Seahawks draft needs, what a difference a year makes

It's a good thing Seattle is loaded with picks right next Spring. They are going to need every one of them.

Left Guard.
Left Tackle.
Center depth.
RB.
Big WR.
FB.
TE.

Outside pass rusher.
Interior pass rusher.
LB (depending on FA losses).
DB depth.

I guess the good news is that Seattle seems to draft their best when their needs are clearly defined. Even with Seattle paying Wilson all that money, this will be a very active offseason. It's a stark contrast from earlier this year, when Seattle pretty much stood pat in FA and drafted backups.

My guess is, OL/DL will be the rounds 1-3 priority, with other positions being filled in with later picks.

WR/TE might be a consideration too. It's interesting that JS was hunting for a TE/WR the last couple months in trade talks. They inquired about TEs from a few teams and that was actually before Miller was injured. Part of that is JS shopping for what's available. But part of it is also that the new offense Seattle is running needs tall targets, and Pete knows it.

Richardson and Norwood have been nice additions, but Seattle may have missed some huge opportunities this past draft with Donte Moncrief and Martavis Bryant. Something tells me that they won't miss those kind of chances for athletic big receivers the next time around.

I thought they were going to choose Jordan Matthews in the last draft. That would have satisfied their PR/Big WR hole. Didn't go that route. Same problem, different year. All the past drafts seem to have the same needs.

Presuming Lynch goes, they have to find something for that offense. Can't have an offense lacking stars. Can't pay Wilson $100m and then go... "good luck by the way". Right now there's Wilson and Lynch. Take Lynch out of the equation and Seattle don't have a top receiver, tight end or running back.

For me finding another RB or WR will be up there with improving the pass rush as an early round priority.

I'll be shocked if they don't go DL with their first pick. A quality RB can be had in round 2 or 3 as can a tall WR.

Can they draft an OL coach? I think they need to focus on their OL, but they have plenty of draft capital there already and it doesn't seem to matter.

Considering the whole picture, not just this season, TE doesn't seem to be a big need. They have Miller, Willson, and Helfet/McCoy. So it seems a set position. Yes, in the short term is a need now because Miller and McCoy have been out. But in offseason it's better set than some other areas.

hawkfan68":2besz0i7 said:

Considering the whole picture, not just this season, TE doesn't seem to be a big need. They have Miller, Willson, and Helfet/McCoy. So it seems a set position. Yes, in the short term is a need now because Miller and McCoy have been out. But in offseason it's better set than some other areas.

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They were looking to add Jordan Cameron and Julius Thomas before Miller was hurt. I'm guessing they view Miller as a guy that will bridge them to their next #1 TE.

If I'm them, I'm looking at RB and TE early. Then dipping into FA to get a pass rusher/d-line help. Of course, this all dependent on the talent available in the draft and free agency.

A big TE with legitimate ball skills helps resolve the "big receiver" question -- kill two birds with one stone and hope that Norwood/Richardson/Kearse can remain a solid nucleus on the outside along with Doug in the slot. I'm not sold on Willson, and I'm not sure this FO is either. They wanted four legit TEs in camp (Finley, McCoy, Miller, Willson). They tried to trade Harvin for every legitimate TE in the NFL. When Miller was healthy earlier in the year, Willson seemed to be playing even less than McCoy did in 2012. The writing is on the wall: we need TE help. And also, to me, Helfet is still just a guy.

Christine Michael isn't the answer at RB IMO. Even if you retain Lynch for another season, an heir apparent would be great to have. If you let Lynch walk, there is a huge gaping hole in your offense and drafting/signing a difference-maker at RB almost becomes an absolute must.

As much as this forum would hate it, I think you wait till 2016 to go hard on LT/LG (Okung still signed; re-sign Carp on the cheap). I wouldn't necessarily spend high capital in this area with your starters for 2015 already set (barring an Okung injury).

hawksfansinceday1":21fj44ft said:

I'll be shocked if they don't go DL with their first pick. A quality RB can be had in round 2 or 3 as can a tall WR.

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And yet Seattle's relied on a former first round RB since 2010 and has struggled to find a tall receiver picking in the middle rounds. All the while using former UDFA's Chris Clemons & Michael Bennett and mid-rounder Cliff Avril for a pass rush.

To be fair you can find anything in any round. If Todd Gurley's sitting there in round one they probably aren't going to pass. But they do need to do something about this struggling pass rush -- in FA or the draft.

If there is ANY bright spot to a let down season and missing the playoffs, it will be that we will probably pick right dab in the middle .. 16-20 range .. which should put them in position to land a Todd Gurley or impactful OL/DL

Obviously I would rather see this team pick 32 though. But yeah, the 2015 draft will be very interesting to say the least.

I'm thinking LT in the first, WR or Rb in the 2nd, DL in the 3rd.

I like Jalen Strong from ASU as an option in the 2-3 rd.

A big TE that is rising up the boards lately Pharoah Brown, 6-6 258.

CPHawk":1aydcrbf said:

I like Jalen Strong from ASU as an option in the 2-3 rd.

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He's a very good player.. if he has good showings at the combine, he's a lock to go Round 1 IMO.

If he wasn't such a head case I would LOVE Dorial Green-Beckham.

The 2015 draft should be really exciting with so many picks. I think the FO is at their best when they take the best available player regardless of position.

Paul Richardson still looks like a little bit of a reach. They were committed to taking him as a replacement for Golden Tate (and maybe as Percy Harvin insurance) and they moved way down in the draft based on that commitment. In the process, they squandered the opportunity to take a bigger receiver like Jordan Matthews or the most talented player on my board, Joel Bitonio.

Bitonio is on his way to having a Pro Bowl season at guard. He is playing at the consistently high level that I imagined Sweezy would be playing at this year. One of those rare players who is capable of excelling at any one of four different positions on the offensive line. Imagine what the future of our offensive line would look like if they had taken both Bitonio and Britt in the first two rounds?

With so many talented receivers in this class, they could have waited to fill that need later in the draft. Martavis Bryant and John Brown have been more productive than Richardson.

We desperately need to get some star power in this year's draft.

This program is pretty much a modified college system. The team is able to retain a very select few good players. But need to churn the roster over in big chunks.

Seattle has now two 'bust' drafts in a row. By that I mean 2 drafts with virtually no quality starters to come out of it. Richardson is a relative bust. It's early. But there are a handful of players at positions of need that are already perfoming at quality starter levels in between the 32nd and 45th picks. Richardson is, to use Rob's vernacular "Just a guy" in almost every sense. Moreso than Jordan Matthews or Martavis Bryant has turned out thus far. I'd go so far as to say, that Pete and John both really have done terribly in drafting WRs and in trading for them. And at it's core, their sins have revolved around coveting speed. So frankly, I expect Seattle to continue to acquire very mediocre WR talent at a premium price. The track record of what we reach for, and how poorly they have performed relative to receivers that didn't pass their speed requirements is firmly established over years now.

Nearly the entire 2013 draft has been an abortive attempt to infuse depth quality. Here's the first five selections:

Christine Michael
Jordan Hill
Chris Harper
Jesse Williams
Tharold Simon

Williams and Simon I'm going to give somewhat of a pass. Obviously they are the lowest round picks. But even so, you're going to get injury attrition amongst some of these guys. It's a numbers thing.

The 2013 draft is at this point, not even as good as our 2009 draft, which was Ruskell's worst.

Right now, Seattle needs to not bust for 3 straight years. That's going to cripple this team. And that's coincidentally how good teams go into the toilet almost overnight.

Seattle is going to lose a lot of players. We will need day 1 quality replacements right out of the gate. At positions far more impactful than OL.

This draft is huge. Not only do we need to get significant talent out of it. But there is also the real spectre that Pete's quality at identifying talent was a direct function of his experience at the college level. These past two drafts have been full of players Pete has had virtually zero personal experience with them collegiately. Seattle can easily cement their successes in 2010/11/12 as opportunistic luck with three straight whiffs in 2013/14/15.

Not a big Jaelen Strong fan personally. Not convinced he's 6-3. Doesn't play with any real authority. Even in the big production game vs USC it was kind of a 'meh' performance when you look at how he got the stats.

He'll probably be a nice complimentary piece for a passing offense but for a team like Seattle he just doesn't look like a fit. Someone who won't make the most of 2-3 targets in a run-centric system.

hawknation2014":389xybtt said:

He is playing at the consistently high level that I imagined Sweezy would be playing at this year.

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Sweezy has been a stud. One of the best RGs in the NFL right now IMO.

Bitonio has done well, but in college he was a finesse player who struggled with drive blocks. I don't know if he had the muscle in the run game to fit Tom Cable's preferences. He was there at #32, Seattle passed. Seattle said that Richardson topped their board at #32, which tells me that at the very least, they probably didn't have a 1st round grade on Bitonio. Maybe Cable wasn't a fan. Maybe that was a mistake, or maybe Bitonio simply fit Cleveland really well.

I think another factor was that Seattle was locked into the WR position early, and knew that they could trade down a couple times and still get a good one.

theENGLISHseahawk":25349xdw said:

Not a big Jaelen Strong fan personally. Not convinced he's 6-3. Doesn't play with any real authority. Even in the big production game vs USC it was kind of a 'meh' performance when you look at how he got the stats.

He'll probably be a nice complimentary piece for a passing offense but for a team like Seattle he just doesn't look like a fit. Someone who won't make the most of 2-3 targets in a run-centric system.

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Strong had 75 catches for 1100+ yards and 7 TDs last season. This year, he's on the same kind of pace but with more TDs. I don't know how tall he *actually* is, but the way he caught that hail mary against USC he looked Megatron-esque. Good enough for me.

I think he'll probably be an early 2nd round pick. He uses his size well and is so polished. Hands down the best WR in the Pac-12.

I wonder how long his arms are? Dude looks like he could almost reach the top of his kneecaps standing up straight. The length of his arms and his strong hands make him feel like a 6'5" WR.

In ASU's most crucial games, he's the guy they look to, and he delivers in those games too. He kind of reminds me of DeAndre Hopkins in terms of his polish and courage. Both players are very good at all the things that seem to translate in the NFL. Just get the feeling that Strong has a very bright NFL future ahead of him, wherever he ends up being drafted. I felt the same way about Hopkins.

Of course, in Seattle he'd get buried on the depth chart behind the Bryan Walters of the world, then eventually be given the workload of Sidney Rice. I don't know if AJ Green would get 80 catches in our offense with Wilson at QB. Look at what Golden Tate is doing right now in Detroit compared to what he did here. Even before the Calvin Johnson injury, Tate was on his way to something like 1200 yards.

kearly":3tn2v5iy said:

It's a good thing Seattle is loaded with picks right next Spring. They are going to need every one of them.

Left Guard.
Left Tackle.
Center depth.
RB.
Big WR.
FB.
TE.

.

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Remove RB and FB from your list and that was my board last year (but of course, with ASJ at the top). Not coincidently, my board remains the same. Perhaps this time WITH an RB (said in disgust).

Way too early to evaluate Richardson. Firstly, I dont think anyone would say Golden Tate was a bust and he got off to extremely slow start with way less talent ahead of him. Secondly, Richardson was stashed behind Harvin/Baldwin/Kearse for most of the season, which was entirely expected when he was drafted. Then he got buried behind Walters/Lockette due to ST. Thirdly, Russell has been relatively terrible at targeting WRs this season. Before he went off in St. Louis, we had a bunch of dudes who were on track for 400 yard seasons, including Percy Harvin.

kearly":1gxcokru said:

the way he caught that hail mary against USC he looked Megatron-esque. Good enough for me.

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Don't agree at all there Kip. The USC DB's just stood off the ball and he nipped in and caught it. Terrible, terrible coverage. That play was completely on the USC secondary. It's not like he went up and plucked the ball out of the air above them or anything. He just caught it in stride, unchallenged.

Talking about megatron, I think C3PO would've caught that.