says is bogus, Considering he started all year , participanted in Senior bowl and a dozen pro days with no problem.
I love the Clark pick and watching these highlights makes me like it even more:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lrq5IXElLA
Can play in space, great bull rush, can split double teams, closing burst, great motor, field awareness, competitive. His highlights against U Conn are also really exciting. Man, I think we got a steal. I really hope he’s reformed.
Definitely needs to work on that spin move, though.
I’m fine with the Frank Clark pick and after seeing some tape on Lockett, he can get open, sure, but he does not have hands to catch every ball, he drops, he has short arms too, the only way he can get some catches is getting open because with press coverage he has problems.
But passing on Jaelen Strong two times makes me SICK.
Agree, therick05. Lockett was a major reach.
On the Lockett/Tate comparison, they are fairly similar in quickness, Lockett is a better route runner than Tate – both athletic. Tate is stronger, built, but I would expect that with the strengthening coach, and playing against the LOB, Lockett will get stronger. This will make the LOB better as well.
I do wonder if we’ll be replacing Lockette with Lockett – Tyler has been a gunner too, ran with the punt unit on both sides.
Yes I think Lockett essentially can replace Walters and Lockette. Tyler’s versatility opens up another roster spot for another position or simply a better WR than Walters or Lockette.
Gotta love Seahawks draft reactions. Another year of “with this draft, the window closed! we’re done!”.
I like the Clark pick a lot. He’s a 1st round talent that fell to the bottom of the 2nd. He’s a nasty pass rusher who plays the run well. At 270 lbs. he moves like he’s around 230 lbs. which is crazy. He’s already a huge upgrade over OB Schofield and the D line rotation becomes a big strength again.
Lockette I’m not sure on. I wasn’t too thrilled at first. I think he does have a pretty high ceiling, I just don’t think he will ever reach that in this offense. However, he is an excellent route runner and high points the ball. He has more than enough speed. If he puts on a few pounds and learns to play more physically, I think he could actually have success playing on the outside rather than the slot. His shiftiness and explosive cuts remind me of Antonio Brown. He’s a massive upgrade as both a kick and punt returner.
Maybe this won’t even be read, but I see some hyperbole on both sides. I see the words “Day 1 starter” and elite kick returner thrown around willy nilly. Gents, these guys haven’t played a down yet. This is the NFL. The have proven nothing. Everyone said the same thing about how Christine Michael was going to change the offense blah blah blah. These players have an opportunity but can we please temper the enthusiasm. Pass Rush rotation was NOT the reason for any of our struggle last year. We only saw the effect in the Super Bowl after one of our starting rushers was told he couldn’t return and the myriad of injuries to the secondary. And we still almost won. We lost because we didn’t have a viable Red zone target. Maybe Graham will be able to do it all on his own. But I personally a rotational pass rusher and a shrimpy receiver regardless of skill are what we need to help win more games. He may be as bad as Richardson at returning kicks. We don’t know. So let’s let them put some pads on before we start honking ourselves to death. This isn’t the worst draft ever (2013) and it isn’t the best (2010 or 2012). I was hoping for different players and I am disappointed but that’s okay. It is okay to like them. The one thing I DO get tired of reading is about how we went to 2 straight Super Bowls so the FO must be great at drafting. Hey did ANYONE from the last 2 drafts contribute anything of any significance other than maybe Britt, who I would wager most would say is the weakest starting OL. The best addition one could say is Willson and he is coin flip every week. So everybody chill out. These guys haven’t proven anything so stop inking them into the starting lineup. Because in week 7 if neither one have done squat, you’ll be looking silly. So let’s hope for some need picks today. Some G’s and a C and another long WR project
Devin Hester was a 2nd round pick who didn’t have a real position other than return man. Not saying Lockett is the second coming of Hester, but he’s a damn good WR who yes has shown elite return abilities.
In college. He has been good in college. This is the NFL. Aaron Curry looked dominant in college but was a disaster in the pros. Matt Kalil was a can’t miss LT and he can’t block anybody. Lockett may be fine, but this is the NFL. I want to judge him on his NFL ability. He and Devin Hester are wildly different players- even as players coming from college to the pros. Like I said- let’s wait till September
Jarhead, Lockett is one of the most overhyped and overrated players in this draft. His numerous flaws—bad hands, trouble winning against bigger defenders, fragility when faced with aggression— are ignored. He is at best just another Baldwin/Prich/Kearse. He does not add much new to the offense. At 170 lbs, he is in for a rude awakening. His speed is overrated, he isn’t Dorsett, he isn’t Devin Smith.
Yes, there is still no red zone threat except for Jimmy Graham, unless you believe Chris Matthews becomes a legitimate top NFL receiver. This seems to be exactly the gamble JSPC is making.
Picks #130 and #248 are our ONLY tradeable picks. Comp picks (134, 170, 209 and 214) are NON-TRADEABLE.
Today will be a fun day…
One tidbit… Here is the point value of the trade chart (ppl will go back and forth about it being legit/not) but here is what the Lockett traded showed:
SEA Received:
#69 (245 points)
WAS Received:
#095 (120 points)
#112 (70 points)
#167 (24.6 points)
#181 (19 points).
Total: 236 pts
We gave up enough pts to pick up pick #70/71.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/draft/draft-trade-chart/
SEA is already working something to possibly trade up to #100. Stay tuned…
Hey…let’s go nab Swag Roberts!
And Coxson later!
Roberts is a guy I’d like a lot. I had a dream that we take tony Lippett…hope it comes true! Those are my CB guys with walker after them.
Poole and Glowinski. Nice!!!
I won’t argue the football side on Clark – but JS and PC sounded phony in that press conference. They say they investigated the dv incident and talked to everybody, and came away convinced that Clark didn’t strike the woman.
Oh, OK. How exactly was that determination made? By interviewing Clark and counting his denials? What mystical power of investigation do PC/JS have that the cops don’t? Short of a time machine equipped with a video camera, the truth is unknowable. Only a few people know what really happened, and all of them have an interest in minimizing the event.
The same goes for PC/JS. The only reason they investigate is because they want the player. That’s a poor basis for objective analysis. It’s a gigantic incentive for confirmation bias. My opinion, after reading the police report: Clark and the woman got into an argument and then a fight. He was bigger, she was smaller. He was drunk and lost his temper. Things got physical.
It would be more honest if PC/JS said they think the guy deserves a second chance. Then you’re into the territory Rob mentioned in his March post on Clark. Fine – be up front about that. Insisting that they believe Clark didn’t hit the woman because they’ve “investigated” and thus have some sort of special insight is not credible. Investigating a dv incident is not the same as watching game tape, and I don’t believe for one minute that PC/JS have detective skills to match their football acumen.
Can a couple of decisions outrage and disappointment fans enough to stop supporting a team? I think so. I don’t believe Clark. I don’t buy his “apologies”. JSPC has walked the dark side alongside the likes of Jerry Jones before, and this is blatant. The NFL is not about morals or ethics, no matter how we wish it were otherwise. Every time Frank Clark’s name is mentioned, every time he takes the field, he (and Greg Hardy, Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, etc.) will force us to make a choice to live in the football fantasy world, where things are sanitized away, or in reality, where that no longer works.
In what way is Frank Clark a great pass rusher?
His sack totals:
2011- zero
2012-2.0
2013-4.5
2014-4.5
Just 11 sacks in four years. In college.
You say, “oh but he’s disruptive indirectly”. That still does not hide the fact that he did not get to the QB. Don’t even start to talk about replacing Irvin, Bennett or Avril, or even Schofield, unless you can put up double digit sacks in a year.