Were King and Obi smokescreens?

I found myself initially disappointed with the result of our second rounds picks. Kevin King and Obi Melifonwu seemed destined for the Seahawks, both sparq freaks with great length, were mocked to the Seahawks (at 26) countless times and linked to the team in numerous articles. To have King go to Green Bay one pick before ours was irritating to say the least; and when it happened again and the Raiders took Obi two picks before ours, it shattered my draft dreams.

Today in hindsight I'm wondering if the team really coveted either prospect or if it was actually a smokescreen. If the Seahawks wanted King they could have had him but traded down three times to pick McDowell (also linked to the team). Then with the second round pick I heard Pete say on the radio that Pocic was the target the entire time at 58 and they even considered trading up for him. The Seahawks could have fairly easily ended up with both King and Obi and the fact that they ended up with neither speaks volumes. Perhaps it was just the media exaggerating the interest by the team but it also could have been the team feeding rumors thus stoking the smokescreen. Whatever it was, it did seem to affect other teams as those guys were taken just ahead of the Seahawks picks.

I think they were happy with King OR McDowell by the time they traded with San Fran. They were going to take which ever one was left.

Yep, it seems to me the Hawks take the approach of having a handful of guys they are interested in and then just seeing how they get drafted and once the group of people they are interested in gets small enough, they go ahead and make their pick.

La Canfora reported that King was legitimately on their radar; the Packers just got him.

I was pretty wary of Obi.

MontanaHawk05":199i5f8e said:

La Canfora reported that King was legitimately on their radar; the Packers just got him.

I was pretty wary of Obi.

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If we got Obi he would have been Browner 2.0, or would have been given the chance anyway, Browner had a mean streak when it came to press coverage, that's what set him apart, that's hard to duplicate unless you have that mentality anyway. Tyson isn't quite as big but will be more polished and is a better tackler and cover guy.

I really thought they would pick Obi after mcdowell.

I think the interest was legitimate.

Based on what did happen, we do know that they didn't value King significantly more than McDowell given the trade down explanation given by JS where they knew sliding to 34 would assure them 1 of King, Robinson, or McDowell. We also know that they had McDowell as the target over Robinson based on the trade down from 34 to 35.

Reading the tea leaves tells me that they felt the drop from McDowell to the next interior pass rusher was too steep as compared to getting a CB or OL that fits their needs.

I do find it telling that Oakland and Green Bay two teams that are part of the Tree and branches took players close to where we were going to take them and probably used similar metrics to rate them. As the branches grow and spread our drafts are going to continue to become more difficult to pull off the way we forecast since more teams will be using our methods. With the Colts, Bills and now Titans as well changing scouting departments and GM's etc I can only think that they are reading our success rates and wanting to bring some of that knowledge and process into their front office.

Now we have to see who gets cherry picked from us yet again.

We will never know I dont think Pete or JS would ever tell us that they missed out on there guy! I remember one draft they might of said that but for the most part they will have us believe that everything is ok in Seahawk land. They need to hit on this draft though because their past couple drafts haven't been stellar imo. At least needs were met in this past drafts accept linebacker ill give them that lets ray than pan out.

I'm guessing it went McDowell, King or vice versa then Obi. Once King was gone the FO knew who they were taking and had always planned to pick Pocic later. If McDowell and King are gone early we take Obi. So basically one of the first three and then Pocic.

2 things.

1. Where was the interest in Kevin King? Was he a Vmac visitor – No, did he meet with them at the combine – No.
So where is this huge level of interest, o wait its all Husky homers + media mock draft hype.

2. John Clayton said this morning on the radio that he was told 3 hours before Thursday nights start of the draft that the pick @26 was Mcdowell and he was the target.

Obi for sure was a smokescreen he was a Christine michael in a DB body

To me it seems like McDowell was probably higher on the Hawks board than King was. McDowell is the type of talent that Pete and John have been searching for since they've been here (much like the huge, physical WR).

Hawkfan77":3bhe5vlh said:

To me it seems like McDowell was probably higher on the Hawks board than King was. McDowell is the type of talent that Pete and John have been searching for since they've been here (much like the huge, physical WR).

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yeah im cool with the pick I hope he pans out boom or bust type of pick. We need that dt that can bring pressure up the middle that would do big things for this defense. I can totally see what they were thinking about the pick wasn't like a wtf moment.

titan3131":2kakobaj said:

2 things.

1. Where was the interest in Kevin King? Was he a Vmac visitor – No, did he meet with them at the combine – No.
So where is this huge level of interest, o wait its all Husky homers + media mock draft hype.

2. John Clayton said this morning on the radio that he was told 3 hours before Thursday nights start of the draft that the pick @26 was Mcdowell and he was the target.

Obi for sure was a smokescreen he was a Christine michael in a DB body

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Yeah i think people read mock drafts and listen to the talking heads and take it at gospel. Even to the point where they question and frankly trash our front office....Cause you know some talking head who's never played coached or been in football said the guy we picked was going to be picked a round later...........

Well as far as the interviews go, the Seahawks have connections with the UW and I would assume the other local schools and know all about the local kids, some have trained and worked with the players at times here, I know Baker was being taught some things and given advice by Earl Thomas prior to the draft. So why need to say anything about it.

If you believe LaCanfora's sources, McDowell was 1st choice, King was 2nd choice in their spot.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/JasonLaCanfora/status/858102413638737922[/tweet]

Just a gut feeling but I don't think the team tips their hands bringing in guys multiple times if they really want them. One time to get a feel for the player and get answers to questions they may have but what more are they hoping to get with a 2nd, 3rd and beyond visit. Obi screamed traits the hawks desired but was lacking the big one which was natural instincts, so they played up the fact that every team thought he was "seahawky" and let them make the move especially knowing now that Pocic was there target all along, makes sense to keep everybody off the scent and make them think dbs or bust. King on the other hand I think they did have interest in, and they didn't run him back and forth for the show of it, they were trying to keep that as quiet as they could despite everybody feeling it was an obvious fit. Then it became McDowell vs King and whichever talent they could land. If you have to rate them given the make up of the draft, McDowell was probably higher on the chart so they ended up going where they wanted to go.

titan3131":2bts9yyu said:

2 things.

1. Where was the interest in Kevin King? Was he a Vmac visitor – No, did he meet with them at the combine – No.
So where is this huge level of interest, o wait its all Husky homers + media mock draft hype.

2. John Clayton said this morning on the radio that he was told 3 hours before Thursday nights start of the draft that the pick @26 was Mcdowell and he was the target.

Obi for sure was a smokescreen he was a Christine michael in a DB body

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Husky homers? He was taken 33, in the hawks range and is a 6'3 CB with 32" arms. Maybe thats where the interest came from :roll:

Per Schneider: "We had upsets along the way, and that happens every year and it’s like a punch in the gut"

http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/seah ... _title_1.1

So if some players were smoke screens or what they were hoping for will probably never be known, but even those that love our draft should understand that we missed out on players we wanted. If we decided to trade down / not trade up and that is why we can only speculate on

Pete is the "Secondary Whisperer" who can work magic with DBs. Not surprising at all that they put pass rushing raw talent above a CB like King on their board.