Seahawks Draft Analysis: A Superfan’s Perspective
I’ve been a Seahawks fan since I was about six years old, since I was old enough to watch and understand football. The first game I remember watching is the 2006 NFC Championship game where the Hawks beat the Panthers to move onto Superbowl XL. I’ve loved this team with all my heart for almost eighteen years now, so I always get extremely excited around draft season. This year is perhaps the most crucial draft the Seahawks have had in my entire life. They traded away the greatest quarterback in franchise history after having had their worst season of the last decade. It’s safe to say we have a rebuild/reload season ahead of us. We started off with eight picks, of which we desperately needed to hit on three to four. Thankfully I think we not only met but exceed expectations for this year’s draft.
Our primary needs entering draft weekend were QB, OT, EDGE, and CB (in that order in my humble opinion). The problem the Hawks faced was that their biggest need, QB, happened to have one of the weakest talent pools of any class in recent memory. Not a good year to be QB needy. I was worried going into the process Thursday night that we would reach hard for one of these subpar prospects with our 9th overall pick and potentially set the organization back several years. Thankfully, Pete Carrol and John Schneider did no such thing. To the delight and surprise of many a Seattle Seahawks fan, they didn’t draft any of these shoddy QB’s the entire draft. This is the first major A+ decision of this draft. It looks like Carrol and Schneider are more patient than most expected, considering Pete is the oldest head coach in the NFL. They seem more than willing to wait a year to develop some young talent on the roster before going hard after a franchise QB next year in the draft or free agency. This should be music to the ears of Seahawks fans everywhere.
Instead of panicking and drafting a QB with the first (or any) of our picks, we decided to address the teams second biggest need, OT. They drafted Charles Cross out of Mississippi State, who seems to be the heir apparent to Duane Brown at left tackle. This was a fabulous pick. Pro Football Focus had him as their #1 tackle prospect and #3 overall on their big board, but he fell all the way to #9 for the Hawks to snatch him up. He had an 86.6 PFF grade last year with an 84.7 and 87.2 pass and run blocking grade, respectively. This makes him a fantastic fit at left tackle for a team like the Hawks that places such a heavy emphasis on the running game and has struggled finding pass protectors. Plus, he had those outstanding grades while playing in the SEC, objectively the most competitive conference in college football. This was an excellent pick by Carrol and Schneider, finding their starting left tackle for the next decade.
With their second pick of the draft at #40 overall, the Hawks went on to address one of their other biggest needs, EDGE. They selected Boye Mafe, an OLB out of Minnesota. This was another good pick given we need more of this OLB style of rusher that can also cover the flat as we shift to more of a 3–4 defensive front. However, I don’t like this pick as much as the cross pick. Mafe was #47 on PFF’s big board and had an 81.7 and 70.3 pass rush and ren defense grades. These are both solid grades for someone playing on the edge, but they aren’t elite. Perhaps I’m expecting a little too much for a second-round pick but considering he’s already 24 years old and still a raw in terms of refined pass rush technique, better production grades would put me more at ease. These worries are compounded by the fact that Michigan’s David Ojabo was still on the board when we selected Mafe. Ojabo had almost the exact same run grade but had an 87.3 pass rush grade. And at 22 years old with only five years of football experience under his belt, he has more room to develop his freaky talent at the NFL level.
With the following pick, #41, he Hawks selected running back Kenneth Walker III out of Michigan State. I’m not going to lie, when I first saw we drafted a RB I was absolutely pissed. Carrol and Schneider have not had the best track record drafting RB’s but not necessarily because they aren’t talented. It seems like every back we draft either has limited ability or has tremendous talent and cannot stay on the field due to injury. Additionally, I was under the impression that we were going to have one of the best RB duos in the league next year with Chris Carson and Rashad Penny. I hated the idea of drafting 3rd running back with a second rounder we desperately needed. However, I quickly realized that if Carrol and Schneider were drafting a RB, that meant that Chris Carson’s neck injury is probably a career ender similar to Kam Chancellor’s. With that realization, I started to really like the Walker pick a lot more. He was the #1 RB on PFF’s big board with a 90.7 rushing grade, an elite 147.5 elusive rating, and an average of almost 4.5 yards after contact. Additionally, he had an 82.8 grade against Michigan, which had one of the best defensive fronts in the nation last year. Walker is obviously a fantastic RB and now that I know we have a need there, I’m more than happy taking him with our 3rd pick in the middle of the second round.
At pick #72 we double dipped at the tackle position and grabbed Abraham Lucas from Washington State. The Hawks finally seem to be taking the advice of Russel Wilson, perhaps just a little too late. Overall, I like this pick, but I don’t love it. Lucas was fantastic in the passing game with a. 91.0 grade, but he fell short in the running game with a grade of 68.3. For a team that likes to run the ball as much as the Seahawks, it might not be the best fit. But, considering our perennial pass pro issues, perhaps it’s good to have a guy that is so dominant in that area. If I were making the selection, I probably would have gone with Central Michigan’s Bernhard Raimann, who was the #4 tackle of PFF’s big board with run and pass blocking grades of 94.6 and 88.7. But injury concerns were a real issue and that could be the entire reason why the Hawks didn’t take him, so I won’t judge too harshly. It’s a very solid pick, possibly securing our right tackle of the future.
Their fifth and sixth picks in the draft is really where the Hawks won me over this year. They picked up two CB’s, Cincinnati’s Coby Bryant at #109 and UTSA’s Tariq Woolen at #153. We got back-to-back potential first year starters at one of our biggest positions of need. Last year, the Seahawks coverage grade was an abysmal 52.2. They desperately need a jolt in the coverage unit, which Bryant and Woolen should bring. Bryant played alongside Ahmad Gardner at Cincinnati, who went #3 overall, and still won the Jim Thorpe award for the nation’s top defensive back. He had twelve forced incompletions and three picks to go along with a very good 85.0 coverage grade. PFF had him projected to be selected in the sixth round, but at 6’1 193 he’s the prototypical Carrol corner with great length. Woolen, on the other hand, is a little bit more of a developmental prospect. He switched from WR to CB in college and only has two years of experience at the position. His coverage grade was a not-so-great 65.3 with an even worse 44.9 grade against the run. However, what he lacks in experience and on-field performance, he more that makes up for in measurables. Woolen is 6’4, 205lbs and ran a 4.26 second 40-yard dash at the combine. He is an absolute athletic freak of nature. Considering he may not have to start with the Hawks bringing back Sidney Jones and drafting Bryant, this is an absolutely phenomenal developmental pick that could pay massive dividends in the next year or two.
At #158, a pick they got from the Chiefs when they traded down from #143, the Hawks grabbed another EDGE Tyreke Smith out of Ohio State. For a mid 5th round pick, this was a wonderful selection. His pass rush grades and run defense grades are solid at 81.0 and 69.8, but he had a 20.2% pass rush win rate. This pass rush win rate is elite and higher than both Boye Mafe and David Ojabo (19.2% and 19.0%) who were both drafted in the middle of the second round. And at 6’3 254, he’ll fit perfectly as an OLB edge rusher type that can drop into the flat just like Mafe. This is a great selection in what’s turning out to be a great draft for the Seahawks.
Now we come to the 7th round selections at #229 and #233. With #229 we took Rutgers WR Bo Melton. As PFF’s #24 ranked receiver, getting him in the last round of the draft is an absolute steal. He stands at 5’11, 189lbs and ran a 4.34 40 time with a 38inch vertical and a 6.98 three cone. With a 75.0 receiving grade and a above average 74.8 grade against man coverage, Bo Melton will immediately compete with Dee Eskridge as the offenses #3 WR. He also has some experience in the return game, so it will be nice to have someone with elite speed returning punts and kicks again. With pick #233, we took another WR/TE Dareke Young. Now, I don’t particularly like this pick, but considering it’s the last pick we have I don’t mind a hail mary. He played Division II ball at Lenoir-Rhyne (I hadn’t heard of it either) where the 6’3 220 pass catchers switched from RB to receiver. Do I think Dareke will ever see the field on offense? No. But he could end up being a valuable special teams player with his athleticism and physicality.
For this year’s draft, this superfan gives the Seahawks an A-. There were a couple picks where I would have gone in a slightly different direction (see Boye Mafe) but overall, it was a stellar draft. We addressed all of our needs except QB, for which I and many other Hawks fans are grateful and willing to be patient. Two tackles, two edges, two corners, a running back and a wider receiver is a great haul for a roster in need some young talent. We solidified our foundation for the next several years. Now it’s time to go and see what Drew Lock can do on the field. If he’s great, we can make the playoffs and make a move for a free agent QB next year. If he’s not, we can tank for Young/Stroud next year. Either way, I’m optimistic about the Hawks future for the first time in several years. I just wish we had drafted like this for the last half decade.
