We know the Seahawks are bringing in Tyler Shough for an official-30 visit. Now, here’s a nugget from Tony Pauline following the Louisville pro-day this week:

“Some believe he could end up in round one, an opinion I do not share, with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks whispered around league circles as interested.”

I’m not convinced the Seahawks will use #18 on a quarterback. However, I wouldn’t rule it out. Not in the slightest. I don’t think anyone should be that surprised if it happens either.

Let’s look at Shough. He’s tall, athletic, has a good arm and big hands. He’s shown a lot of grit and character to fight to be relevant in the draft. He was told a year ago he was basically finished in football. He’s not accepted that, he’s dragged his way towards a pro-career and now he’ll be, at worst, a second round pick.

Todd McShay highlighted this throw earlier in the week:

That is an arm John Schneider can get behind. He’s always looked for physical tools — whether it was with Russell Wilson, the apparent interest in Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, and even the less successful acquisitions in Drew Lock and Charlie Whitehurst.

There are no physical limitations with Shough’s arm. He can get the ball downfield with accuracy and timing and he can deliver ‘wow’ throws from different arm angles. He’s fearless both in the pocket and sometimes, recklessly, as a runner.

He threw a +13 ‘big time throw’ versus ‘turnover worthy play’ differential last season — the exact same number as Cam Ward.

In terms of traits — Shough is 6-5, 219lbs and he has 10-inch hands. He ran a 4.63 forty and jumped a 32-inch vertical and a 9-9 broad. Along with his arm talent, this is a high-quality athlete for the position. He’s not the most creative, elusive player when it comes to extending plays. Nor is he a difference maker as a runner. He’s not a cement-footed plodder either and with this profile, there’s a degree of athletic upside on offer.

We know the Seahawks are placing a huge emphasis on character in recent drafts. Shough is pretty much everything they are looking for. They want a player who is absolutely determined to make a success of himself. Who refuses to be beaten down. Someone who has battled adversity and come through the other side. When you listen to his interviews there’s no BS with Shough. He is extremely likeable, humble and honest — with a competitive fire in his belly.

Why did he run and throw at the combine? His answer was, ‘Why the heck not? I wasn’t supposed to be here. I’m going to go and compete’.

I would highly recommend watching this interview to get a feel for why teams will really take to him as a person.

Think about how uptight everyone is at the combine? To the point that a lot of players don’t do anything now through fear of damaging their stock. Here’s Shough’s reaction to merely beating his first run in the forty:

There is zero entitlement here, zero arrogance. He’s making things happen.

At his pro-day he spoke after the workout saying: “I feel like I add value, whatever the situation I’m going to be in. Whether it’s a backup role or a starter, I feel like I’m ready to go and compete.”

Todd McShay put it well on his Ringer show today (watch the full episode here):

 
I get the sense that the whole NFL has been surprised by his draft process which has — unquestionably — been the best among any player at any position. Nobody has done more to elevate his stock.

Schneider made a point of saying after the combine that there were QB’s they were surprised by and needed to do more work on. I was convinced he was talking about Shough. His throwing session in Indianapolis was excellent. His interviews with the media were among the best, so it was probably the same with teams.

He came into the 2024 college season probably not on a lot of radars. He’s made teams do the extra work, including the Seahawks. Thus, the official visit.

Again, this doesn’t mean they will draft Shough at #18. It’s possible they like him a lot, really respect everything he’s achieved and simply accept they’re probably not going to be the ones to take him. There are two things to consider though:

1. Sam Darnold’s contract

It’s been a weird day with OverTheCap and Spotrac posting conflicting information on Darnold’s deal in Seattle. If OverTheCap are correct, the Seahawks can easily get out of the contract after this season. If they designated him as a post-June 1st cut they could save $26.5m in cap space in 2026. The dead hit to trade him to someone else or cut him before June would be $25.6m but that’s not the end of the world given how much money they have to play with.

Essentially, all the Darnold signing has done is cover them for 2025. They won’t go into the draft desperately needing to select a quarterback. Neither will they start the season with a totally inadequate, replacement-level starter. They’ve created a situation where the worst case scenario is they fall-in behind Darnold this year. However, they aren’t financially committed to him. If they want to draft a quarterback and either create a competition or set someone up to potentially start in 2026, there is no financial constraint stopping them from doing this.

2. John Schneider won’t be waiting for perfection

There’s an inaccurate assessment of Schneider that he never drafts a quarterback because he’s waiting for the perfect player who may never come. This ignores just how many ‘shots’ he’s taken over the years. The Whitehurst trade was expensive. They signed Tarvaris Jackson and then Matt Flynn (at great cost).

Once they drafted Russell Wilson, in the same year they signed Flynn, they didn’t need to keep turning over stones because they had a franchise passer. Since Wilson, they’ve re-signed Geno Smith, added Drew Lock, traded for Sam Howell and now signed Sam Darnold. This is not inaction. This is a GM who is being extremely active to find the next long-term solution.

He probably doesn’t need to see the next Mahomes, Allen or Wilson in the draft to be prepared to take a shot. This is a GM, after all, who reportedly wanted to draft Andy Dalton in 2011.

If he likes Shough, believes he can start in the NFL and doesn’t have anyone with a significantly higher grade at #18, I don’t think it’s out of this world that the Seahawks could take him. This is a quarterback league. If you find one you like, who lasts to a range where you can actually pick them for a change, you don’t turn that opportunity down.

What’s the alternative? Keep waiting for the next brilliant passer? Then what? Hope you can trade the crown jewels for that player? Hope someone else drops to day two and, as with Wilson, you’re the one who has the foresight to act? That’s not easy to do once, let alone twice.

Is #18 a reach for Shough? Here’s something to note. Todd McShay has him ranked 32nd on his big board. That’s one place above Grey Zabel. You don’t have to take McShay’s word as gospel — but at least based on his evaluation, drafting Shough in round one is no more of a reach than drafting Zabel.

There are concerns with Shough. He’s an older player (25) with an injury history. None of the injuries are long-term concerns though, they were all freak accidents without longer term consequences. His age isn’t ideal but it’s also not a reason to avoid drafting someone. If you think he’s a franchise quarterback, you don’t pass because he might only have a 10-year career instead of a 12-year career.

I do think at some point they’re going to draft a quarterback next month. It might be later on. They might invest their high picks in other positions. That would certainly create a more structured camp situation — with the pieces in place to help Darnold and everyone knowing who the starter is. If you draft a quarterback at #18 the conversation about when that player takes over starts immediately.

Maybe that would bring the best out of Darnold? Maybe their hope is he starts this year, excels and they end up in a similar situation to Minnesota — having to decide whether to stick with Darnold or trade him and go with the rookie? I can think of worse dilemmas.

I can definitely see why the Seahawks might have a lot of time for Shough and why they might decide to take the plunge in round one. I can also imagine a scenario where he’s liked but not quite enough to make a top-20 pick. There’ll be plenty of players the Seahawks admire but not enough to draft in round one.

Schneider has been waiting patiently for the opportunity to draft a quarterback though. When he finds his guy, he’s going to do it. He’s going to draft him. In a month we’ll find out whether Shough, Jaxson Dart, Quinn Ewers or any of these other 2025 quarterbacks are that individual. I suspect we’ll see a young signal caller on the roster by May, it might just be a question of ‘who?’

If you missed my latest show on Puck Sports earlier, please check it out below: