Month: March 2025

Seahawks March mock

/ seattleseamocks

By Jared Stanger

The NFL announced this year’s compensatory picks yesterday, so the official draft board is all but set (pending the known trades becoming official at beginning of the official league year at 1pm PST today). The Seahawks ended up with some good news: ending up with comp picks in the 4th, 5th, and 5th instead of the projected 4th, 5th, 6th.

The draft board now stands at:

#1.18
#2.50
#2.52
#3.82
#3.92
#4.137c
#5.172c
#5.175c
#6.185
#7.234

So they have ten picks. I really, really want thirteen picks. I know this is improbable…John Schneider has never had more than eleven picks in a single year…but I’m still going to make the moves that get me there.

With the addition of a 2nd rounder from the DK Metcalf trade, and a 3rd rounder in the Geno Smith trade; Seattle has the luxury of how they value trading back their first pick. The way I see the board, I think they don’t need to add a 2nd. Instead, I’ve taken a trade that allows them to add two in the 3rd. I think this draft is very strong into the beginning of day three, or the end of the 4th round. Third round picks are very valuable.

The trade is #1.18 to Kansas City for their picks #1.31 + #3.66 + #3.95.

Trades in the actual draft are harder to execute than they are in draft simulators, so I tried to limit myself to only two trades. The second deal sends #3.92 to Carolina for their picks at #4.111 and #4.114.

#1.31 – DE, Ohio State, JT Tuimoloau

Schneider has given the line about IOL getting over-drafted and over-paid…then, in recent media interviews, he’s kinda only digging in on that philosophy…and he really hasn’t paid any of the free agent OL this week, so I think we take him at his word and don’t use a first round pick on IOL.

There has been zero chatter in quite some time about Tuimoloau, and his draft stock in the media is actually 20-25 picks lower than this. Part of my strategy in this mock is to overdraft, basically, everyone so that I can repeat the results in the simulator.

JT had one of the most productive seasons of all DE in the class. We don’t have athletic testing yet, but his Combine weigh-in has him at 6’4″/265lbs with 33 3/4″ arms. One quick aside on all Combine arm length measurements that will be included in this piece: for whatever reason the Combine listed shorter arm measurements for most players that were also measured at the Senior Bowl by about a half-inch. I’m tending to give everyone that additional length back. So JT becomes 34 1/4″.

Seattle recently cut Dre’mont Jones and re-signed Jarran Reed. It currently feels like there are more snaps that will be available at DE than DT with Big Cat and Murphy returning at DT while Nwosu is an injury question mark at DE, so I’m feeling like the early pick will be weighted to going DE.

#2.50 – OG, Georgia, Tate Ratledge

I believe, if memory serves, I had Ratledge as a Seattle pick in my mock going back to October 2024. I went away from that some while he was recovering from an injury, but after his strong showing at the Combine, let’s get back in the Ratledge business.

He’s 6’7″/308lbs with 32 1/4″ (**32 3/4″) arms and ran a 4.97s forty with great explosivity in the jumps. And the tape was always good.

#2.52 – OC, Georgia, Jared Wilson

I’m resigned to the idea that there is only one true college center that is worth drafting in this class, and it is Wilson. There are some OT or OG college players that may move in to Center, but Wilson is the only one that played there last season. As of when I’m writing this, Seattle has missed out on Drew Dalman and Ryan Kelly in free agency. You can make the argument that 2024 draftpicks Christian Haynes and Sataoa Laumea’s play may improve with the hiring of Klint Kubiak, and moving to more of a zone blocking scheme. I’m not sure the same applies to Olu Oluwatimi. They need to prioritize Center in the draft.

Weighing in at 6’3″/310lbs with 32 3/8″ (**32 7/8″) arms, Wilson ran the fastest forty time of all OL at 4.84 seconds. And, really, the more I dig into him the more I want him on the team. If Seattle can’t add a veteran leader at Center, it might be a bit of a hack to add two guys from the same college OL that already have pre-existing chemistry.

#3.66 – QB, Louisville, Tyler Shough

Yes, Seattle just signed Sam Darnold. I really think that’s the Matt Flynn half of the Flynn/Russell Wilson double move from the 2012 offseason. The bigger question, to me, is “who is Schneider’s guy?” Shough is MY guy, but I’m not convinced he will be Schneider’s. Some other possibilities would be Riley Leonard, Will Howard, Quinn Ewers. I would hate for it to be Ewers, and I’d be more indifferent to Leonard or Howard.

Shough is the old man of this QB class, and I’m sure people look at his career and want to tag him with the “injury-prone” label, but each of his injuries was a broken bone. It has not been soft-tissue, knees, etc. A broken bone is kind of a bad luck injury. And Shough had three of them.

But at the Combine Shough went in to Indy, measured one of the bigger-framed QB’s at 6’5″/219lbs, he competed in all of the tests outside of agility runs, and his numbers there were quite good with a 4.63s forty, 32″ vert, and 9’09” broad jump. His throwing session was also, arguably, the second-best behind Jaxson Dart in terms of accuracy, but probably a tick better than Dart if you consider arm strength.

#3.82 – DL, Nebraska, Ty Robinson

I’ve had two DT in just about every mock I’ve put out in the last 3-4 months: Ty Robinson and JJ Pegues. In this draft, after they brought back Jarran Reed, I’m forcing myself to make a call and only keep one of my guys. I’m going with Robinson for his better passrush. Pegues I think can pressure the QB, but ultimately he’s more of a run-defender, and when he showed up at the Combine at only 309lbs (down from listing at Ole Miss of 325lbs), and only ran a 5.15s forty…I think we can find a nose tackle later on.

Robinson also cut weight pre-Combine to 288lbs at 6’5″, but Robinson ran the fastest forty time of all DT at 4.83s. He’s got position versatility, especially if he stayed at 288, so he could be a replacement for Dre’mont Jones, or he can pair with Leonard Williams at DT for 3rd down passing situation NASCAR packages, etc.

#3.95 – CB, California, Nohl Williams

I feel like people are saying they like this cornerback class. I do not. Lots of short-armed, pretty skinny guys. There are literally two CB that I find draftable after the 1st round. I’m very much forcing this pick to get my “1A” guy.

Williams is 6’0″/199lbs with only 30 3/4″ (**31 1/4″) arms, and he ran only a 4.50s forty with just modest scores in the jumps. But, on tape, Williams is a very productive corner who posted 7 INT and 9 PBU last year. He’s a pretty aggressive player, he tackles well, but I’m just hesitant on him cause I’m sort of reading his personality with a bit of a darkness to him. Which we’ve seen Seattle bring in with Richard Sherman, Brandon Browner, Earl Thomas. Those were the guys that were productive, but you could also throw in, like, the Malik McDowell’s of their history. Can he be regulated? If I’m even reading him correctly.

#4.111 – OT, Connecticut, Chase Lundt

Possibly the first question mark pick, in terms of position, in this mock. Does Seattle need an OT? Starters Charles Cross and Abe Lucas will be returning for the final years of their rookie deals (Cross eligible for 5th year option), and they made a minor free agent move to sign Josh Jones as a swing OT/OL. Also, is Lundt even an OT in the pro’s? His Combine found him to have 32 5/8″ arms. Even with the conversion I’m using, he would still be sub-34″ at 33 1/8″.

I would just like to see them get a young guy, with four years of club control, in a draft that is strong with (especially) RIGHT tackles, that they can stash behind two guys on the last year of their deals. And, similar to getting two Georgia guys in the 2nd, Lundt could have some immediate chemistry with his college teammate from 2023, Christian Haynes. Mini-hack.

#4.114 – LB, Ohio State, Cody Simon

Ernest Jones was re-signed last weekend, so I backed down a bit from drafting a linebacker earlier in the draft, while still targeting a player with some traits that I’m looking for. Simon did not test at the Combine, but weighed in at 6’2″/229lbs. I wish he was more in the 235lb range, but with a 6’2″ frame, maybe he can add weight as we go.

He was a pretty productive player for the Buckeyes with 112 tackles, 12.5 TFL, 7.0 sacks, and 7 PBU in 15 games last year.

#4.137 – WR, Washington State, Kyle Williams

This might be another point in this mock where my draft philosophy will strongly contrast from Schneider. I could easily see John draft a WR earlier than this. After losing Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf, it would make a lot of sense. I, personally, just see that there are some sneakier WR upside players that they could try to find later on. We could draft the Jaxon Smith Njigba player (again), or we could try to find the Puka Nacua player from the same class.

Williams is a 5’11″/190lb receiver that ran a 4.40s flat forty at the Combine after posting season totals of 1198 yards and 14 TD. Check out the video vs likely top 5 overall pick Travis Hunter:

#5.172 – WR, Arkansas, Isaac Teslaa

I really didn’t study Teslaa until the last week-10 days when I was doing some further diligence on the whole WR class. If you want to push a position group down your board, you need to know all of the options available later on.

Teslaa measured 6’4″/214lbs at the Combine and ran a 4.43s forty. His jumps were very strong, but what really caught my eye was the fact that he ran a 6.85s three-cone and a 4.05s shuttle, the latter of which was 1st amongst WR.

He actually played primarily the slot for Arkansas last year, and his agility scores aren’t that different from Cooper Kupp (6.75 cone, 4.08 shuttle).

#5.175 – TE, Texas Tech, Jalin Conyers

Necessity is the mother of invention, and similarly when you need to push a position down your board, you actually can make interesting discoveries. I think there’s a ton of reason that Seattle might take a TE earlier than this…I really like Terrance Ferguson, and he tested very well…but I found multiple data points that started pointing me towards Conyers, and therefore getting to take advantage of drafting other positions earlier.

Jalin measured 6’4″/260lbs with 33 1/4″ (**33 3/4″) arms at the Combine, and ran an acceptable forty time of 4.74s, but led all TE in the shuttle (4.27s) and the three-cone (6.94s) while also placing top four in group in both jumps.

He’s also kind of bargain basement Tyler Warren in the sense that Conyers was a Swiss Army knife player for Texas Tech, with 8 carries and 2 TD rushing, and 1 pass attempt and 1 TD throwing the ball. In 2023 he had 22 rushing attempts. Could this be Seattle/Kubiak’s 2025 version of Taysom Hill?

#6.185 – DT, Georgia, Nazir Stackhouse

As I talked about earlier, I found it necessary to start looking at lower-cost options for the nose-tackle replacement for Johnathan Hankins. I’ve settled on Stackhouse. He didn’t have much production this year, but at the Combine he measured 6’4″/327lbs with 32 1/2″ arms (**33″), and ran 5.15s in the forty. It was the same forty time Pegues ran, but Stackhouse is about 20 pounds heavier.

#7.234 – S, Wisconsin, Hunter Wohler

I literally ran this mock draft through a simulator earlier today to get a feel for if it could work. I was honestly looking to spend this pick on a third WR in Dont’e Thornton. Thornton was off the board, and although I had some other players in mind with a similar skillset to Thornton, I think they might also be available as undrafted free agents. I decided to pivot to something totally different. Then, a couple hours after running through the simulator and missing on my WR3, news came out that Seattle is signing Marquez Valdes Scantling. Perfect. They can push the Thornton profile to UDFA.

(For the record, MVS is 6’4″/206lbs and ran a 4.37s forty coming out of college. Thornton is 6’5″/205lbs and ran 4.30s…so that’s the right profile, I think. My UDFA target will be Quentin Skinner from Kansas. Listed 6’5″/195lbs, but he wasn’t invited to the Combine, so we’re waiting for his pro day to get more intel.)

I think Seattle needs a safety more than most people that follow the team. They cut Rayshawn Jenkins leaving Julian Love and Coby Bryant as the incumbents. I think Wohler brings a different element than both of those guys at 6’2″/213lbs (he played at 218lbs for Wisconsin). He only ran a 4.57s forty, but Julian Love only ran 4.54s, and former Macdonald safety in Baltimore, Kyle Hamilton, only ran 4.59s.

Wohler had 71 tackles in 11 games last year from the safety spot, after finishing with 120 tackles in 13 games in 2023. He’s a very high-floor player, to me. Bring him in at low cost, develop him at whatever pace you need to without the demand of having to start immediately…use him on special teams, etc…and see if maybe he might end up like a Talanoa Hufanga, who was drafted in the 5th round and went on to be a pro bowler.

I really like how this draft is able to unfold after acquiring those additional picks in trade. The draft should have a ton of flexibility. And I already liked how this class of players stacked up for what Seattle needs to add. I’m excited.