Thoughts on the Senior Bowl -- who looks good for Seattle

LINK: http://seahawksdraftblog.com/senior-bowl-live-blog

The Nick Martin (C) and Joe Dahl (RG) combo almost makes me want to say they're the two guys I 'have' to have from this draft class (there are others I like too though).

Seahawks fans can sleep easily tonight. This draft is loaded on the OL with enough depth at LB and DL too.

I had dreams of getting Martin in the second and a guy like Dahl in the 3/4 range but that might be fantasy at this point.

My ideal draft would be
1. Disruptive DT
2. Martin
3. Dahl
3-7 fill in the blanks in typical JS/PC fashion.

Rob great stuff on the Senior Bowl.

No tretola love?

Tretola apparently looked really good. Add him to my ideal draft. I really have no problems going all in on the line to be honest.

titan3131":2b6tte1z said:

No tretola love?

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Tretola is mentioned in the article. Check it out.

Harlan Miller got a lot of buzz this week at corner.. 6'0" 182, but 30 7/8" arms may steer Hawks away.

Yep -- they won't take a corner with sub-32 inch arms unless they're a truly special case (eg Patrick Peterson level athlete).

I'm a fan of Nick Martin's. Really liked what I seen from Cody Whitehair playing guard too. I would like to see both in Seahawks uniforms.

Thought all the G/C players mentioned above looked good. The Tackles were disappointing to say the least. Spence,Butler and Reed to name a few in the DL were a handful. I think this draft sets up perfect for us with all the interior line depth on both sides of the ball. I would love Vannett-TE to fall in our lap as well.

theENGLISHseahawk":2xg9lac4 said:

LINK: http://seahawksdraftblog.com/senior-bowl-live-blog

The Nick Martin (C) and Joe Dahl (RG) combo almost makes me want to say they're the two guys I 'have' to have from this draft class (there are others I like too though).

Seahawks fans can sleep easily tonight. This draft is loaded on the OL with enough depth at LB and DL too.

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Great summary of some of the players that stood out. I had my eye on Dahl and Martin as well.

What did you think of the USC QB Cody Kessler? I heard what they said about his game, but he really played smart and delivered. He's a great basketball player. Pete and JS like those two sport athletes.

I know Tyler Matakevich struggles in coverage, but he's a sure tackler. Deion Jones probably has a higher ceiling?

Others that caught my eye:
Deiondre' Hall
Tyvis Powell (Hawks already drafted a Ty Powell a couple years back. Now with Bills.)
Jay Lee
Kenyan Drake
Sean Davis
Jerell Adams

I thought Kessler was a bit of a check down artist at USC. Felt going into the Senior Bowl he might be an UDFA or a later round pick. I suspect if the Seahawks do bring in (or draft) a new QB they'll be quite mobile so they don't have to adjust their offense if Wilson gets hurt. Wonder if Dak Prescott might be on their radar.

Of all the QB's, thought Arkansas' Allen looked the best.

theENGLISHseahawk":2eo3tthc said:

I thought Kessler was a bit of a check down artist at USC. Felt going into the Senior Bowl he might be an UDFA or a later round pick. I suspect if the Seahawks do bring in (or draft) a new QB they'll be quite mobile so they don't have to adjust their offense if Wilson gets hurt. Wonder if Dak Prescott might be on their radar.

Of all the QB's, thought Arkansas' Allen looked the best.

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I appreciate you taking time to reply to my question for you. I totally get what you're saying. I sense that's the general idea the Hawks might have mind as well... if it's possible to have such a guy.

Mayock or Charles Davis were saying that he's going to need to fire it into some tight spaces in the NFL, which he doesn't tend to do (ie: Check down artist, I guess.) Then, he proceeded to look fantastic in this game in which they had little time to prepare and get on the same page. With only a week to prepare as a team, seemed like the rest of the players had confidence in him. Kessler really seemed tuned in with the coaches and displayed leadership.

I'm sure some team would take Kessler's approach to minimize mistakes and take what the Defense gives you. Might not be exciting for fans, until they win. I'll tell ya, I know he doesn't look like a Wilson clone, but he sure looked A LOT better than I thought he would. He impressed the heck out of me. Maybe because I wasn't expecting much.

I'll say this. If Wilson goes down, maybe a guy like Vernon Adams could come in and do an impersonation (and I'd rather see that for probably every reason - excitement/entertainment value, potential for big play, etc.) But, usually you want to have a backup QB that wont go in and try to do TOO much and cost the team a Win. So, in that regard, Kessler seems like a potential good get to be a quality backup for some team.

After watching the Senior Bowl I was pretty high on Kessler. He's not spectacular but he's steady. He's exactly what you want out of a back up.

Last year there were only 7 QBs selected in the draft and he's currently ranked as the 12th best QB prospect meaning he's unlikely to be drafted. Even if his draft stock rises I don't see him breaking into the top 5-6. At most we'd have to spend a 7th round pick on him and that's probably worth it if no other exceptional talent slips that far.

theENGLISHseahawk":wrsp3mdw said:

I thought Kessler was a bit of a check down artist at USC. Felt going into the Senior Bowl he might be an UDFA or a later round pick. I suspect if the Seahawks do bring in (or draft) a new QB they'll be quite mobile so they don't have to adjust their offense if Wilson gets hurt. Wonder if Dak Prescott might be on their radar.

Of all the QB's, thought Arkansas' Allen looked the best.

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I thought Allen looked the best out there also. I watched some of the practices and he even stood out there as well. Seemed to have better footwork and a quicker release. The QB's rotated in and he seemed to be in the ear of the coaches more when he was out. Just an observation. Liked him more at the line of scrimmage in the game too.

Another player that stood out to me during the game was Dadi Nickolas from Virginia Tech. He and Spence were flying off the edge and great in pursuit. He just kept popping to me.

Overseasfan":2j8c5aml said:

....Kessler. He's not spectacular but he's steady. He's exactly what you want out of a back up.

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He appeared that way in the Senior Bowl. But, he sure had a lot of steady in the game. Rang makes an assessment (below) that, on the right team, could prove to be a positive that he makes use of the talent around him rather than a knock on him. If he's on a team with the right chemistry of talent, they all make each other look good. Seems like that's what coaches are looking for in fielding a good team (and components that are not easy to find and piece together.)

"IN OUR VIEW: Like Matt Barkley before him, Kessler is a good - not great - NFL prospect because of some physical limitations and the fact that the talent around him and scheme in which he's enjoyed such great success have inflated his production."
--Rob Rang (10/12/15)
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/play ... dy-kessler This entire assessment sounds point on, and most of it is quite impressive. I would take inflated production out of a guy - especially a back up QB with the right supporting cast. The Hawks are masterful at assembling players that have seemed to outplay their labeled ceiling by so-called experts.

Don't get me wrong... I'm not pounding the table for the Hawks to draft Kessler. Not yet, anyway. Just caught my eye more than I remember about his play at USC.

Joe Dahl at RG was the most surprising because how good he looked out of the 3 pt stance when he was almost exclusively in a 2 pt stance at WSU. He looked really good.

Kessler for the Hawks looks like an UDFA, maybe a 7th. Vernon Adams in the 6th would be more appealing to me.

EMTHawkfan":36sa3jho said:

theENGLISHseahawk":36sa3jho said:

I thought Kessler was a bit of a check down artist at USC. Felt going into the Senior Bowl he might be an UDFA or a later round pick. I suspect if the Seahawks do bring in (or draft) a new QB they'll be quite mobile so they don't have to adjust their offense if Wilson gets hurt. Wonder if Dak Prescott might be on their radar.

Of all the QB's, thought Arkansas' Allen looked the best.

Click to expand...

I thought Allen looked the best out there also. I watched some of the practices and he even stood out there as well. Seemed to have better footwork and a quicker release. The QB's rotated in and he seemed to be in the ear of the coaches more when he was out. Just an observation. Liked him more at the line of scrimmage in the game too.

Another player that stood out to me during the game was Dadi Nickolas from Virginia Tech. He and Spence were flying off the edge and great in pursuit. He just kept popping to me.

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Dadi Nicolas did make some plays in the game. The question is, what is he in the NFL? He played all over the DL at Tech and at 225-230 lbs I would see him as a potential replacement candidate for Irvin? He may fall to day 3 due to being a tweener and a huge drop in production from his Jr. to Sr. seasons and thats where I could see us taking him unless he is a workout warrior and rises up draft boards?

Nick Martin has excellent tape. Outstanding in protection and always seems to know what to do even when the guys around him don't. He'll be a good center in the NFL, but I don't think he'll be a Seahawk. He's a plodder when running to the second level and wins in the run game with technique not athleticism. Really really like him, but he doesn't appear to match Tom Cable's recent criteria.

Dahl does some cool things. There was one play on Draft Breakdown where he blocked two guys in pass pro at the same time. He played LT for WSU but is such a leaner that I think he would have to move to guard in the NFL, which is probably a point in his favor since Seattle likes converting players to new positions on the OL. He seems decently athletic, and plays fairly smart. My only knock on him, and it's a big knock, is that he cedes way too much ground versus the bullrush. In a lot of ways he reminds me of Justin Britt when Britt was playing LT at Missouri. You can look at that observation as a slam if you choose, but remember that Justin Britt was a player that Tom Cable loved and reached pretty hard for. Since the two have a lot of similarities, I wouldn't be surprised if Cable had Dahl rated a lot higher than other teams do.

I noted down some further thoughts ahead of a two-round mock draft to be published on Monday: http://seahawksdraftblog.com/new-mock-draft-preview

kearly":29deuv2g said:

My only knock on him, and it's a big knock, is that he cedes way too much ground versus the bullrush. In a lot of ways he reminds me of Justin Britt when Britt was playing LT at Missouri. You can look at that observation as a slam if you choose, but remember that Justin Britt was a player that Tom Cable loved and reached pretty hard for. Since the two have a lot of similarities, I wouldn't be surprised if Cable had Dahl rated a lot higher than other teams do.

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I think it's probably a safe assumption that we're seeing Dahl at his absolute worst at OG in this Senior bowl week.

He's a long time LT. Physically he's not really trained to handle the heavier bull rush of the interior. That transition requires more strength and bulk and that takes some time to switch in routine/training and diet. I wouldn't be shocked in the least that he struggles with interior power rush.

Dahl needs about 15 pounds to make that transition. At LT, he's suited well to take on lighter/faster ends. He has some changes to make to effect the interior move. Recall that Sweezy took almost a year to get physically right for the switch.

Dahl looks like he can carry more weight pretty easily. I kind of doubt he'll be a day one ready starter but could factor as a 7th guy on the depth chart in his first year while he converts physically.