What's your grade for this draft?

[Ruminator]

This year I got the feeling that we made a number of picks a bit earlier than we would have liked, perhaps having heard and seen things to suggest Player X might soon be picked by another team. Either way, being a fan of a team that drafts with this level of unconventionality sure requires a lot of trust. A fan of any other team drafting these same players would have been left feeling dismayed or confused especially seeing certain other available players passed over. It took us a couple years to get used to this.

I hope last year's pick Hill starts to prove himself worthy of the pick, but I find myself having to fight a not-so-optimistic feeling about him for some reason. Hope it goes away quickly.

 

[Largent80]

Almost all of our picks were under the radar types, and with that being the case they were overlooked by everyone but our scouts. They all seem to have the trait of being competitive (go figure).

I read post draft the Richardson put on weight and was 185 last year, another 15 pounds would not be out of the ordinary at his age and proper conditioning, without slowing him down.

I like the Marsh pick and it kinda tells me that some of the other guys may not be fully healthy or the staff wants another backup plan. Remember Clem and Red are gone.

The LB pick was obvious with almost our entire corps coming up in contracts in the next 2 years.

Hard to grade at this point so at this moment a C.

 

[Yxes1122]

I'm hopeful for Richardson but I think this draft will turn out a lot like 2011. Which is fine, we got Sherman, Maxwell and Wright out of that draft. I think Norwood is going to make a place for himself on this team and make plenty of impact over time. Also think KPL will be the next solid linebacker out of the pipeline and I'm fond of Pinkins, I think he will take longer to make his impact but end up being a very good player for us in a year or two.

I'm meh on Marsh and our O-line selections. Britt may be the next Carp. Never really a true starter but has his uses against certain teams.

 

[DavidSeven]

Disagree with you on both Richardson and KPL. Richardson wasn't just a guy who made an impact in garbage time. He made multiple big plays early against Arizona, Oregon and UW for example.

In garbage time.

I don't know where he got the bulk of his yardage last season, but he did score a 60 yard TD against UW in the first quarter. It was a 10-7 game at that point. Also watched a cut up of his game vs. Colorodo St. (I know), and he scores a 75 yard TD with 3 minutes left in a 33-27 game. Also made a couple huge catches versus Oregon in the first quarter.

 

[AbsolutNET]

I think fans tend to fall in line with traditional player grading during the draft process. Player X did this against Player Y in this situation. Players get downgraded for not making a consistent impact, not being physically developed, not having sound technique, etc... . Seattle values athleticism and competitive make-up first and foremost. If a kid isn't fully developed, they'll wait. If Seattle believes they play out of position and don't make necessary impact, Seattle will move them and trust their system. If technique is an issue, they'll trust their coaches.

Potential can be a dirty word in the draft process, but Seattle values potential over college production. Athleticism and want-to are the key for them to measure a kid's potential. I used to care way more about the picks as they came off the board, but now I know I'm not going to know who half the guys are, I'll just know they're going to be physically superior to most and Seattle will trust themselves to bring out the things other teams didn't see. It's frustrating in the days after the draft, but exciting at the same time.

HE HAS RISEN!

Please stay.

 

[brimsalabim]

I'm not holding my breath on the " talent waiting in the wings" when it comes to the OL. If they were the answer I think we would have seen it while 4 starters were out last season. I would rather have gone up a bit to get Martin for the OL. Sure trading back got us a few extra picks but is drafting Small really worth it?
We will see how the draft picks develop. In terms of protecting Russell next season and filling the void at RT though I give this draft a C.

 

[hawknation2014]

Richardson was limited by the offense he played on. But if you watched the way he was catching the ball at the combine, you saw how smooth this guy is . . .

[youtube]r4qnV96LsU8[/youtube]

 

[Hasselbeck]

This is the same board that had Brandon Coleman as Megatron 2.0 ... I'll wait until these kids get on the field and show us what they got

 

[Seahawkfan80]

Richardson was limited by the offense he played on. But if you watched the way he was catching the ball at the combine, you saw how smooth this guy is . . .

[youtube]r4qnV96LsU8[/youtube]

I like the fact that the first thing he does after the catch is protection. Suck that ball to the body so it cant be punched out. I remember a runnin back that had a problem for a while until he learned to do same.

 

[Skansi82]

I disagree with all of the negativity about our O-line. We lost Brenno and McQuisten. We've added: Van Roten who when healthy started for the Packers, and 4-5 rookies in the draft/free agency. Considering that we're going to at least start the season with a healthy Okung/Carpenter/Unger, and Bailey/Bowie/Sweezy all have another year under their belt, I think our O-line will be much improved this year.

As far as the rest of the draft I agree with the majority in that there's not much to get excited about at first glance. I'm most excited about: Richardson stretching defenses, getting Jeffcoat as a free agent, and the freakish athleticism of KPL and Pinkins.

The West is going to be brutally tough this year, but the fact that I'm actually excited for the Rams and Cardinals games at the Clink is kinda cool too. :49ersmall:

 

[hawknation2014]

OT: (A-) They infused depth and much-needed competition into their thinnest position group. Justin Britt will battle Michael Bowie for the starting RT position. Bowie performed very well last season, so it will be difficult for Britt to take this spot, except in the event of an injury. The loser of this competition may compete inside at left guard or perhaps play as the sixth linemen in our jumbo package. Like Bowie, Britt is tough and athletic. And Garrett Scott is an impressive athlete who will add depth at LT behind the oft-injured Russell Okung. If he succeeds in developing into a quality blindside backup, then perhaps they can eventually slide Alvin Bailey inside into Carpenter's spot. The coaches prioritized offensive tackles over guards, and the potential is there for great improvement in the quality of their depth at OT.

WR (B+): You can argue they should have prioritized other receivers over the ones they eventually selected. However, they stuck to their guns and added speed and versatility to their receiving corps. If they fail to re-sign Baldwin and/or Kearse, they should have admirable replacements in Richardson and Norwood.

DL (B+): The most exciting member of this group for me was not drafted, and that is talented LEO prospect Jackson Jeffcoat. Jeffcoat is as close as you could get to reincarnating a young Chris Clemons. Jimmy Staten and Cassius Marsh will also add more depth and competition to the interior of the line. Hopefully, they find a dynamic rotation amongst all of these young, inexperienced defensive linemen.

OLB: (B+): Kevin Pierre-Louis is someone I think everyone had their eye on to become a Seahawk. Very similar athleticism, size, and feel for the game as Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith. I only wish they had drafted a true SLB to develop behind K.J. Wright, who is also free agent after this year. For example, they could have taken Shayne Skov in the 7th Round . . . instead, Skov signed with the team of his former head coach.

DB: (B)- Eric Pinkins is an impressive athlete, whose play summons comparisons to Brandon Browner. He can realistically play at any of the five DB positions if he develops as expected.

FB(?)- I don't get this pick at all. A 5'8 fullback? They could have added a great safety or OLB here.

Overall: B+ I prefer to grade in terms of how the collective acquisitions benefitted specific position groups. Whether you agree with the decisions to prioritize one prospect over another, at the end of the day, they drafted what they needed to add immediate depth while still taking a forward looking approach to player acquisition and development.

 

[bbsplitter]

I would probably give it a solid B. Mostly out of defeat and shock lol. I thought I had this draft pretty well researched, and with each and every pick it was pretty much "whaaaaaat?". I was most put-off by the Britt pick in round 2, but after a little research it looks like he was highly regarded by many teams. KPL was a typical PC/JS linebacker pickup, looks like he could be the next Malcolm Smith. A lot of people are commenting about his issues with getting off blocks, but don't forget our very own Bobby Wagner had that problem, and still does to a lesser extent.

 

[Largent80]

I think fans tend to fall in line with traditional player grading during the draft process. Player X did this against Player Y in this situation. Players get downgraded for not making a consistent impact, not being physically developed, not having sound technique, etc... . Seattle values athleticism and competitive make-up first and foremost. If a kid isn't fully developed, they'll wait. If Seattle believes they play out of position and don't make necessary impact, Seattle will move them and trust their system. If technique is an issue, they'll trust their coaches.

Potential can be a dirty word in the draft process, but Seattle values potential over college production. Athleticism and want-to are the key for them to measure a kid's potential. I used to care way more about the picks as they came off the board, but now I know I'm not going to know who half the guys are, I'll just know they're going to be physically superior to most and Seattle will trust themselves to bring out the things other teams didn't see. It's frustrating in the days after the draft, but exciting at the same time.

HE HAS RISEN!

Please stay.

I've been trying to talk him into coming back.

 

[Rainger]

55 percent of the .neters who voted in this thread went with B

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=92895

 

[kearly]

When a thread asks for a grade on a draft that has just happened your not grading the players after they have had a chance to experience NFL coaching. So in reality your grading JS/PC's ability to draft the players you want them to. With all the evidence we have seen in this coaching staffs ability to elevate players from college level to NFL championship caliber why do we even attempt to think we know more than they do?

Just sit back and let it unfold.

I agree with all of this and made virtually the same commentary in the OP. Draft Grades right now are just a snapshot, a statement of preference. Nothing to be taken overly seriously.

That said, even among our home run draft selections, a lot of them would have been after thoughts if Jim Mora were still running this team. I think JS works very hard and is a very good GM, but I don't think he's a drafting genius. I do think Pete is a coaching genius though, and for as long as we have him we will be the best team in the league.

At the very top of the draft, everyone's draft board is virtually identical, but as the draft goes along differences in the draft boards begin to appear, and by the time you get to round four it's very hard to predict the draft order because each teams board varies so much at that point.

I think the reason PC/JS have been so good late in the draft is because they can usually get the guys they want for their system in that range without worrying too much if someone is going to grab that player first, plus draft boards actually widen with every round so they usually have plenty of fallback options.

But in the early rounds they tend to ignore consensus view and draft their own guys there, leading to some poor value pick selections, usually to fit needs. Because our coaching is so awesome, their early round track record is still decent, but it is nowhere near as masterful as their late round productivity has been.

The 2011 draft was a lot like this one for me, underwhelming and full of picks I disagreed with. They saved that draft in a very big way with all those day three choices that worked out, but the fact remains that they got jack squat out of the first three rounds.

These guys are such optimizers and such hard workers, I am not surprised that they kind of re-tuned their early round philosophy slightly this year (they valued intangibles more than usual with high picks). They know their system kind of sucks for early picks, but they haven't quite yet figured it out IMO. I think ideally, they should listen to the rest of the league a bit more with early picks, then march to their own beat once the draft boards start to widen out.

I don't hate the Britt or Richardson selections, in some ways I understand why they felt the way they did. But to me, they feel like 4th round selections that cost us 2nd rounders to acquire. Just a gut feeling, I hope they prove me wrong. But it's been five drafts now and we've seen some trends, one of them being that those "reachy" early picks usually look like reaches in retrospect too.

 

[Rainger]

When a thread asks for a grade on a draft that has just happened your not grading the players after they have had a chance to experience NFL coaching. So in reality your grading JS/PC's ability to draft the players you want them to. With all the evidence we have seen in this coaching staffs ability to elevate players from college level to NFL championship caliber why do we even attempt to think we know more than they do?

Just sit back and let it unfold.

I agree with all of this and made virtually the same commentary in the OP. Draft Grades right now are just a snapshot, a statement of preference. Nothing to be taken overly seriously.

That said, even among our home run draft selections, a lot of them would have been after thoughts if Jim Mora were still running this team. I think JS works very hard and is a very good GM, but I don't think he's a drafting genius. I do think Pete is a coaching genius though, and for as long as we have him we will be the best team in the league.

Could not agree more. People still fall in to the traditional concept that the GM is above the coach. Not here. I am confident in saying JS doesn't draft or sign anyone without Pete's ok.

We read all these articles in the Lame stream media praising JS for where the Hawks are. JS is great but he is what he is because of Pete. They complement each other like red wine and cheese.

I agree, I think Pete is a coaching genius and does more with less than any coach in the league. Also I think he has a grand plan that is now coming to fruition

 

[hawknation2014]

When a thread asks for a grade on a draft that has just happened your not grading the players after they have had a chance to experience NFL coaching. So in reality your grading JS/PC's ability to draft the players you want them to. With all the evidence we have seen in this coaching staffs ability to elevate players from college level to NFL championship caliber why do we even attempt to think we know more than they do?

Just sit back and let it unfold.

I agree with all of this and made virtually the same commentary in the OP. Draft Grades right now are just a snapshot, a statement of preference. Nothing to be taken overly seriously.

That said, even among our home run draft selections, a lot of them would have been after thoughts if Jim Mora were still running this team. I think JS works very hard and is a very good GM, but I don't think he's a drafting genius. I do think Pete is a coaching genius though, and for as long as we have him we will be the best team in the league.

Could not agree more. People still fall in to the traditional concept that the GM is above the coach. Not here. I am confident in saying JS doesn't draft or sign anyone without Pete's ok.

We read all these articles in the Lame stream media praising JS for where the Hawks are. JS is great but he is what he is because of Pete. They complement each other like red wine and cheese.

I agree, I think Pete is a coaching genius and does more with less than any coach in the league. Also I think he has a grand plan that is now coming to fruition

As the years have progressed, Schneider has taken more control over the draft progress. The first class was nearly 100% Carroll. And maybe it should come as no surprise that was easily the best draft in the history of the franchise. More control over draft choices began to transfer to Schneider, as the balance between coaching and scouting became impractical.

 

[Rainger]

When a thread asks for a grade on a draft that has just happened your not grading the players after they have had a chance to experience NFL coaching. So in reality your grading JS/PC's ability to draft the players you want them to. With all the evidence we have seen in this coaching staffs ability to elevate players from college level to NFL championship caliber why do we even attempt to think we know more than they do?

Just sit back and let it unfold.

I agree with all of this and made virtually the same commentary in the OP. Draft Grades right now are just a snapshot, a statement of preference. Nothing to be taken overly seriously.

That said, even among our home run draft selections, a lot of them would have been after thoughts if Jim Mora were still running this team. I think JS works very hard and is a very good GM, but I don't think he's a drafting genius. I do think Pete is a coaching genius though, and for as long as we have him we will be the best team in the league.

Could not agree more. People still fall in to the traditional concept that the GM is above the coach. Not here. I am confident in saying JS doesn't draft or sign anyone without Pete's ok.

We read all these articles in the Lame stream media praising JS for where the Hawks are. JS is great but he is what he is because of Pete. They complement each other like red wine and cheese.

I agree, I think Pete is a coaching genius and does more with less than any coach in the league. Also I think he has a grand plan that is now coming to fruition

As the years have progressed, Schneider has taken more control over the draft progress. The first class was nearly 100% Carroll. And maybe it should come as no surprise that was easily the best draft in the history of the franchise. More control over draft choices began to transfer to Schneider, as the balance between coaching and scouting became impractical.

Maybe JS has grown and is doing more with the draft with his scouting crew. But are you telling me that JS makes the decisions without Pete agreeing to the decision? Please provide your inside contact where you know this info to be true.

I can not believe that Pete is in a situation where he does not have final say over the roster. Obviously that would include the players that have a chance at the roster though draft and other signings.

Now I do believe that Pete trusts JS and he tells JS what he wants in attributes and JS goes and finds the toys. But I go back to Kearly's point and my agreement that this is not some genius GM coming up with all these picks etc but rather Pete working with JS to get the tools that Pete wants, and then Pete coaching them into champions.

 

[hawknation2014]

Maybe JS has grown and is doing more with the draft with his scouting crew. But are you telling me that JS makes the decisions without Pete agreeing to the decision? Please provide your inside contact where you know this info to be true.

I don't think I said anywhere that Schneider is making decisions without Carroll's approval. Ultimately, Carroll has final say. What I said was that over time, Carroll has given Schneider more leeway to make these draft decisions because it became impractical to balance both roles. Also, Carroll acknowledged that his advantage in having recruited the players in high school and scouted them while at SC has dissipated over time. That has naturally led to more leeway and control in draft decisions for Schneider.

This doesn't require any inside info. Carroll has said this himself.

 

[Rainger]

Maybe JS has grown and is doing more with the draft with his scouting crew. But are you telling me that JS makes the decisions without Pete agreeing to the decision? Please provide your inside contact where you know this info to be true.

I don't think I said anywhere that Schneider is making decisions without Carroll's approval. Ultimately, Carroll has final say. What I said was that over time, Carroll has given Schneider more leeway to make these draft decisions because it became impractical to balance both roles. Also, Carroll acknowledged that his advantage in having recruited the players in high school and scouted them while at SC has dissipated over time. That has naturally led to more leeway and control in draft decisions for Schneider.

This doesn't require any inside info. Carroll has said this himself.

Ok generally we are probably on the same page. It is just the use of the word control in your two posts that probably got me. As I think of control I think of it as defined.: To exercise authoritative or dominating influence over; direct.

I don't think JS is in this position. I think they work great as a team.