For all you poo pooing the draft picks....

[keasley45]

And that was a decade ago with guys they inherited, traded for, or signed as Free Agents. They didn't draft those guys.

We're talkin' draft.

Mike B - UFA
Clemons - Trade
Tony McDaniel - UFA
Clint McDonald - Trade
Red Bryant - Inherited (Ruskell Pick)
Cliff Avril - UFA
Mebane - Inherited (Ruskell Pick)

None of these guys were Pete and John draft picks.

It is a legit concern that they have never drafted a D-Lineman that has made a pro-bowl on their own roster. (Frank Clark made several on the Chiefs.)

Well then you could argue that their preferred strategy is to build their line the same way now- Not via the draft, but FA.

Money is on them bringing Woods and Ford back. They inked Mone and Adams, brought Reed back, signed Jones. Harris was solid when available and may also return.

You can legitimately ho-hum the potential Woods and Ford returns since they were part of the worst unit on the team last year. But you also can't discount chemistry and what the addition of new pieces can do to revamp a unit.

Woods (could return)
Harris (could return)
Jones
Ford (could return)
Mone
Adams
Reed

On any other team but ours last year, that unit is anything but a liability.


It's obvious that they are banking on maybe less a monumental iimprovementvia draft on the front end in exchange for an elite , varied and versatile back end. No doubt great line play aids a d line and great D Line play, aids DBs. So it looks like they're looking for that to occur and likely are still optimistic that they can plug some holes up front with high upside, lesser known, or yet to 'pop' talent in the draft.

I say all that but I think I'd have been good with them going all Dline, Oline and LB for their higher picks and looking for another ADB or T Woolen in the later rounds.

But I can only speculate as to what the real problems were last year. Scheme fit? Comms between levels? Experienced leadership on the field to keep guys lined up and on assignment up front? Too many cooks in the kitchen, staff-wise?

Probably all of that. But Pete's comment post 9ers loss in the wildcard round about our roster just not having the talent that the 9ers do on D... gotta think they're looking to dip heavy on D in RD2 and later. Also wouldn't be surprised if they were to trade a TE (Fant for cap reasons) for an established big man on the d line or a top tier LB.

 

[seahawks08]

I wasn’t happy with day 1 because everyone screamed along with Pete that we need to win in the trenches, get off blocks and stoping the run. What we did was completely ignore that narrative and pick best value. While I am passionate about the team, my only sense is Pete wasn’t comfortable with trying the new concepts of a 3 4 and instead go with the bend not break mindset along with shutdown corners. We will probably be single high safety and have the premium skills be on their own. That way the additional guy can focus on being closer to the line more like a line backer. Definitely Pete is going to his roots of defensive philosophy on disrupting corners removing throwing lanes that helps pass rushing and gap shooters from linebackers.

Just my opinion but I am excited to see where this goes.

 

[Germanhawk7]

I dont understand why ppl says we are ignoring the D-Line. We got two "new" Lineback with BWagz and Bush, two Tackles with Jones and Reed and we have a lot more picks to come.

 

[keasley45]

I dont understand why ppl says we are ignoring the D-Line. We got two "new" Lineback with BWagz and Bush, two Tackles with Jones and Reed and we have a lot more picks to come.

I understand the dissapointment in not getting Carter or a Dlineman in round 1, but like you said, our biggest splash in free agency was Jones and we brought back the best D Lineman we've had in the last 7 years in Reed.

And... it was just the first round. 2/10 picks made. 2/5 in the top 83. We stand to add 3 more starters today at likely positions of need.

They're just getting started.

 

[hawks85]

From Mel Kiper who I usually ignore. Listed Seattle as the 2nd best draft so far.

The picks: Devon Witherspoon, CB, Illinois (No. 5); Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Ohio State (No. 20)

This is a nice Round 1 for Seattle, which owned a top-five pick as part of the Russell Wilson trade. While I would have gone with Jalen Carter over Witherspoon, the cornerback combo of Witherspoon and Tariq Woolen could quickly become one of the league's best. Witherspoon is my top-ranked corner, a true lockdown cover guy who can run with any receiver. For a team that wants to compete in the NFC West, he's ready to play as a rookie.

As for Smith-Njigba, he complements Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf extremely well, as I mentioned a month ago when I first made this pairing. I thought he might go a little bit higher, but he landed in a great spot. We're talking about a player who put up 1,600 yards and nine scores in 2021 when he was healthy. He can play outside or inside. Geno Smith has to be thrilled with this addition.

Witherspoon is an asshole CB in a good way. That secondary is goona be a nightmare to deal with, I can already see it. I love Witherspoon, dude is an absolute beast.

 

[FattyKnuckle]

Wait, so now the “so-called experts” with their “wild guesses” at grading a draft when they haven’t even seen any of the kids play yet is something to believe in? Pick a lane. Either draft grades are useless or not but you can’t poo poo them in all cases except the random time they agree with you and then hold them up to back your take. They’re either a credible source with a meaningful metric or they’re not. You gotta stay in the lane you’ve chosen.

 

[sc85sis]

It’s obvious they weren’t comfortable choosing Carter - at least not at #5. Anderson was gone. So they went with the guy they felt was BPA, which then started a run on CBs by other teams worried that all the good corners would be gone.

Likewise their pick of JSN started a WR run.

In both cases, the subsequent picks by other teams indicate Seattle made the right choice at the right time.

 

[DynoHawk]

From what I heard, so i have no concrete sources, is that they wanted to trade down and take Dspoon a few picks later, but nobody would trade to the #5 pick. makes sense given his draft clues

 

[LeveeBreak]

I dont understand why ppl says we are ignoring the D-Line. We got two "new" Lineback with BWagz and Bush, two Tackles with Jones and Reed and we have a lot more picks to come.

I think our free agent pickups for D have been forgotten by a few. We still have 3 picks today to add to it. This has been a stellar draft so far all things considered.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

I understand your point but there are hundreds of Brandon Mebane's out there. 3rd round. Not every interior lineman needs to be an elite 1st rounder to have a solid line on either side of the ball.

This was the problem with this year's draft class, other than Will Anderson, there was no consensus elite D-lineman.

Carter was suppose to be the other, but that got turned upside down after his accident and terrible pro day.

This means there really wasn't a big difference in most draft rooms between the remainder of the D-lineman available. So IMO we were smart not to reach and take Carter, or a bad fit scheme wise like Wilson.

Because once the elite 10/10 prospects are gone? There really isn't that big of a chasm grade wise between picks 10-40 or even 50.

Bottom line, we got CB1 and WR1......as opposed to DT3 or DE3 or 4.

 

[rjdriver]

From what I heard, so i have no concrete sources, is that they wanted to trade down and take Dspoon a few picks later, but nobody would trade to the #5 pick. makes sense given his draft clues

The platforms I peruse actually say the opposite. That there were two and only two players they would stand firm and select #5, Spoon obviously being one of them.

 

[rjdriver]

If there is any fan base in the league that should know the value of a dominant secondary, it should be us. The LOB was integral in winning our first title. Yeah, the trenches need attention, but we are on our way to having the best secondary on the NFL again. Just like we did when we were rolling through teams.

 

[Shane Falco]

If they get good quality players then I am happy. There was a span there where we were Lucky if any of these guys contributed much. Between last year and this year's draft I am hopeful of getting that nice young group of core players for another run.

 

[GGotskill]

The platforms I peruse actually say the opposite. That there were two and only two players they would stand firm and select #5, Spoon obviously being one of them.

Yeah, there is also some talk that Lions really wanted Witherspoon, and that they traded out when he was selected. If that's the case, the Hawks might have known they couldn't get him lower.

 

[Rock_the_Hawk]

Huh? they usually go in the 1st. 300+ lb. men that are nimble and athletic enough to be elite players on the LoS are hard to come by. Not many human beings walking the earth that fit that profile.

WRs & CBs on the other hand routinely pop in the 2nd, 3rd, and beyond.

Let's hope the Seahawks draft board is correct and they made the right decision last night, and they can still get very good Lineman tonight, and leave it at that.

It's obvious Carter is a train wreck... very little value at 5. how would you have done it differently? I bet you they tried to trade down look at how little Detroit got. I'm happy. I don't really like how the first round fell to them. I think they will trade 37

 

[GGotskill]

Are there 100s of mebane's out there? We certainly haven't found one. He was the best interior D-Lineman we've had under Carroll if you don't consider Bennett being rolled inside.

The D-Line has consistently been the weakest aspect of Carroll's defenses. We've struggled to identify talent here. Most of those guys you mentioned weren't developed by Pete. Mebane and Bennett were Ruskell era picks, Clemons had previous success on the Eagles, Avril was already a very good DE on the Eagles.

The fact is, for the Seahawks Brandon Mebane's haven't been plentiful.

That's true of Bennett, but that same regime cut him. PCJS did identify his value and brought him back.

 

[GemCity]

Many of us thought Carter had too many issues and it looks like PC and JS concur.

I do believe he went to perhaps the best scenario for his development. He’s not going to have to play every down and he has some Bulldog teammates around him. By all accounts, he should be a monster.

Yah…the remorse would suck if he plays up to his potential but our latest draft trend in considering character, guys that love the game, etc. will pay off in the long run.

Im sure we’ll address the line(s) today. If we don’t, most of us will surely have an anxiety attack.

 

[TwistedHusky]

A few things:
-Our #1s don't tend to be our stars, at least during the Carroll era. This tends to be because we draft for high ceilings rather than high floors. But we would tend to have a #1 equivalent in a redraft. We usually get a 5th or 7th rounder that turns into a regular All Everything player in the same draft our #1 fails to impress. Maybe they finally realized they can take a different strategy with the rest of the draft and still get more value from their #1s with a higher floor approach in the 1st.

-CBs are coveted. If you cannot get a star DE or OT? You get a great CB. Picking a great CB is not a bad strategy. We just think so because we have been fortunate to find them in the 5th and 7th rounds. The thing is while you can find them there, you don't get a good degree of confidence that your 5th or 7th round pick will pan out. If you need a CB, sometimes you have to pay the draft capital to get one with a higher floor

-You win in this league by passing or stopping the pass. That means either great QB, great pass rushers, or great corners. (in that order of importance). Great DTs are way down the list of priorities.

-Normally I want my corners to be big. So does Carroll. But I like my safeties to be big too, and Earl Thomas was undersized. (you can get away with smaller FS though) If you feel a player's value offsets the issue with measurables, sometimes you bite down. He is light for the kind of CB we like. Not that big either. And he hits too hard, bringing up memories of Blair. But if Carroll & JS thinks he can be worth a #5...based on their track record, you almost have to trust them.

 

[toffee]

 

[Mad Dog]

I meant it as to show that the post I quoted was an idiotic argument for why a draft would be bad. The jets obviously had a great draft.

And did exactly as we did with their first two picks so we are in good company.