By Jared Stanger

After the conclusion of the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine we can now put some numbers to the players we thought looked athletic throughout the year. Instead of simply pointing out the most-athletic guys…or talking about the athleticism of the same over-publicized first round projected players..this list is somewhat more of a virtual Venn Diagram of players with great athleticism and potential interest for the Seahawks. (All SPARQ numbers come from 3sigmaathlete.com.)

Wide Receiver

Of the 48 receivers at the combine; 37 performed in enough of the tests to chart a SPARQ score, and of those 37; 23 rated above 50th percentile athleticism, and another 12 posted over 1.0 sigma. It’s a really deep group.

I think this WR class could end up looking similar to the 2015 WR class. That year; Amari Cooper went #4 overall. I kinda doubt there’s an Amari in this class, but the guys that followed Amari were Kevin White at #7, Devante Parker at #14, Nelson Agholor at #20, Breshad Perriman at #26, and Phillip Dorsett at #26. Meanwhile, the Seahawks pulled Tyler Lockett out of the 3rd round and #69 overall. I think a sort of variation of that in 2019 could yield a nice result for Seattle.

I’ve got four potential marks that could be there in the 3rd:

Emanuel Hall – the best deepball receiver in this class. His combine testing put him in the 99.7 percentile of NFL athletes. 4.39s forty and a stunning 11’9″ broad jump. If he lasts to the 3rd round it will be due to questions about his hands. 

Parris Campbell – the second-best WR athlete this year (behind Miles Boykin); Campbell posted 4.31s forty, with a 40″ vert and 11’3″ broad jump. Super explosive. I’m not entirely sure why Campbell’s profile isn’t higher.

Terry McLaurin – another Ohio State receiver; McLaurin has a unique skillset. He’s a very good deep threat, but he’s also one of the better special teams players in the country. Testing marks put Terry above the 95th percentile SPARQ.

Deebo Samuel – posting a 92nd percentile SPARQ score; Deebo might be the Golden Tate of this class. The RAC is key.

Offensive Line

I’m not certain which OL position Seattle targets; but it seems it’d be a waste not to draft from this pretty solid OL class. It’s not a class deeply loaded with stud athletes, but there’s a few if you jump earl.

Kaleb McGary – the UW right tackle has his stock continuing to rise. After a solid, albeit unspectacular, regular season, Kaleb has put together an impressive last few weeks in his pre-draft process including solid Senior Bowl week, a 72nd percentile SPARQ score from his combine testing.

Chris Lindstrom – primarily a guard for Boston College; Lindstrom has the arm length and 95th percentile athleticism (and some college experience) to potentially play some Tackle in the pro’s.

Edge rusher

With Frank Clark recently franchise tagged; it seems less likely that Seattle looks to draft a “LEO” type edge player. I think the higher likelihood is they target a DE/DT hybrid guy that weighs 270-285ish. But these are a couple stud Edge athletes that I could be talked into at the right price.

Brian Burns – it’s going to be extremely tough for the Seahawks to have a shot at Burns at #21 after he’s been a 1st round projection for most of the year, and just strengthened that case by testing in the 94th percentile SPARQ after increasing his weight to 249lbs from his playing weight of 235lbs. But we’ve seen Seattle target a player very similar to Burns in Bruce Irvin from this same regime.

Jamal Davis – probably the biggest sleeper amongst this list; Davis is a really nice athlete (82nd percentile), with good production (82 tackles, 16.0 TFL, 5.5 sacks, 6 PBU). That’s a really high tackle total for an Edge rusher. The PBU are also really nice. Those two stats and Jamal’s combine field work tell me he could also pretty easily pick up off-the-ball LB, as well.

Defensive Back

There are actually quite a few cornerbacks in this year that could potentially be great fits in Seattle if you believe in Pete Carroll’s ability to take even the most unrefined but athletic raw player and coach him up into a solid CB. I think the key there will be finding that guy at the mid round value that Seattle likes to use on corners.

In the meantime, here are a Corner and a Safety that I have a suspicion Seattle might be “in” on. Both from Miami.

Mike Jackson – as the Corner from this Cane DB duo, Jackson comes from the spot with higher supply, and potentially lower demand (for Seattle). Jackson isn’t, necessarily, in my top 5-6 favorite fits at CB for Seattle, but he checks a lot of boxes, while remaining fairly anonymous (aka: lower draft stock/higher value). Mike posted a 95th percentile SPARQ while measuring 6’1″/210lbs with 32 1/2″ arms.

Sheldrick Redwine – I think I was watching Mike Jackson tape when I kept noticing Redwine more. I was late in the process to watch him (as is often the case with safeties), but I like enough of what I saw, and then he tested in the 94th percentile for his position. I’m not sure yet whether he’s more of a SS or a FS (and his arms are almost long enough to be a Seattle CB, too).

There ya go…a 10-piece HawkDonald’s picken nuggets. 10 guys whose athleticism should put them soundly on Seattle’s draft radar.