By Jared Stanger

It hasn’t been that long since my last 7-round Seahawk mock draft, but I’ve just been feeling a little different about where the draft is right now. And I also feel a little bit different about individual players. This is a mock where I’ve REALLY dug into each of these guys, and I have a more comprehensive opinion of each.

To find these types of players, I’ve had to make concessions. The primary concession you may notice: I’ve gone away from players that come with the Zach Whitman coined term “SEC tax”, which means in many cases going after smaller school players. This is an abrupt turn from what John Schneider and staff did in 2016…drafting 3 SEC, 1 Pac12, 1 Big10, 1 ACC, etc. And they were from the most successful programs within those conferences, to boot. The smallest school a player was chosen from in 2016 was Rees Odhiambo out of Boise State.

So this could mean my projection will stray from where the Seahawks will actually wind up. Then again, the best draft class of the PCJS’ regime was 2012 when the picks included players from Utah State, Idaho, and Northwestern State. And two of those small school guys have already gotten paid in Seattle, and the third is balling out in San Diego.

Regardless, this is my mock and in my mock I’m ignoring what fucking school a guy is coming from. “What are my eyes seeing? What are my ears hearing?” That’s it. And then, “How late can I wait to pull the trigger and still get them?” The first two questions answer where I value them, and the third question answers (or attempts to) where the league values them.

Let’s begin.

We’re opening with seven picks, I believe (1, 2, 3, 4c, 5c, 6, 7t). I need ten. Sorry folks, we’re trading out of the 1st round. We drop from #29 overall by trading with Chicago for their #2.35 and #4.110. Chicago might be a good trade partner here if they don’t like QB value at #3 overall, but want to move back up into the 1st to still get the 5th year option on a QB later. (The only reason for Seattle to NOT trade back here is if Ryan Ramczyk is still alive when Seattle is on the clock.) At #35 we’re taking the player that Draftscout currently lists as the #300 player overall. I don’t know how they came to that number, but it is fucking clown shoes.

#35- OT Western Kentucky, Forrest Lamp

Lamp is listed at 6’4″/300lbs and he may show up with arms shorter than the generally accepted 34″ that are usually required for a left tackle; prompting most to project him at Guard. Here’s the thing: stop it. Taylor Decker had 33 3/4″ arms last year and he’s been one of the top two rookie OL this year. I also feel like I remember reading one of the elite OT in the league for many years had pretty short arms…I want to say Joe Thomas.

Regardless…isn’t one of the recurring cliche’s of good draft rooms about wanting to focus not on what players can’t do, but what they can do? Aren’t there enough Russell Wilson’s and Aaron Donald’s and Steve Smith’s in the league for us to stop being so conventional about evaluations based on size?

Lamp is one of only two draft-eligible OT right now that I can turn on and watch for an entire game (Ramczyk the other). He is so fundamentally sound. He doesn’t seem to lean heavily-favored to either run-blocking or pass-blocking…he’s good in both. He also doesn’t lean literally…he has that good upright posture in pass sets. Lamp has the best cut-block I’ve seen on tape all year…which no one seems to be able to do any more. There’s enough sprinkling of nasty in there…I think in one game I saw him jawing at a ref, which is good to see. And Forrest has one of the best games any OL has put up against the Bama defense in the last 3-ish years.

The only thing I’m not confident about in this guy is whether or not you can get him later. Cause if you could get him later, even at the native-2nd round pick, that allows the first pick to be a passrusher of degree or two improvement. Like a Solomon Thomas at 35 with Forrest Lamp chaser at 61 would be amazing. Then again, Thomas projecting at #45 overall by Draftscout is well under my grade for him. I think he’s top-25.

From the native-2nd round pick, I again look to trade back. Tennessee, after drafting like 14 times in 2016, may choose to be more aggressive this year with some moves up. It’s a steeper drop than you’d like, but we’ll drop from #61 in the 2nd to #71 in the 3rd, and add #109 in the 4th. Seattle would now hold #109, #110, and a comp pick at the end of the 4th (for Bruce Irvin).

#71- DE Kansas State, Jordan Willis

There are actually a couple names available here (per Draftscout) that I’d be happy with: Willis and Dawaune Smoot. Smoot is currently dropping in projection due to his lack of production, but I still think he’s one of the best pure pass-rushers in the class. But Willis is more in line with what I think the theme of this mock is: S-T-R.

Willis is a 6’5″/258 lb, yoked up, SPARQ’d up specimen of a dude that I’ve been tracking for two years. He’s a little bit of a deceptive player because he is as pinpoint, assignment-sound as you can find at DE. Which isn’t always the sexy tape to watch. But then, just when you’ve been lulled into a false sense of security, Willis JUST. MAKES. PLAYS.

Willis currently has the 8th-most sacks in all of college football with 10.5, along with 45 tackles, 15.0 TFL, 3 QB hurries, 3 PBU, and 2 FF. So there is production to go with athleticism and FBIQ.

#93- RB Pittsburgh, James Conner

Ever since it was pointed out to me, I can’t stop thinking about Pete Carroll telling Brock n Salk that his ideal RB was Thomas Rawls’ attitude in a 6’2″/230-240lb body (paraphrasing). James Conner is listed 6’2″/235.

Conner is also a wonderful pass-catcher and one of the toughest S.O.B’s in the game today. Did you know that he was maintaining a pretty rigorous practice/training schedule with Pittsburgh while he was doing chemo therapy?? He wasn’t allowed contact because of the chemo intubation port in his chest, and he had to wear a surgical mask to protect himself while his immune system was reduced, but otherwise he was practicing.

If this isn’t Rawls beefed up, I don’t know what is.

#109- CB Virginia Tech, Brandon Facyson

I’ll be honest…in this really good class of CB, they are corners with better tape. Or at least more consistently good tape. A Facyson pick is about a) he’s a 6’2″/197lb corner with 11 PBU, 4.0 TFL, and 2 FF on the year, and b) he’s the smartest corner in this draft.

If you give those core traits to the Seattle coaching staff, the rest can be coached up. This is sort of the polar opposite of our faith in drafting/developing OL.

After trading themselves into holding back-to-back picks at #109-110, Seattle trades back the latter to add a 10th pick. Minnesota holds picks #115-116, so we’ll take the front end of that and add the Vikings’ 7th rounder (#210).

#115- WR Mississippi State, Fred Ross

I have a handful of WR that I’m favoring in this draft. I think they all have recent, if not current, special teams return duties. They each also have good route-running and RAC ability. Ross is probably 4th or 5th of my five, but the top three are also off the board before this point. Ross ends up being the best fit of talent and value relative to draft needs.

Fred is listed 6’2″/205lbs (probably smaller when he’s officially measured), and he’s recorded 68 catches for 873 yards and 12 TD’s this year. Decent numbers, but slightly down from his Junior of 88×1007 when Dak Prescott was leading the Bulldog offense.

In the MissSt offense, Ross gets used a lot in screen game, but when allowed to he shows good downfield abilities. Here is a clip of him running a ‘go’ down the redline. Note how he gets open late. Subtle quality.

4th round comp- DT Minnesota, Steven Richardson

This is a bit of a guess in terms of national value because Richardson is a Junior that no one is really paying much attention to. But he’s a 6’0″/300 lb inside pass rusher who has posted 11.0 TFL and 7.0 sacks this year. Either paired with Jarran Reed on early downs or Michael Bennett on 3rd, Richardson would bring a different skillset inside.

5th round comp- TE Louisville, Cole Hikutini

Another player set to climb. Hikutini is listed 6’5″/248 lbs, but he moves more like a 23o lb received like Tanner McEvoy. Cole has 49 catches for 656 yards and 8 TD’s this year. He’s also one of the most impressive run-blocking TE’s I’ve ever seen (haven’t seen him used in pass-blocking much).

Hikutini is a pick I make if I’m planning on not re-signing UFA Luke Willson this offseason. Could be a pretty seamless transition.

#187- SS Michigan State, Montae Nicholson

This is my least certain pick. I don’t know where the club will stand on keeping Kam Chancellor and/or Kelcie McCray. If both of those are back, and Tyvis is in the mix another 3 years, I’d try to move a SAM linebacker into this spot. Could also double-dip on RB here.

But if told safety were a need before next spring, Nicholson and LaTech’s Xavier Woods are two well-rounded DB’s I would look to steal away in the 6th. Draftscout has Woods at #191 overall and Nicholson at #196.

Nicholson is one of quite a few big safeties this year (something Seattle might want to take advantage of), listed at 6’2″/219 lbs. Also one of the most prolific tacklers at safety this year, with 86 total on the year.

#210- OL Kutztown, Jordan Morgan

This is a player I hadn’t even heard of until he was announced as an accepted invite to this year’s Senior Bowl. I dug up some tape on him, and I fell in love. Listed at 6’4″/320 lbs, Morgan’s tape is some of the nastiest OL tape I’ve seen this year. No, it is THEE nastiest. This guy has more pancakes than IHOP. A total finisher, Jordan is doing stuff to whatever level of competition Kutztown faces that looks borderline abusive.

Senior Bowl lists him at Guard, which is kind of standard when a tackle isn’t 6’5″+ or if expectation is that his arm length won’t measure up. But just on the eye test, his arms don’t look that short, and his footwork and movement is all Tackle-esque.

Wherever he ends up, Morgan would be another solid player to add competition to the struggling Seattle OL depth chart.

//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/1831509/582b85a2dfd8b803b065f290

#219- OLB Colorado, Jimmie Gilbert

Jimmie is a personal favorite of mine, and with Draftscout projection of #268 overall I’d be thrilled to take him in a similar spot to former Seahawk Obum Gwacham (drafted #209 in 2015). Similar players too.

Jimmie is listed 6’5″/230 lbs, and he must hold most of that in his legs because his upper body is pretty slender. Colorado uses him almost exclusively at the LOS, as a passrusher, but I’m projecting him to back up to SAM with some pass-rush duties on 3rd down. Kind of the Bruce Irvin role, but in a Mike Morgan build.

Gilbert is 19th in the country in sacks with 9.0, and he’s 2nd in the country in forced fumbles. And, despite his visually slighter build, on tape Jimmie shows surprising strength; tossing good-sized OL to the side to make tackles.

Final tally:

OT Forrest Lamp
DE Jordan Willis
RB James Conner
CB Brandon Facyson
WR Fred Ross
DT Steven Richardson
TE Cole Hikutini
SS Montae Nicholson
OT Jordan Morgan
OLB Jimmie Gilbert

I think I’m missing a second RB, and perhaps a second CB, but otherwise I really like the balance of this draft. And it certainly is full of guys I see doing well in the ultra-competitive Seattle locker room.

By Jared Stanger

The bad news is: the top running back Seattle drafted in the 2016 draft is out (again) with a probably broken scapula, the fan-favorite running back making his NFL debut fresh off the practice squad took an ankle sprain, the second-highest drafted running back in 2016 was inactive (and no one seemed to mind), and Christine Michael is now a Packer.

The good news is: Thomas Rawls came back and showed much of the same decision-making and tough running that we all fell in love with in 2015, AND the 2017 RB draft class is pretty rich.

So while the questions for the immediate future may seem bleak, the answers for the long-term may be very hopeful. Let’s take a pretty comprehensive look at “RB: 2017”.

Most draft outlets have Leonard Fournette and Dalvin Cook the 1-2 backs off the board. We won’t worry about where or which order as their price’s are a little too rich for my blood. The next tier is Christian McCaffrey and Royce Freeman. I’m not wholly convinced that McCaffrey declares early.

Freeman opened the year looking very similar to what he looked like in 2015: 37 carries for 325 yards (8.78ypc), and 4 TD. Then, five carries into his third game (vs Nebraska), Royce suffered a slight injury causing him to miss the Colorado game. After looking fine in game #5, Freeman seemed to get hurt again when he played Washington. In the three games following UW; Royce averaged: 0.67 ypc, 2.24 ypc, 3.80 ypc. Each of those marks were lower than the lowest Freeman had recorded since the 2014-2015 National Championship game against Ohio State.

In his two most recent games, Freeman has seemed to be rounding back into early season form; rushing for 240 yards on 40 carries.

Freeman is a big, sturdy back with good but not great speed. He does most of his damage with power and intelligent cut choices. I tend to think of Freeman as similar to 2015 draftpick, and current Miami Dolphin, Jay Ajayi.

This is Freeman from his very impressive second game of 2016:

Draftscout lists Royce at #35 overall. Not worth taking in the 1st, but too valued to get late in the 2nd when Seattle picks again. Probably not a fit.

Up next is Texas BIG back D’Onta Foreman. This is the RB currently leading the country in rushing while rapidly approaching a 2000-yard season. At 6’1″/249 lbs, Foreman is built like a tank. And as a tank, he’s been one of the healthiest backs in the country all year. Foreman missed week #2 with a groin injury, but has otherwise posted at least 17 carries in every game, with an average of 29.20 carries/game. And Foreman has run for at least 100 yards in every game in which he has appeared this year (low of 124, high of 341).

Foreman (a Junior) has said as recently as November 2nd that he intends to return for his senior season, but perhaps a Heisman finalist and/or the loss of coach Charlie Strong could sway him towards declaring.

Foreman is predominantly an upright stance runner, but that is to be expected at 250lbs. He does his damage breaking tackles with power, but has a good amount of speed and balance as well.

Draftscout puts Foreman at #49 overall…middle of 2nd round. Still pricey.

Draftscout lists Samaje Perine at #72 and Jeremy McNichols at #75…this is a good range for Seattle to really start considering RB (actually in the 60’s), but I have trouble seeing either of Perine/McNichols as Seahawks. The more interesting talent is actually Perine’s teammate Joe Mixon, but his baggage concerns me. Mixon is essentially RB Frank Clark.

If you think the team culture has settled Clark, and could do it again…Mixon is the right size (6’1″/226), the right talent (157 carries, 1080 yards, 6.90 ypc, plus 30 catches, and top 20 in kickoff returns), at the right price. But that’s a big ‘if’. Also a big ‘if’: will Mixon declare as a redshirt sophomore.

Another guy that currently checks off the right size and the right price: Nick Chubb. Draftscout has him at #79 overall. A year and a half ago you would absolutely take Chubb at that value, if he even got out of the 1st round. These days, after a gruesome knee injury and it’s resulting rehab, Chubb hasn’t been quite the same player.

While his 900 yards in 2016 seem pretty good in the context of his recovery; the 4.86 ypc this year is a massive dropoff from the 8.12 ypc pre-injury 2015 and 7.06 ypc as a true freshman.

Whereas Chubb used to have a great mix of power and cutting, now he’s far more “one-cut and get downhill”. The top speed still looks good, but the acceleration isn’t as special.

With Seattle currently dealing with so many RB injuries, I’m less inclined to take this high of a pick on a player with this injury history. If Chubb falls a couple rounds…then you reconsider.

Now we start to come to a pretty interesting tier of backs. By projection these are guys pushing late 3rd round to late 4th round, currently. We’re looking at Wayne Gallman (#89), Elijah Hood (#110), Brian Hill (#127), and I’m making editorial decision to bump Kareem Hunt up (from #153).

Wayne Gallman is 6’0″/210 lbs from Clemson, and has rushed 160×830, 5.19 ypc, and 13 TD’s this year. His only injury this year, to my recollection, was a concussion suffered against NC State. Gallman has the blessing/curse of being the feature back on a team where the QB has 107 carries this year. This means his production looks less impressive, but hopefully his wear and tear is less worrisome.

This tape of Gallman vs Louisville is one of my favorite of any RB this year. The cuts are dope, the pass-blocking is some of the best I’ve seen, and it’s just good all-around play.

This run, specifically, is a lot of what I’m looking for:

That’s the good. The bad are the games I’ve seen where Gallman will go long stretches of game running really timidly, really passively. We can’t have that. That’s part of what got CMike run out of town the second time.

Elijah Hood is 6’0″/220 from North Carolina and should be a pretty profound tester at the combine after posting a 133.47 SPARQ out of high school. In 2016 Hood is at 134×802 yards, 5.99 ypc, 8 TD’s, and 24 catches.

Hood has been strangely inconsistent this year. He had 3 consecutive games averaging over 5.87 ypc to start the year, then 3 consecutive games averaging under 3.62 ypc in the second quarter, and is currently riding 4 consecutive games averaging over 5.77 ypc.

The thing about Elijah is that the tape of him fully healthy has some of the same problems I see with Nick Chubb coming back from knee surgery. There’s a lack of fluidity.

Brian Hill is 6’1″/219 lb runner from Wyoming. He’s currently #4 in the country running for 281×1548 yards, 5.51 ypc, 18 TD’s, and 5 catches. Hill is more of that Latavius Murray/Melvin Gordon/CJ Prosise long-legged strider type of runner. These guys often can be brought down with an ankle tackle like a Star Wars AT-ST, they sometimes need a runway, but the long runs are generally majestic.

Kareem Hunt is listed 6’0″/225 lbs (he was 5’11″/215 as a sophomore) from Toledo. He’s posted 220×1155 yards, 5.25 ypc, 7 TD’s, and 36 catches this year.

Kareem is a guy that I was salivating for after 2014, and especially his end of year bowl game performance of 32 carries for 271 yards and 5 TD’s. Then, in 2015, Hunt opened the year in some combination of hurt and out-of-shape, and really never regained 2014 form. I had kind of written him off.

But, lo and behold, it appears he is turning things around in 2016. I’ve only seen him in a couple games, including one that was mostly fogged over by Mother Nature, but Kareem is most definitely back in the Hunt. (Sorry.)

Click through this hyperlink for a full thread of gifs on Kareem:

For whatever reason, that is the size and style of running back that I am most drawn to. It just looks…right. The current projection has him somewhere around the late 5th round, which would (potentially) make him a guy to target as a SECOND running back draft pick this year, AFTER already drafting someone earlier. (I do have a theory that Seattle will draft 2 RB’s this year that I addressed in an earlier post.)

If Kareem isn’t a fit value-wise for either the early RB pick or the secondary RB pick, here are some other thoughts for the secondary option:

James Conner, 6’2″/235lbs, Pittsburgh. 189×945 yards, 5.00 ypc, 14 TD’s, and 18 catches. His cancer-survivor backstory is also all kinds of Seahawky/gritty. #198 overall.

Joe Williams, 5’11″/205lbs, Utah. 158×1088 yards, 6.89 ypc, 9 TD’s, and 8 catches. His draft stock took a hit after he left the Utes’ team midway through this year. #420 overall.

Aaron Jones, generously listed at 5’10″/215lbs, UTEP. Top 10 in the country at 205×1472 yards, 7.18 ypc, 13 TD’s, and 26 catches. A very well-rounded back, Jones is a personal favorite for how hard he runs. If Jones is as big as he’s currently being listed, he’s totally in Seahawks’ prototypical RB size range. If he’s smaller, there has still been some new precedent set by Troymaine Pope making it to the 53-man this week.

Jones is listed as a 4th-year Junior after taking a medical hardship redshirt after playing only 2 games in 2015.

This is 2016 tape vs Texas:

And the run at 2:06 of this edit from 2014 game is one of my favorite college runs of all time:

Jones is not ranked by Draftscout for 2017 draft.

And, finally, perhaps the longest shot of this story…

Jarred Craft, 6’0″/213lbs, LaTech. Craft is a Junior with basically zero buzz that I don’t think will declare early. This is his first year as lead back after the departure of Kenneth Dixon to the NFL. In 2016: 160×980 yards, 6.13 ypc, 7 TD’s, and 34 catches.

Again, another very well-rounded performer in run game and as a receiver, with a very well-proportioned build. Craft reminds me a little of Zac Brooks in his build, but of course Jarred is seeing far more touches.

Craft also not ranked for 2017.

Now, as for which 1-2 on this playlist to truly target…that’s going to be tougher. A lot of the high-end guys have at least one redflag right now. The mid-to-late round guys don’t have much chatter. The combine will help sort out some of that.

It could also help sorting out who/when to target RB by projecting other team priorities and where to take those. Like, if at all possible, you take an OT in the 1st, then look to pull from the depth of the DE class in the 2nd, then you start to think about RB and CB in the 3rd round. I’d totally splash on a 3rd round CB if I knew, say, Kareem Hunt would still be around in the 4th. And then you double-dip with Aaron Jones in the 6th or 7th. As un-sexy as that might read for many of you, I kinda like it.

Two more horses for the stable. And that is how you keep your running backs running forward.

By Jared Stanger

I’ve traditionally done an October Seahawks mock draft for the last few years, but usually I wait until the half-way point of the NFL season. I’m writing one a couple weeks early this year cause I was just getting that itch.

Since the last mock I did, I believe Seattle traded a 7th round pick to the Raiders for LB/S Dewey McDonald, and then they were docked a 5th round pick for the training camp fight. This is after trading away their 4th rounder to New England as part of the 2016 draft. But they are still due a 7th round conditional pick for sending Kevin Norwood to Carolina, and currently project to receive two compensation picks for the loss of Bruce Irvin and JR Sweezy.

At one point, based purely on the contracts they signed, Seattle was looking at 4th round comps for both Bruce/Sweez, but with JR dealing with injury for Tampa, the league can, and likely will, reduce that down to a 5th or 6th. I’ll call it a 5th for now. Overthecap also points out that Seattle could still regain a 6th round comp if Webb or Sowell is cut before week 10 of the season.

So, currently, the Seattle 2017 draft looks like: 1, 2, 3, 4c, 5c, 6, 7t. And Seattle is currently slated to draft approximately 26th overall (this will update after Monday Night Football wraps up this week’s games).

1st Round

I know everyone wants Seattle to address that OL, and specifically OT, but I don’t think it’s going to happen early in this draft. The three top OT on pretty much every draft board are all underclassmen, and one of them (Mike McGlinchey) has already said he’s staying in school for his Senior year. That leaves potential first rounders at Cam Robinson (likely gone before Seattle picks), and Roderick Johnson (who I really think is not good, at all).

My favorite 2017 draft-eligible OT is Wisconsin’s Ryan Ramczyk (also a Junior). Follow the tweet hyper-link for a thread of gifs on Ramczyk vs Michigan State:

Ramczyk is listed 6’6″/314 by UW…which is a GREAT size for a Tackle. Reports are he’s pretty well SPARQ’d up, too. If he declares this year, his combine testing, and the shallow depth of OT in the class, might put him out of Seattle’s reach. Pretty likely, actually.

If Ramczyk stays in school, and we get some of the 2018 underclassmen to declare early, 2018 will end up a great time to try and get a quality LT even late in the 1st round.

So, if the 1st round isn’t OT; what might it be? As I theorized recently (niche drafting), Seattle should look to play to the strengths of this draft class. This year, the three strongest positions are RB, DE, and CB. I don’t think a 1st round RB is good value. I don’t think Seattle values CB that early. So…get yourself an edge guy, and get yourself ahead of the curve for 2018 unrestricted free agent Cassius Marsh.

Current Draftscout projections have Dawaune Smoot (#29) and Charles Harris (#30) available late in the 1st. These are two guys that I’ve been targeting since, at least, May. Smoot is listed 6’3″/255 and Harris is at 6’3″/260. I haven’t watched much of Harris’ 2016 tape as, for most of the year, he’s been projected to come off the board before Seattle picks.

I have watched a couple games from Smoot and, after starting off the year really slowly, Dawaune has started coming alive in the last 2-3 weeks. His overall production still isn’t spectacular (30 tackles, 8.0 TFL, 1.0 sack, 5 QB hurries, 2 forced fumbles), but over the last 3 games Smoot has averaged 6 tackles and 2 TFL per game.

Here are some gifs from his game vs Nebraska three weeks ago (follow link):

Charles Harris has also had a slow-ish start: 24 tackles, 4.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks, 1 PBU, 4 QB hurries, 1 FF. Interesting thing about Harris is that he’s sitting at 260 lbs, has been used some as an inside rusher; so if he could get to 270-275, you might have someone closer to Mike Bennett.

If Seattle can pull either of these guys in the 1st round, I think you HAVE to do it. There is currently a dropoff of almost a full round to the next tier of edge guys.

For purposes of this mock, and for higher plausability, I’m giving Seattle:

1st- DE Dawaune Smoot, Illinois

2nd Round

My 2nd round thought might surprise people. After drafting three RB in 2016 many, or even most, might think this is too early for another RB, but…..

Christine Michael is an impending UFA…Rawls is dealing with his second time breaking a leg bone…Prosise has seen two regular season touches so far in his inaugural PHMHDPOTY campaign…Collins has looked out of shape…and Brooks was cut and phantom-rostered for weeks before re-appearing on the PS. Spiller is also an UFA, and after Sunday’s drop, may not even last the year (depending on Prosise).

And the draft class is just TOO flush with potential bell-cow backs. Draftscout has Leonard Fournette, Dalvin Cook, Christian McCaffrey gone in the 1st…Royce Freeman, Samaje Perine, Nick Chubb in the 2nd. This does not even account for a potential rise from the likes of D’onta Foreman, Jamaal Williams, Jarvion Franklin, Corey Clement, Brandon Radcliff, Alvin Kamara, etc.

Right now, after coming back from the major knee injury, and not really having a great production year, I’m seeing a slide in the ranking of Nick Chubb, and I would take advantage of such a thing. Draftscout has Nick at #64 today.

2nd- RB Nick Chubb, Georgia

3rd Round

I’m not going to spend too much exposition on this one. I think this is an AWESOME draft for CB’s. For Seahawks’ purposes and “types”, this draft might be deepest for their own board at CB. That might be an argument to push this pick back a round. But with Seattle’s current draftpick allotment…no 4th round pick until the comp pick group (assuming they actually get a 4th for Bruce)…I just don’t want to risk missing on my 1A at Corner.

I think the CB that best fits the profile of a Seattle CB this draft is Brandon Facyson. I mean, this guy is SUCH a Seahawk. 6’2″/195lbs, 19 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 7 PBU, 1 FF in 2016. Draftscout has him at #109 (mid-4th round), but I’d run to the podium for him in the 3rd.

The other player I really like at this spot is Temple OLB/DE Haason Reddick. I’ve been on Reddick since the beginning of the year, and his stock will only continue to skyrocket as his production continues to get people to watch him. Reddick currently leads FBS in TFL with 14.0 in 7 games played. Draftscout has him at #107 overall, but I think his production and combine testing could elevate him into the 2nd round.

3rd- CB Brandon Facyson, Virginia Tech

4th Round Comp

Seattle really needs to add like 3 more picks to this draft. I’m not mocking enough trades to get them there, but I will mock one here. 2017 will be the first year comp picks may be traded, and I’ll project Seattle swapping 4c for a 5th and a 7th.

Ever since Seattle drafted Nick Vannett last year, I’ve had this growing suspicion Luke Willson might leave in free agency. Luke getting hurt this week probably furthers that thought. And this is a good class of TE. It adds up.

Some of the TE that could come off in this range include: Blake Jarwin, Pharoah Brown, Cam Serigne, Josiah Price. But the guy I’m targeting is Cole Hikutini.

There are a lot of TE in this class that are more the Z tight end…the glorified wide receiver. After drafting a true Y, in-line TE last year in Vannett, Seattle could be in the market for a Z now. Those guys include pretty SPARQ’d up names like Darrell Daniels, Gerald Everett, Jonnu Smith. Everett would the one from that group I would target.

Hikutini is a pretty standard 6’5″/248lb TE that has shown me flashes as both a receiver and a blocker. I don’t have any gifs of him yet, but please enjoy some of his JUCO highlights:

http://www.hudl.com/video/3/2993248/5721be254df6124b70060796

5A- TE Cole Hikutini, Louisville

5th Round Comp

I kind of have this pick earmarked as a special teams player. I don’t know if that means replacing UFA (Mike Morgan or Kelcie McCray), or one of the many RFA (Neiko Thorpe, Brock Coyle, Dewey McDonald, Deshawn Shead, Jordan Tripp). And I really won’t have a great sense of which players will test high enough to be what I think qualifies for what Seattle likes on ST.

I’m going with Colorado DE/OLB Jimmie Gilbert Jr. Listed at 6’5″/230, he’s built similarly to Mike Morgan who came out of USC at 6’3″/226 and now weighs 235 lbs. Most of Gilbert’s tape is at pass-rushing linebacker, but he shows some adeptness to drop in coverage. I think Gilbert gives the flexibility of DE, OLB, and special teams that would check off a lot of boxes for me at this point.

Draftscout has Gilbert ranked as an UDFA at #533 overall. So I’m going aggressive taking him in the 5th. Unless I’m right about him, in which case this is appropriate value.

5c- OLB Jimmie Gilbert Jr, Colorado

6th Round

It’s somewhat tempting to take UW’s Joe Mathis here but I don’t know how much ST he can play. There are a handful of WR that are undervalued in this range, too. But I’m sticking to my theme. It’s a double-dip at CB, and this is another long, 6’2″/203lb DB who I am projecting as a corner/safety hybrid with special teams duties.

Rasul Douglas is almost the exact same size Kelcie McCray was when he came out of Arkansas State in 2012. On the year, Douglas has posted 2 INT, 4 PBU, 2 TFL, 1 sack, and 28 total tackles. That’s a pretty big number of tackles for a corner and it leads me to believe he’d be really good playing in the box safety, if needed.

Douglas is ranked #767 overall.

6th- DB Rasul Douglas, West Virginia

7th Round A

With Tony McDaniel only signed on a 1-year deal, Rubin and Reed projecting as starters next year; Seattle can look for some depth at DT in the late rounds. I like Treyvon Hester as a 3rd down 3tech. At 6’3″/300lbs, Treyvon has posted 23 tackles, 7.0 TFL, 4.0 sacks, and 3 hurries in six games this year.

This is one of the better big-man pass rushers I’ve seen this year that doesn’t come with the SEC tax.

Hester is Draftscout’s #256 overall. Which is technically the Mr. Irrelevant slot.

7a- DT Treyvon Hester, Toledo

7th Round B

I stumbled upon tape of this RT from William and Mary one night. He’s listed 6’8″/305 and looks like an athletic project, but that’s often what Seattle likes in the 7th. At this point, his run-blocking is ahead of his pass-pro. He likely ends up having to go through the practice squad.

Ugokwe has to test exceptionally well for this to be a realistic pick. He certainly isn’t ready on tape. Ugokwe is Draftscout’s #717 overall.

7b- OT Jerry Ugokwe, William and Mary

 

Recap

1st- DE Dawaune Smoot, Illinois

2nd- RB Nick Chubb, Georgia

3rd- CB Brandon Facyson, Virginia Tech

5A- TE Cole Hikutini, Louisville

5c- OLB Jimmie Gilbert Jr, Colorado

6th- DB Rasul Douglas, West Virginia

7a- DT Treyvon Hester, Toledo

7b- OT Jerry Ugokwe, William and Mary

By Jared Stanger

I’ve been spending a lot of time over the last week looking deeper into this really good cornerback class. The high end is pretty special, with names: Marlon Humphrey, Teez Tabor, Cordrea Tankersley, Sidney Jones already well-known. Draftscout has all four of those players ranked in their current top-45 prospects. Those guys are all listed 6’0″ and 181 lbs and up. I think Quincy Wilson will soon be joining them. But those aren’t the names I’m going to talk about.

The next tier of names come from the slightly smaller of stature. The 5’10”-5’11” guys like Adoree Jackson, Cameron Sutton, Tre’davious White, and Jourdan Lewis ranked in the 2nd- 3rd round range. But those aren’t the names I’m going to talk about.

No, I’m only going to talk about the guys that fall after pick number 96 overall, and in the 4th round down. Names like Brandon Facyson and Kevin King that you’ve heard from me before, but I’ve also dug up a plethora of new names That I think deserve further examination.

Brandon Facyson – 6’2″/197, ranked #109

Facyson burst onto the scene of a notoriously quality Virginia Tech secondary in 2013 when he posted 5 INT, and 8 PBU as a freshman. After dealing with injury off-and-on the last couple years, Facyson currently sits at 16 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 5 PBU, and 1 FF in 2016.

Kevin King – 6’3″/192, ranked #169

Playing at UW, I’ve been aware of King for a while, but it was when I saw him last spring at the UW “combine” when I really started to get a sense that he has all of the qualities Seattle looks for in a corner.

Obviously, the size is great, but he also brings pretty elite athleticism with 4.4 speed, almost 40″ vertical, and pretty ridiculous agility testing. Most of the CB in this story I will highlight their cover technique…I think King has great cover skills, too…but I think an important distinguishing characteristic for him, is his tackling ability.

I’ve often wondered why King isn’t used outside more often, but the answer might be simply that Coach Petersen likes having him closer to the box because he’s so useful in the run game. King currently has 18 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 1 INT, and 4 PBU.

Des Lawrence – 6’1″/185, ranked #230 overall

I’m still forming my opinion on Des. I was hoping his matchup vs Isaiah Ford would be enlightening, but due to the hurricane the weather limited the passing game. 18 tackles, 2.0 TFL, 5 PBU.

Ahkello Witherspoon – 6’3″/195, ranked #235

Colorado is starting to get some buzz on their other CB Chidobe Awuzie, but I’m keeping my eye on Witherspoon. Speaking of keeping eyes on things…watch how ‘Kello reads Darren Carrington’s eyes, then turns to locate the ball, and gets the pick.

Witherspoon: 8 tackles, 1 INT, 8 PBU.

David Rivers III – 6’1″/185, ranked #709

Just a guy that I stumbled upon while messing around on youtube, but there is something to this guy that made me keep digging. This week I found a copy of Youngstown State playing West Virginia, and in it Rivers has snaps vs the talented Shelton Gibson and Kevin White’s younger brother Ka’raun White. I really like his technique and continue to wonder if Bo Pelini teaches the step-kick.

Rasul Douglas – 6’1″/208, ranked #767

I first spotted Rasul while watching Tyler Orlosky (WVU’s center) vs BYU. Suddenly, there’s this play while WVU’s on defense that bore striking resemblance to a pretty famous Seattle CB play.

I think Rasul has a bit of work to do in his technique, but he’s showing enough in instincts, athleticism, toughness, and intelligence to merit close watch the rest of the year. Douglas so far: 25 tackles (a pretty big number for a CB), 1.0 TFL, 2 INT, 4 PBU.

Tyree Robinson – 6’4″/205, ranked the #8 FS for 2018

Robinson is a Junior and he’s played a bit of both CB and FS, but this week vs UW I primarily noted him at CB. And he was pretty solid against very good WR.

I like his technique, and seeing that big CB frame along the right redline totally brought to mind Deshawn Shead. I’d really like to see him play at 210-212 pounds. 32 tackles, 1.0 TFL, 3 PBU.

I mean, this is a very cool list of players with upside that are all currently fitting the Seahawks’ usual size and draft value requirements. And I haven’t even studied all of the names I plan to cover. I certainly don’t know who I’d favor Seattle drafting. But, then again, I kind of think Seattle will draft two CB in 2017.

By Jared Stanger

Over the last 4-5 years that I’ve been studying the Seahawks and their draft practices, I’ve sort of had this subconscious sense that they tend to draft towards the positional strengths, or niches, of each draft season. Today I thought I would try to lay that out as a more fully-formed presentation. We will go year by year since the Pete Carroll and John Schneider regime have been in town, and we’ll look at how the draft classes look in hindsight nationally, and how Seattle played along with those classes. The theory is that Seattle will draft from each year’s position(s) of greatest talent/depth in the top 2 rounds.

2010

37 Pro Bowlers – 1 OC, 3 CB’s, 4 DE’s, 3 DT’s, 1 OG, 3 LB’s, 3 OT’s, 0 QB, 3 RB’s, 6 Safety, 4 TE’s, 6 WR’s.

So hindsight tells us 2010 had greatest volume of high-end talent at Safety and Wide Receiver. Seattle’s 1st and 2nd round picks that year: OT, FS, WR. Seattle actually double-dipped at Safety that year, drafting both Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor.This may also be a thing.

And, though 2010 didn’t produce the top number of pro bowl talent at Tackle, the three named-Pro Bowlers (Trent Williams, Russell Okung, Zane Beadles) were also joined by the likes of Anthony Davis, Bryan Bulaga, Jared Veldheer, and J’Marcus Webb.

2011

26 Pro Bowlers – 2 OC’s, 2 CB’s, 8 DE’s, 2 DT’s, 0 LB’s, 0 OG, 1 OT, 3 QB’s, 2 RB’s, 0 Safety, 3 TE’s, 3 WR’s.

This is the lone outlier year where Seattle seemed to not follow strategy, and instead drafted hard for NEED. They didn’t make a 2nd round pick, so the only player that fell within 1st-2nd was James Carpenter. Had Seattle followed strategy, the pick at #25 should have been DE Muhammad Wilkerson.

2012

20 Pro Bowlers – 0 OC, 1 CB, 1 DE, 2 DT’s, 1 OG, 3 LB’s, 1 OT, 4 QB’s, 2 RB’s, 2 Safeties, 0 TE, 2 WR’s.

Obviously, this was the best QB year of the last decade, probably, and Seattle considered taking Russell Wilson in the 2nd round, but instead played long-game, took their LB (from the second-strongest position group), and then came around and got QB in the 3rd.

As for Seattle’s first round pick…it was DE Bruce Irvin, and though the DE’s from 2012 haven’t contributed at Pro Bowl level in numbers, the class did yield five 1st-rounders, and names like: Irvin, Chandler Jones, Whitney Mercilus, Vinny Curry, Olivier Vernon, Malik Jackson.

Even though outcome hasn’t been what was expected of the DE class, it was still a class at the time that was believed to be very good.

2012 also marked two more instances of Seattle double-dipping in the deep position groups: 2 DE in Irvin and Scruggs, and 2 LB in Wagner and Toomer.

2013

16 Pro Bowlers – 1 OC, 2 CB’s, 1 DE, 2 DT’s, 1 OG, 1 LB, 0 OT, 0 QB, 3 RB’s, 1 Safety, 2 TE’s, 2 WR’s.

Let us first acknowledge that 2013 was the worst draft we’ve seen in 10 years. Across the board.

This was a year that Seattle traded away their 1st round pick. We now can safely assume to know why: Why bother with this dreck?

So what did Seattle do with their 2nd rounder? RB Christine Michael. AND…Seattle double-dipped at RB, picking Spencer Ware in the 6th round. Fourth instance of double-dipping in four years.

2014

13 Pro Bowlers – 1 CB, 2 DE’s, 1 DT, 2 OG’s, 1 LB, 2 QB’s, 1 RB, 3 WR’s.

Many believe that it takes three years as pro’s to really have a sense of a draft class, so this is the point where the data is probably too thin to rely on. We’re kind of basing the next few years on pre-draft reputation.

Again, no 1st rounder for Seattle. But the earlier 2nd rounder went to WR Paul Richardson. And the double-dip went to Kevin Norwood (5th time).

I’m not sure how to interpret the data for the other 2014 2nd rounder; Justin Britt. He’s now on his 3rd position. If we consider him among the OT (his rookie position), it wasn’t a deep group. If we consider him at OG, he’d be with Zack Martin and Trai Turner. If we consider him at OC, he’d be with Weston Richburg, Travis Swanson, Bryan Stork, Russell Bodine.

If we consider Britt at OT, then we find another double-dip (Garrett Scott in the 6th).

2015

We can really only go on reputation for this year, but it was supposed to be a very good year for DE’s: Dante Fowler, Arik Armstead, Shane Ray, Preston Smith, Danielle Hunter, Vic Beasley, Bud Dupree, Hau’oli Kikaha, Randy Gregory, etc.

A third consecutive year for Seattle to pass on drafting in the 1st round, but they take DE Frank Clark with their 2nd round choice. And they double-dipped with DE Obum Gwacham in the 6th round.

2016

The biggest buzz all of the 2015 college season was how good and crazy-deep the 2016 class of Defensive Tackles would be. It’s entirely too early, and many of the 2016 DT have been hurt, but Seattle did draft Jarran Reed in the 2nd round, and then double-dipped with Quinton Jefferson in the 5th.

As for the 2016 Seattle 1st rounder…I’m, again, not sure how to classify him. Drafted as an OT, installed as the immediate starter at RG, but consistently mentioned as a future RT; what do we consider him for this exercise?

I tend to lean toward calling him a Tackle a) because that is the reported plan for him, b) it would help Seattle’s 2017 draft to move Ifedi to RT, c) it furthers my theory for this article (wink).

If Ifedi is an OT, he joins the ranks of Ronnie Stanley, Jack Conklin, Laremy Tunsil, and Taylor Decker…all of whom have seemed to show well so far as rookies. (I don’t think, however, I can get away with claiming an OT double-dip for Rees Odhiambo. I expect he will primarily play OG as a pro.)

2017

So what does this mean moving forward? If the theory holds, and if my sense of the 2017 draft class is tracking correctly, I would guess the first 2 rounds would go: DE then RB.

RB will probably be the deeper of the two groups, but I think it’s the position less prioritized in drafts league-wide; so you can push it to the 2nd (much like in 2016 when OL was prioritized over the more-fungible DT).

The wildcard this year, however, is that I’m starting to sense the 2017 CB class might be pretty special, too. That would raise a question: which of Seattle’s demonstrated draft patterns (not drafting a CB before the 4th round, or drafting along with positional depth in the top two rounds) would win out in that case?

We’ll find out in April.

By Jared Stanger

Welcome to a new feature on SeaMocks…”Stanger Things” where I will just be compiling miscellaneous thoughts about the draft and the Seahawks. It’s simply just the THINGS that I’m currently thinking about.

1. What a great win. Winning in all 3 phases. Winning against a division opponent. Winning at home. Winning on the ground. Winning in the air. And really glad to get that first takeaway. Hope that opens the floodgates a little more.
2. I think Christine Michael has earned the starting RB job. He really hadn’t done anything wrong in preseason not to get the gig, but the team seemed to want to go back to Rawls out of, I don’t know, loyalty? In the first two games of the year, Rawls carried 19 times for 25 yards (1.3ypc). Even without including Sunday’s blowout performance with the best OL game we’ve yet seen, CMike had been 25×126 (5.04ypc) versus the same two opponents that Rawls went for 1.3ypc. Maybe Rawls has been better in practices that we haven’t seen, or maybe the team has just been optimistic that Rawls will be 2015 Rawls again, but the fact is: he hasn’t been. And until he is 2015 Rawls, let’s just ride a different train. We still have a ticket on the T-Train when we need it.
3. I really loved having the Mariners, Seahawks, Sounders, and Huskies all winning this weekend. After losing my step-grandmother early last week, and hearing all of what is going on with my ailing grandfather down in Texas and what will need to be done next, I really wanted to just escape into sports, and fortunately sports were predominantly uplifting for me this week.
4. 2018 Draft. I spent a lot of time recently digging in on OL for the draft. Unfortunately, this won’t be a great OL draft. Especially at OT. But, with underclass declares, the 2018 OT class could be epic.
   a. As I mentioned on twitter, Saturday was basically the event horizon for Wisconsin LT Ryan Ramczyk. His was a name that I first saw pop up from PFF a week or two ago, and then I watched what chunks of his tape I could find. Draftbreakdown hasn’t cut him specifically yet, but I borrowed from some guys he played with/against (multiple gifs in tweet thread…click through):

   Ryan Ramczyk, rJr. 6'6"/314. Prototypical size. Moves really well. pic.twitter.com/NGd03ghzFr

   — Jared Stanger (@JaredStanger) September 23, 2016

   Ramczyk is a redshirt Junior and could return for his r-Sr year (Draftscout has him as their 21st-ranked OT for 2018), but at this rate I think he declares and he will become the second-hottest OT commodity behind Cam Robinson of Bama in 2017. Probably off the board before Seattle can even sniff a shot at him.
   b. Texas’ Connor Williams is a pretty terrific-looking sophomore LT. Slightly undersized which helps him movement-wise, but he’s also pretty strong. He’ll have 1.5-2.5 years to fill out.

   Connor Williams. Soph. 6'6"/288. He's underweight, obviously, but moves great. Seems strong. Nice catch on inside counter. pic.twitter.com/11bgQ6Oaua

   — Jared Stanger (@JaredStanger) September 23, 2016

   c. UW’s Trey Adams. A bigger-bodied guy, but that moves plenty well. Keeps his butt low in his stance, and holds solid pad-level. (Also make sure to check out the pass set in the second tweet.)

   Trey Adams, Soph. 6'8"/309. pic.twitter.com/3IMkzpZGEr

   — Jared Stanger (@JaredStanger) September 23, 2016

   d. Pittsburgh’s Brian O’Neill. Actually a redshirt-Sophomore, so he COULD declare this year. But my assumption is that he will return next year, after Pitt Senior LT Adam Bisnowaty has moved on to the NFL, and O’Neill will become the incumbent to play LT in 2017 for the Panthers.

   Brian Oneill, Soph, 6'6"/300, #70 at RT: pic.twitter.com/uMrTN0O0QA

   — Jared Stanger (@JaredStanger) September 24, 2016

   Might also be worth checking out this Pitt OL Draftbreakdown video to watch their LG Dorian Johnson, too. Some good stuff from him, as well (#63 overall).
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ18C8_Ha9c

5. 2017 Draft. There are still some OL talents I’m pretty interested in for 2017. They mostly just seem to either be playing inside, or project best to playing inside.
   a. Pat Elflein. Pat is currently playing Center for the Buckeyes, but he could easily move back to RG for a year or two if that is the primary need of his drafting team. I think is my 1a draft wish right now for Seattle.

   Draftscout has Elflein as their #1 Center, but not until #50 overall. Umm…sign me up at #32. Done deal. (It will never happen.)
   b. Forrest Lamp. Currently playing LT, but I’d project him at RT  or LG in the league. His performance versus the extremely talented Alabama DL was very encouraging. Draftscout has him as the #300 overall (which is UDFA, and which is pretty negligent on their part).

   c. Dan Feeney. Feeney is Draftscout’s #1 ranked OG for 2017, and a pretty fairly-ranked overall #29. I don’t have any clever scouting language on him, or cool SPARQ anecdotes. I just think he puts out really good tape.

   d. Tyler Orlosky. I watched WVU for about a quarter of their game against BYU and I came away more impressed with Orlosky. He is incredibly stout at the LOS. I’ve recently been seeing other draft writers noting Ethan Pocic’s trouble anchoring…Orlosky is the photo-negative of that. Here he is in 2015:

   I don’t know yet if Britt is the long-term answer at Center…certainly I feel better about him today than three months ago…but if Orlosky holds current projection of #115 overall (mid-4th round), you could get him late enough that you can afford to either redshirt him until Britt walks in free agency, or try one of them at RG.
   e. And lastly, because I’m intent on finding SOMETHING in the cupboard at LT for 2017, and my previous target Tyrell Crosby just went down for the year injured…this is Avery Gennesy from A&M. 6’5″/310 lbs and he played LT well enough that the Aggies were okay keeping Ifedi at RT. There are some quirks in his game that I also saw in Ifedi’s tape (late hands, etc); which tells me they were both probably coached into those techniques (and, presumably, can be coached out of them). I will watch him again as soon as 2016 tape becomes available, but for now here is a 2015 tape where Gennesy looks really solid, to me.

   Draftscout has Avery at #107 overall. Very good value.

That’s it for now. I’ll see you out on those mean tweets of Seattle.

By Jared Stanger

Last week I wrote up a preview of some of my favorite offensive players to watch early this year…you can revisit that here https://seattleseamocks.com/2016/08/21/jareds-gems-2016-college-preseason/

Defensive Tackle

Even after losing Jarran Reed and A’Shawn Robinson to the 2016 draft, Alabama is still really loaded on the DL. I don’t remember which of their many prospects I was watching, but I ended up often noticing Dalvin Tomlinson.

I had read recently that many of the Alabama DL had lost 20 lbs prior to this year, but according to the Bama team site, Tomlinson is listed at 6’3″/307 lbs this year after playing 2015 at 6’3″/294.

Tomlinson is now a Senior member of the team, and his role should expand quite a bit in lieu of the missing drafted players. In limited snaps last year, Dalvin posted 6 PBU (of which you can find gif of if you follow the embedded tweet).

A player with very similar build and skillset to Tomlinson is Indiana’s Ralph Green III. Listed at 6’5″/305 lbs, Green also posted an identical 6 PBU last year. I’ve only watched one game edit of RG3, but in it he’s showing tremendous stack and shed:

Ralph also has some pretty solid get-off sprinkled within his tape.

Green and Tomlinson both look capable of playing 1T and 3T, but would fit best at the 1. At the 3tech, interior pass rush specialist, my favorite player right now is Jarrod “Chunky” Clements.

Clements is listed 6’3″/295 heading into this year after playing around 290 lbs his Junior year. None of these DT have had productive careers in the sacks department (1.5 sacks combined last year, but Chunky did finish with 11.5 TFL in 2015. Clements is #11:

Of my list so far, NFLdraftscout has Tomlinson at #225 overall, Clements at #237 overall, and Ralph Green undrafted at #306 overall. The known commodity that I like is #41 overall, Caleb Brantley from Florida.

The Gators seemingly have one of these guys every year going back at least 5 years…Howard, Easley, Floyd, Fowler, Bullard. The size varies from 270 lbs to 300 lbs, but they all can play multiple spots, and they ALL can GET.OFF.

(Note: Brantley is down to 6’2″/297 lbs this year.)

Defensive End

All the 2017 DE class needs to do is stay healthy. Well, and a fair amount need to be Junior-declares cause there is a lot of underclass talent here. If Justin Britt maintains what he has shown so far in preseason at Center, Seahawks could/should look to add reinforcements to their edge rush in the first round next spring.

I really liked Missouri’s Charles Harris early last year (reminded me of Cliff Avril), but there is too much heat on his stock right now. Probably doesn’t reach late-1st (draftscout has him at #27 but many others rank him top 20).

Draftscout has Tennessee’s Derek Barnett at #31 overall. I also don’t see that lasting. I think the most plausible first round name is Illinois’ Dawaune Smoot. 6’3″/265 lbs and 8.0 sacks, 15.0 TFL, 40 tackles, 2 PBU, 3 FF in 2016.

Smoot shows great get-off, very smart hand use, good arc around the OT, and plenty of power:

Draftscout has Smooth at #45 overall.

My edge value pick is Miami of Ohio’s JT Jones. 9.0 sacks, 14.5 TFL, and another 12 hurries. He’s at #644 overall. Umm…nah. He’ll be projecting in the 5th round before long.

Linebacker

Seattle is pretty set at LB with the possible exception of this being a bridge-year at SAM. If no one from the list of Morgan, Marsh, Pinkins takes the spot and runs with it (or if a redshirt name like French or Overton doesn’t re-emerge on the PS); Seattle could look somewhere in the mid-rounds to find a rookie starter for 2017.

I think Florida’s Jarrad Davis is one of the most exciting linebackers we’ve seen since Ryan Shazier came out of OSU. He will be must-watch TV. But his value is too high than I’d go for a 2-down player.

Lorenzo Carter from Georgia is a name not many are talking about yet, but he is only a Junior. He’ll be a really SPARQ’d up entrant in whichever Combine year he ends up in.

Then, I also like Haason Reddick from Temple. He’s coming into 2016 at 6’1″/230 lbs, and last year posted 46 tackles, 12.5 TFL, 5.0 sacks, 1 pBU, and 1 FF as a standup LB/DE.

Safety

Safety is one of the toughest positions to scout from TV copy tapes due to how often Safeties are actually out of frame. So you really end up doing them last out of all positions. I do, anyways.

But I do have this one name that I’ve been watching since the spring…UCLA’s Jaleel Wadood. He’s a mighty mite of a player…listed 5’10″/175. But he’s really quick on the ball, and carries some decent punch for his size. He’s only a Junior, and I don’t get the impression he will declare. Still a fun watch:

Cornerback

The 2017 draft is already buzzing for its DE and RB potential prospects, but don’t sleep on this CB class. I REALLY like Marlon Humphrey at the top, and then I have Cordrea Tankersley as my #2 at the position. I’m not on the “Teez” Tabor train.

The second tier has names like Adoree, Desmond, Sidney, Cameron, Jourdan, but I like to skip down all the way to that 4th-5th round range. Down there we see guys like Brandon Facyson and UW’s Kevin King. I’ve written many times before about my affinity for Kevin King.

Facyson is 6’2″/197 lbs out of Virginia Tech that came in his freshman year and posted 5 INT and 8 PBU. Then injury derailed his 2014 season after only 3 games. On his return last year Facyson caused 10 PBU. His game is still inconsistent…potentially from that year of missed time…but he has flashes of some of the best technique in the game.

Facyson and King are both currently ranked in the #148-166 range.

And it wouldn’t be a ‘Jared’s Gems’ without a deep sleeper cornerback. The discovery this week was James Madison’s Taylor Reynolds. I’ve seen him listed variously between 5’11”- 6’1″, but when I first watched his tape, my eyes thought more of that Walter Thurmond 5’11” size. JMU lists him at 6’0″/195 lbs.

Regardless of size, Reynolds can play. In 2015, Taylor finished with 16 PBU, 3 INT, 4.5 TFL, 46 tackles, and 2 FF. He has a bit of Peanut Tillman to him too, with 5 FF over the last two years.

Reynolds was part of the 2015 CAA All-Conference Academic team. His intelligence definitely shows up in his tape. Multiple great reads in the one full-game edit I watched, and then more in his 2015 highlight reel. Draftscout has him ranked at a lowly UDFA #383 overall.

College football 2016 opens in full this Thursday with a 16-game slate. Come back to the SeaMock throughout the year for new Gems, new tape, and tons of other new content.

By Jared Stanger

From the galleria of prospects, here are some of my favorite draft prospects heading into the college kickoff this Friday (Hawaii vs California), followed by a slate of about 16 games on Thursday 9/1.

Running Back

It will be interesting to see how John Schneider handles the superior 2017 class of RB, after drafting three in the 2016 class. It’s possible he’s put himself in position to counter-program, and zag while the rest of the league is zigging and NOT draft a RB at all. Maybe he’s put himself in position to see what’s available in the 3rd round of a deep class. I have no idea. But here are a couple names I’m most intrigued by:

Nick Chubb. As of right now, Chubb is a massive question mark after missing most of 2015 with a pretty catastrophic knee injury. Marcus Lattimore never made it back, Todd Gurley came back pretty effectively. What will be the trajectory for Chubb?

Before his injury, I preferred Chubb to all backs minus Fournette. Post injury, many have Chubb behind at least a handful of the Junior RB class (Fournette, Cook, McCaffrey, Freeman, Perine). In the 2016 draft, the 6th RB taken didn’t come off the board until 4th round – #134 overall (Kenneth Dixon). In 2015, it was 3rd round – #77 overall. In 2014, 3rd round – #94 overall. In fact, #94 overall is the average spot where the 6th RB has been drafted over the last 5 years. #96 is the last pick of the 3rd round.

Even if the 6th RB isn’t Chubb, I think I’ve illustrated there’s a pretty high advisability to wait until at least 3rd round on RB this year.

But back to Nick Chubb. If completely returned to form, Chubb potentially is the most well-rounded back in this class. At 5’10″/220 he has pretty much the prototypical Seahawk RB build. His SPARQ level is pretty well documented since his high school days. He’s got power, he’s got speed, he’s got elusiveness, and such great vision:

Before his injury, Chubb was already 3/4ths of the way to a second 1000-yard season, and averaging 8.12 ypc (would have been 4th in the country with enough carries to qualify). In only 6 games, Chubb had 8 runs of over 20 yards (72nd in the country), and his explosive/game average would have put him right in the top 10 (behind McCaffery/Fournette, tied with Henry, ahead of Collins/Freeman).

Another RB that should benefit from the graduated/drafted guys, and move up into the top 10 in explosives, is Clemson’s Wayne Gallman. At 6’0″/215 lbs, Gallman posted 1500 yards and 14 TD’s in 2015, but what is really catching my eye about him, is that he can also pass-protect better than arguably every back in the country.

Gallman is currently projecting right behind Chubb, so again, could give you great value in the 3rd.

And then my preseason sleeper fave at RB is NFLdraftscout’s #16 Junior RB: Arizona’s Nick Wilson.  Listed heading into this year at 5’10″/208, Wilson is one big meal from being right in that same 210-220 lb range we generally see Seattle target.

Wilson’s 2015 production was down from his 1300-yard/16 TD Freshman campaign due to missing 3-4 games. He still hit for 725 yards and 8 TD’s in nine games.

Wilson reminds me a lot of Rawls. He has a bit of an upright running posture, but he instinctively knows when/how to get low heading into contact, and he seeks contact pretty voraciously.

Wilson strikes me as a guy whose personality would fit in brilliantly in VMAC.

Wide Receiver

I don’t think the 2017 WR class is getting the love it deserves yet. Top end guys Corey Davis, Mike Williams, Juju Smith-Schuster are getting the early headlines, but I’m always partial to the preseason 2nd-tier (kind of the Josh Doctson type). That group has names like Cooper Kupp, Fred Ross, Josh Reynolds, Isaiah Ford, Zay Jones, Mack Hollins, Chris Godwin.

I’ve written on Ross and Kupp in the past, so today let’s take a look at a little bit of some of those other names.

Leading up to the 2016 draft, my tracking seemed to suggest that Seattle was digging into WR’s that could score the ball. They drafted the receiver with the 7th-most TD’s among draft eligible’s. And underclassmen that ranked very high on that list was Virginia Tech’s Isaiah Ford.

Ford posted 75 catches, 1164 yards, and 11 TD’s last year. Interestingly, Ford also nearly checks off one of the boxes we’ve seen in past Seattle WR draftpicks: the 35/40 rule. Simply stated, this means 35% of a team’s catches and 40% of the team’s receiving yards.

Ford measures in at 6’2″/188, so he’s comparable to PRich and Lawler in the build department.

Zay Jones (aka Isaiah Jones) is in the 6’1’/197 lb range. His Junior year included 98 catches, 1099 yards, and 5 TD’s. His usage kinda reminds me of Jordan Matthews a few years ago when Matthews was forced to play tons of screen passes and look for RAC. But, as you can see, his route-running is very effective:

Chris Godwin is a Junior for Penn State, listed at 6’1″/208 lbs, and reminds me a lot of Jermaine Kearse. Maybe a little bit more POFG than Kearse. Chris’ 2015 line was 69/1101/5 TD. He’s really solid on the contested deep ball.

And, finally, Mack Hollins is a 6’4″/210 lb freak show that led the country in yards-per-catch last year (24.83 ypc). The helium might hit him the hardest:

Hollins only had 30 catches last year, but 8 of them went for scores (27%).

There are currently about 8 WR on the 90-man that will be ERFA after this year, so receiver could be an interesting spot to watch in the draft if the auditions don’t go well this year.

Offensive Line

In my recent work, I’ve primarily only written about the 2017 Centers when talking about offensive line, but today I’ll focus on Tackles (with the idea that we’ll need someone to work at RG or RT, depending where Ifedi ends up).

Clint Van Horn. This guy is NASTY. Listed at 6’5″/314 (but looking bigger), CVH is one of the most aggressive OL I’ve found early on. I’m not sure his athleticism is a fit at Tackle, but I’ll keep watching.

Tyrell Crosby was one of the top rated run-blocking OT’s for 2015, but honestly I don’t think his pass-pro gets the love it deserves. This is a very well-balanced player on film:

Listed at 6’5″/310 lbs, Crosby has the right size, appears to have good length, but I will be looking to see if he can firm up some of that 310 to make him stronger at the POA.

I had intended to cover offense and defense, but at this point, it’s feeling like this is enough content for one post. I will do defense later this week, before the college season kicks off.

By Jared Stanger

I’ve got this whiteboard I keep in my office that I use throughout the year to draw up various ideas-in-progress that I want to visualize. I’ve had the bulk of my 53 man roster drawn up for a few weeks now. I think I had 50 of the 53 named, with 3 spots open for bubble guys. Since drawing it up two of my picks have gone on IR (Cottom and Perkins) and the team has added two new players from free agency (Evans and McDaniel) which have since altered the projection.

QB

Russell Wilson
Trevone Boykin

Nothing surprising here. I think Boykin earned the backup job Saturday.

RB

Thomas Rawls
Christine Michael
Alex Collins
CJ Prosise

As I said before, I originally had Cottom on my board as the true fullback. That’s a truly disappointing loss, and his replacement will be interesting to discover. I was very tempted to keep Zac Brooks just because he’s such a personal favorite and he’s done nothing but look quick and versatile when he’s been on the field. But knowing the way of the RB position, we still may find Panda kept if/when one of the other four ends up not healthy enough to open the season.

TE

Jimmy Graham
Luke Willson
Nick Vannett
*Brandon Williams

I was really impressed with Williams’ game vs Kansas City. On many of the biggest run-plays, Williams was on the field as a blocking TE, and he’s probably the best blocker of the four. Brandon wasn’t in my original 48 names, but whereas the team originally wanted Cottom (a fullback listed as a TE), maybe now they’ll keep a TE that can play some FB.

I’m still waiting to see visual evidence of Williams repping at FB, but Monday Pete was asked straight-up in his press conference if there was a chance Williams could play some FB, to which Pete coyly replied, “yes.” That was the end of his answer, and the end of the presser. But reading the signals, it does seem to be coming.

I’m also intrigued by the idea of two very good in-line blocking TE on the team (Williams/Vannett) allowing the team to potentially go one lighter on OL.

WR

Doug Baldwin
Tyler Lockett
Jermaine Kearse
Paul Richardson
Douglas McNeil

I think the top 4 WR are pretty much locks. I’ve had McNeil in my WR5 spot for most-closely resembling the skillset of the player we had in Ricardo Lockette. It’s primarily a special teams choice. It also benefits Douglas that he’s been healthy while Kasen Williams and Kevin Smith have had bum hamstrings. Lawler has seemed inconsistent, and really looks like he needs a redshirt year to eat something.

OL

Bradley Sowell
Mark Glowinski
Justin Britt
Germain Ifedi
Garry Gilliam
Rees Odhiambo
Patrick Lewis
Terry Poole
*Jahri Evans

My original configuration had J’Marcus Webb on the team, and Jahri Evans wasn’t yet signed. After seeing Webb looking awful during the mock game, and then coming down injured…I’m considering Evans for Webb a 1 for 1 trade. I don’t think many people believe in Poole yet, but I thought most of his pass sets on Saturday looked far better than what I had seen from Webb. Plus, I’m still hopeful cutting Webb gets one of our 2017 comp picks back.

Cutting Webb will mean we might need to work Ifedi in at RT in some backup/practice capacity just to have the numbers. You can find 3 LT in Sowell, Gilliam, Odhiambo…then 3 RT in Gilliam, Poole, Ifedi…3 LG in Glowinski, Odhiambo, Evans…3 RG in Ifedi, Evans, Glowinski. Or thereabouts.

Now, if you add each of those position groups up, that puts me at 24 on offense. Both offense and defense are generally 25 each (plus 3 special teams specialists). So I have one open spot to which the logical applications are: 10th OL or 6th WR. After Saturday’s game, I think I’m going with Tanner McEvoy.

McEvoy is a guy that can play WR, TE, S, and might even be able to play the emergency QB (God forbid). I think he’ll be an interesting special teams addition. He already showcased that he brings a unique skillset to the endzone with his ability to box out on jumpballs (a skillset that my draft research tells me PCJS have been digging deep into, in general). I know he had a drop on Saturday (on, I think, his first-ever pro target), but he later showed the impressive hands I’ve been seeing in camp (and in limited WR use at Wisconsin).

Most importantly, whereas a lot of the bubble WR have seemed to already plateau in camp, since McEvoy has moved to WR, he’s consistently shown improvement.

DL

Cliff Avril
Michael Bennett
Ahtyba Rubin
Jarran Reed
Frank Clark
Cassius Marsh
Quinton Jefferson
*Tony McDaniel
*Brandin Bryant

In my original projection, I had Jordan Hill on the team, but with a question mark. Ever since the draft (picking Reed, Jefferson, and then bringing in Bryant in UDFA), it has felt like the team is looking to find younger/healthier alternatives at DT to the injury-plagued Hill. And even now, as it stands, Hill may come back to practice this week, but Coach Pete has already ruled him out for Thursday’s game. When is enough – enough?

Add on top of Hill’s issues the signing Monday of former Seahawk DT Tony McDaniel…I think there will be better combinations with the above look. Tuba and Reed can both play 1T and 3T. McDaniel can play more of a base 3T. Jefferson should end up primarily a 3T but has been used some as 5T with Bennett out. And I like the signing of McDaniel because it will allow Bryant to play more of a tightly monitored pass-rushing DT (3T in standard 3rd down, but maybe the 1T in NASCAR between Bennett and Clark).

I’ve included Marsh as DL because I think that this is his best fit. He’s been on the LOS for most of his collegiate and pro career, and I think he’s shown the most flash there in both the mock game and at KC. Plus, SAM has other cool candidates.

LB

Bobby Wagner
KJ Wright
Michael Morgan
Eric Pinkins
Brock Coyle
Kevin Pierre Louis

I mean, that HAS to be the fastest 2nd unit LB corps in the league. I’ll be curious what happens with the Morgan situation…if he misses any kind of significant time.

DB

I’m grouping CB and S together because they’re all LOB (and there’s so much crossover, anyways).

I also thought it would be interesting to display this group a little differently as this pattern sort of appeared to me Saturday night:

Richard Sherman                      Tharold Simon
Deshawn Shead                         *Tyvis Powell
Jeremy Lane                                Tye Smith
Kam Chancellor                         Brandon Browner
Earl Thomas                                Kelcie McCray

That group is probably the most interesting display of roster mirroring on the 53. Sherman and Simon, Kam and Browner are pretty obvious pairs. Thomas and McCray are nothing alike, but I like McCray better than Terrell. Pete has literally compared Shead and Powell. Lane and Tye have similar size, but Lane is obviously the faster player.

Kris Richard said recently that Tye would start to see time in the slot. I think this is due, in part, to the team starting to come around to the idea of keeping Tyvis, and teaching him to play the hybrid CB/S role that Shead had a couple years ago. But in keeping a 5th safety, you can no longer carry Tye as simply the #5 corner. You need another guy that can play the slot behind Lane. If I’m choosing between Tye and Burley – one with three years left on his deal, the other with only one – I’ll take the ‘three’ that also happens to have some upside left.

Powell made the team on Saturday. You already kinda knew he would either need to be rostered or lost on waivers, but now it’s a foregone conclusion. But Pete, in his Monday post-practice presser, said the most interesting thing in regard to Tyvis’ ability to play CB and S: “That makes him more valuable to us, makes a spot on the roster more available.”

That is probably the most candid comment anyone on the coaching staff has made about any player on the bubble. And it tells you Tyvis is taking the spot of a CB. Whether that means Burley, Smith, or the recently injured Stanley Jean-Baptiste…I’m not sure.

ST

Let’s not forget Jon Ryan, Steven Hauschka, and the long-snapper. Remind me again who the long-snapper is this week? Oh yeah…Nolan Freese.

And finally, here is my original chicken-scratch whiteboard outline of how the 53 looks in 11 personnel formation (sorry, the safeties got cut off at the top).

By Jared Stanger

God, how good is it that football is back?! Even if it’s as sloppy and undisciplined as we saw today…it’s still NFL football.

And a win is nice, too.

Before the game, I had a few things I wanted to watch for:

Zac Brooks, after dressing in pads and warming up pregame, did not play any game snaps that I noticed.

McEvoy gets the obvious nod today among the bubble WR for finishing 3×77 (25.7ypc) in 6 targets, including the game-winning Hail Mary catch where he simply boxed out the DB in the endzone. Lawler, McNeil, and Hunter each finished with 2 catches, each under 30 yards receiving.

Pinkins was hit and miss at SAM. I like his work moving backwards and flashing to the flat, but he mis-played at least two plays when failing to hold edge contain when up on the line of scrimmage. Marsh looked GREAT, but primarily at DE and special teams; while his SAM work was unmemorable. Cassius finished with 4 tackles and 2 QB hits. Regardless, I think the team can carry 3 at SAM.

Boykin gets a huge vote of confidence for leading the 4th quarter comeback. He finished 16×26 for 188 yards (7.2 ypa) plus the game-winning TD throw, and his 96.3 passer rating was 2nd amongst ALL quarterbacks in the game (behind Alex Smith).

The Seattle offensive player of the game has to go to Christine Michael, who played unbelievable football for the 1st quarter. 7 carries, 44 yards, 6.3 ypc and, most importantly, they were tough-running yards where CMike was REALLY careful with the ball. I had questions about his status before camp, but I was wrong. He is in a great place.

I’ll give the defensive (and special teams) player of the game to OSU rookie free agent Tyvis Powell for his INT, tackle, and punt return decleating of a KC would-be tackler. Powell, either because of the team’s careful management of his practice snaps, or simply just a rookie taking a slower progression through his first NFL camp, Tyvis has been fairly quiet to this point. Not today. And the fact that he was showcased a bit at CB, makes for a very interesting candidate to take one of the 10-ish DB spots on the 53-man.

Perhaps the best piece of news this entire game (other than coming out miraculously healthy, minus SJB, after going in kinda unhealthy), was that the starting offensive line gave up ZERO sacks and looked, dare I say, fucking great! Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration. But it’s meant as exaggeration in response to how exaggerated the fears about this OL have been the last 6-10 months.

The truth is, the parts of the 2015 O-line that were worst, might be the parts that are now gone. We really haven’t known what we have now because it’s all so new. The assumption is that it’d be bad (or “still bad”, I guess), but were we really being fair to THIS version of the OL? I certainly wasn’t being fair to Queso. I think his performance today showed he might be a very good center. I can wear that.

I also thought Sowell and Gilliam looked good at their respective spots. I thought Poole was fantastic as the backup RT. I’m a little concerned about what they will do as a backup LT, as Odhiambo really wasn’t cutting it outside. I think he was fine at guard…but let’s try to find some better depth at OT.

At TE, I think Vannett looked really good and I like the idea of being able to use both Vannett and Williams in short-yardage. I’m still waiting for them to show us Williams in some fullback snaps.

At WR, the incumbents (1-4) all looked fine in their brief usage. The pack behind them (without Kasen/Kevin/Foxx) are all fairly bunched together. McNeil has the edge on special teams. McEvoy is intriguing for his height. Nwachukwu looked very good. Hunter had a muffed catch on ST, but later caught both of his targets (including a nice 18-yarder).

At RB, there was a steep dropoff after CMike, but that is somewhat to be expected with 3 guys higher on the depth chart out. AC360 took the early 3rd down back reps, which is worth monitoring until some of the guys get back to health. He had a nice catch wiped out by penalty, too.

I thought the play of the DT’s as a whole was lacking. The Chiefs ran for 135 yards (4.7 ypc) and a TD. While Brandin Bryant flashed some of the pass-rush we’ve seen on tape, I could see some of the lack of discipline Pete talked about this week, when Bryant overly committed to pass-rush on plays that turned out to be runs. This could be mitigated somewhat if he’s used only on 3rd downs, but today roles were less specified.

I think the secondary depth didn’t play as well as has been advertised. I thought McCray had a few misplays while starting at SS in place of Kam. I’d like to see more of Browner in that spot, soon. Let’s drop McCray back to FS2. I only saw one series at CB for Tye Smith. I don’t know what to make of that. He looked fine on that series, but it seemed we saw more of Trovon Reed, Deandre Elliott, and Marcus Burley all game. Hell, Tyvis even saw more series at CB than Tye did. Kris Richard said this week we will start seeing Tye worked in as slot corner. Is that because of deficiencies from Burley? I’m also going to be watching Lane going forward, as he’s been seeming to get out-played by Shead (and often even Simon) every time I’ve been able to watch them live. Did Lane lose some of his hunger after getting his new deal?

Next week: Minnesota here at CLink for a primetime, Thursday game. Peterson will be a tough out for the DL that struggled against KC’s RB2-4 today. But I think the Vikings’ defense will be more vulnerable to Seattle’s offense. Short game gonna shred ’em at home.