2025-nfl-draft

Seahawks pre-Combine mock

/ seattleseamocks / Leave a comment

By Jared Stanger

The 2026 NFL Combine hits next week with the player arrivals starting on Sunday, and the first day of on-field testing and workouts coming on Thursday. I messed around a bit with some online mock draft simulators this morning just to kind of calibrate where player projection is pre-combine, and we’ll have this document to compare to after players get the the SPARQ/RAS bump.

The first thing we have to address is the draft capital. Currently, the Seahawks sit at only four draftpicks. Those fall at roughly #1.32, #2.64, #3.96, and #6.212. This draft is commonly thought of as not being particularly strong in talent, and it’s entirely plausible that John Schneider has seen this drop in talent coming, and he traded picks away to make better use of the resource. It could also be possible that we haven’t seen the entirety of the plan, and that Schneider sensed a late first round draftpick was coming in a draft that has maybe only 15-16 true first round grades, and that he would inevitably be trading back our first pick.

I’m kind of counting on the latter, so I made multiple trades right out of the shoot. Here is what that ended up looking like:

The other thing I’ve been thinking about as the Super Bowl champs, on a team that has used former rookie free agents like Drake Thomas, Jalen Sundell, Josh Jobe, Ty Okada in major roles this season…is Schneider thinking he could use the clout the Seahawks currently have to recruit hard in UDFA rather than using many day three draftpicks??

I’m sure they will do that, but it’s less clear how much useful talent will still be around after the draft. Like, most of the NFL-caliber talent is going to find their way into the 256 draftpicks. So I figured I would sneak in a headstart on rookie free agency with a number of seventh round picks.

So, let’s get to it.

#2.38 – Cornerback, San Diego State, Chris Johnson

I’ve seen/heard the recent discourse that this is a decent corner class. Horseshit. Certainly, I don’t think there are many guys that pass the Schneider/Macdonald “Smart, Tough, Reliable” standard that has marked our draft success(es) over the last four drafts. I think we need to find that guy, and take him early. Chris Johnson ticks so many of the boxes we’re looking for. He’s a smart dude, he’s got great 2025 production, and I think his tape is so consistent. With the Seahawks needing to replace (or re-sign one, and draft one) both Riq Woolen and Josh Jobe; this is a demand meets lack of supply move.

#3.67 – Center, Florida, Jake Slaughter

I, personally, think Center is a bigger need than most people. Yes, Jalen Sundell was a passable starter last year, but Geno Smith was also passable for a time when he was here. And we kind of didn’t recognize/admit at the time that we could upgrade his position until he was gone and Darnold was good for the first two months of the season.

I think this is where Center is at. It’s either we go hard after Tyler Linderbaum in free agency and pay the premium he’ll cost, or we spend a premium pick on the best Center in the draft, and our O-line will be one of the best in the league for the next 3-5 years.

#3.96 – Running back, Arkansas, Mike Washington Jr

Unfortunately, with Ken Walker hitting free agency and Zach Charbonnet coming back from a significant knee injury; we need to backfill the backfield with a pretty decent pick this year. I’m still not totally sure the type of running back that Macdonald wants if given a choice. He sort of arrived in Seattle with our top two backs already in the building, and we haven’t had to draft or sign one since.

Washington is a big back at 6’1″/228lbs, but he reads on film as a pretty fast athlete, as well. I thought he looked really good at the Senior Bowl, so I’d be happy to add him to the RB room.

#4.120 – Edge, Western Michigan, Nadame Tucker

I fully admit that I don’t think Tucker is the type of Edge that Macdonald prefers. He is a smaller, more speed-based rusher. But I think he has some of the most legit passrush chops of all of the DE in this class. And I have a plan to address the edge-setting DE later on.

Boye Mafe is a free agent, and it’s not totally clear if the team will retain Uchenna Nwosu, so it’s possible we will need two Edge replacements.

#4.134 – Linebacker, Oregon, Bryce Boettcher

I think I’ve had linebacker higher in some previous mocks, but it seems like we’re gonna continue to roll with Ernest Jones, Drake Thomas, Tyrice Knight, and I lowkey think there might be some high optimism in the building on practice squad LB Chris Pooh Paul going forward.

But we are set to lose Chazz Surratt to free agency, so we can draft a replacement that can start on special teams, and we develop him to eventually replace Jones in a couple years.

Boettcher is an interesting cat. He is a northwest native coming from Eugene, OR. He was actually drafted in the 13th round of the MLB draft by the Houston Astros in 2024. Last year Bryce totaled 136 tackles, 5.5 TFL, 1.0 sack, 6 PBU, 1 INT, and 2 FF. And he can even play some goalline fullback.

#5.158 – Wide receiver, Texas Tech, Reggie Virgil

I think our wide receiver room is in pretty good shape. Jaxon Smith-Njigba will be getting a new contract soon, I’m sure. Cooper Kupp, Tory Horton, Jake Bobo are all still under contract. We’re probably going to re-sign Rashid Shaheed. Which would mean we’re only losing Dareke Young to free agency. So I don’t think we need a huge investment at the spot. Maybe in 2027 we go back to the well for an early pick at WR.

Virgil was one of the pleasant surprises for me at the Senior Bowl. He measured up at 6’2″/188lbs, and played with good speed, good route-running, and good hands.

#6.212 – Safety, Nebraska, Deshon Singleton

Coby Bryant is set to become a free agent, and it’s possible the team extends him, but in case we don’t; I’ve got Singleton as our next safety in waiting. I’ve been tracking Deshon since the 2024 college season. I think he’s a very solid, high-floor player. If he only becomes a special teams ace…it’s fine. I feel comfortable with Julian Love and Ty Okada as our starters.

#7.222 – Defensive Tackle, South Carolina, Nick Barrett

This pick is mostly a flyer for me. We have some aging DT on the roster in Leonard Williams and Jarran Reed, and not a ton of depth unless Ryley Mills plays 2026 more like he played in the Super Bowl than the rest of his 2025 season. I had some DT I was hoping to pull late in the draft, but most had already been picked in the simulator when I got to this spot. I don’t have a compelling story/case for Barrett other than he did tick a couple of production metrics when I studied this college DT class.

#7.226 – Offensive Line, Washington, Carver Willis

The Seahawks are set on the starting OL at both tackle spots, which is where Willis played for UW in 2025. But…Seattle is potentially losing swing OT Josh Jones to free agency, and I also think Willis could compete for the starting RG job (a position he played for KState earlier in his career). There’s also a possibility Willis just replaces someone like Mason Richman or Bryce Cabeldue as bench OL. Hawks did move on quickly from 2024 draftpick Sataoa Laumea, so maybe they just continue to churn OL bodies until they find the right mix.

It won’t surprise me if Willis is one of the big winners at the Combine for OL. I think he looks sneaky athletic on tape.

#7.237 – Defensive End, LSU, Jack Pyburn

My last pick is one of the guys I looked at only recently. I had the idea that, with a strong/deep class of defensive ends, it might be a good idea to double-dip. It also kinda gave me more leeway to draft Nadame Tucker, who might not be the right ‘type’ of edge rusher. I think Pyburn IS the right type of Macdonald edge-setter, and then it’s just a question of whether or not his passrush can pick up with pro coaching and landing in the Macdonald scheme.

Pyburn is listed at 6’4″/264lbs and registered 52 tackles last year (a lot for a DE), but only 5.5 TFL, 2.0 sacks, and 8 hurries. If he only ends up on the practice squad, or even if he doesn’t make the 70-man roster in September, it’s not a big loss.

Final look at the simulator results:

Seahawks playoff pregame mock draft

/ seattleseamocks

By Jared Stanger

We’re hours away from the Seahawks divisional round playoff game at Lumen Field against our rival 49ers, and I’ve got a new 7-round mock draft for everyone.

A few points of order…at one point a follower raised the question of what happened to the Seahawks’ draftpick they acquired when they traded OT Mike Jerrell to Atlanta. I was like, “oh yeah, what did happen with that?” I finally went back to the news releases from the day of the trade and realized that draftpick was actually a conditional 2027 pick. So it is still in play, just not for this year.

The second point…the Seahawks first round pick. I’ve been advocating that John Schneider could/should trade our first round pick for a veteran player. I think that idea lost it’s plausibility when Seattle secured the playoff first round bye. Which also meant they would draft no higher than #27 overall if they lose today. And that might be #28 at the highest, depending on tie-breakers with Denver.

Optimistically, Seattle might be drafting in the 30’s. I just don’t see NFL teams that might be selling off their blue-chip players on big contracts; would be selling them to a team that is drafting that late in the 1st round. This is why Seattle should have gotten it done at the trade deadline last November…at that time, there was mystery about where their pick would land. Now there is much less mystery, and by the time of the new league year; there will be zero mystery…Seattle’s first rounder is more like a second.

I just don’t think we’re going to be winning any kind of bidding war for Maxx Crosby, or whoever, with our low-value 2026 first round pick. And one can surmise from our roster composition that our 2027 draftpick will be in the 20’s as well.

So……what does one do in a bad draft class, with less than 15 consensus first round grades across the league, and a first round pick that won’t interest teams selling vet talent? We go back to the John Schneider well…trading back.

It’s a very legitimate question on whether John is going to worry much about getting more bites at the apple in the 2026 draft. At the moment, he has put himself in position to make only four picks: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 6th rounds. Is that the end game, or has he been planning to augment that somehow between the end of the season and the end of the draft? We can only speculate.

Personally, I look at the Seahawks pending 2026 free agents, and I don’t see the names of the team’s best players running out of contract. It’s a group of, essentially, role players. The biggest name is probably Ken Walker. After K9, the list goes Riq Woolen, Josh Jobe, Boye Mafe, Josh Jones, Coby Bryant, Dareke Young. Technically, Rashid Shaheed is also coming up, but I expect they will get him done.

We’re not losing big names, so maybe we don’t need to draft big names. We could, theoretically, plan to draft for the class the year has provided, which has serendipitously lined up perfectly for the free agent class we’re losing. But I think you need more lottery tickets because in a weak draft there is less guarantee that each pick will pay off.

I think we need more picks, not less. Having draft capital allows you to be fluid throughout the draft. It’s much harder to pick select spots to move UP in the draft when you only start with four picks. I will make three trades within the draft.

First…trading back #1.32 to Houston for pick #2.38 + #4.106. Texans currently have nine picks to deal from.

Second…trading back #2.64 to Pittsburgh for picks #3.76 + #4.121 + #6.214. The Steelers currently project to have twelve picks throughout the draft.

Third…traing back #6.214 to the Jets for picks #7.218 + #7.242. The Jets also hold twelve picks going into the draft. All of the teams I’ve used for trades have a ton of draft capital.

Final Seahawks draft board: #2.38, #3.76, #3.96, #4.106, #4.121, #6.211, #7.218, #7.242.

#2.38 – Cornerback, San Diego State, Chris Johnson

To my eye; it feels quite obvious that our first pick needs to be a corner. We’re currently set up to lose two starting corners in free agency (ideally, we re-up one of them and draft one), and it’s not a good draft for corners. Need meets depth (or lack thereof).

Chris Johnson just continues to be the guy in this class that has a really high floor. Feels like a Mike Macdonald guy. Listed 6’0″/195lbs.

#3.76 – Center, Florida, Jake Slaughter

I’m not totally sure about this pick. Macdonald and staff might be all-in on Jalen Sundell. Or maybe there’s a sneaky chance that Seattle gets involved in the Tyler Linderbaum free agency. I just need to see Schneider correct his bias against centers, which is so fucking weird in the first place.

Slaughter has been my guy since early in the 2024 college season, and I love that he is still holding value in the third round.

#3.96 – Wide receiver, UConn, Skyler Bell

Receiver is an interesting position for Seattle this offseason. Their only trade-deadline deal was for a WR, who will immediately become a free agent. Tory Horton has predominantly been an afterthought after spending most of his rookie year on the injured list, something I was always concerned about based on his college career. Cooper Kupp is aging. Dareke Young is a free agent, and I let him walk. Bobo has seen fewer and fewer touches each year, and ended 2025 with only two catches.

Obviously, we don’t need a #1 WR, but there’s a strong argument that we need a legit #2. I don’t know if the current model of JSN dominating target share to the 2025 degree is sustainable. Kupp was Darnold’s #3 in receptions behind TE Barner. Then we see two RB in 4th-5th. This is also the kind of pick that you maybe make a year early, give him 50 catches in year one, and then in 2027, maybe he pops off as the roster changes and he gets more opportunities.

Bell has good size, and a really well-rounded skillset. I like his ability to win in the air. I like his Staten Island swagger. I really want him to continue wearing his #1 jersey from college. He calls himself “Uno” and we could have all kinds of fun with that.

#4.106 – Linebacker, Texas Tech, Jacob Rodriguez

I don’t think Seattle needs an early pick on a linebacker. I think we’re pretty well set next year with All-pro Ernest Jones, and Drake Thomas getting starter reps. But, arguably, we didn’t need a safety when we drafted Nick Emmanwori when we did in 2025. Anyways, if Rodriquez is still on the board this late we run to the podium for him. He immediately deepens our bench and gives us our future replacement for Jones as the MIKE starter in a couple years. It seems that Macdonald likes to kind of take his time installing his defense specifically in his green dot linebacker, so this gives us a great, low-pressure draft cost to take our time with our QB of the defense.

#4.121 – Edge Rusher, Western Michigan, Nadame Tucker

I kind of only see two things Seattle might spend their first pick on: corner or edge. I went with corner because the draft has few of those, while it feels very strong on a certain type of edge. I think we can play more into the depth of edge and wait for one. Especially since he will only be needed to “replace” the snaps of Boye Mafe. He can be a rotational player with a hope for upside.

I’ve narrowed my interest down to Tucker. I think he has more passrush talent to him than most in this draft range. I’m self-aware that Tucker may not be the right TYPE of edge player that Macdonald prefers. I lowkey think a guy named Michael Heldman from Central Michigan might be more of Macdonald’s vibe, but currently Heldman might be able to come to Seattle in rookie free agency.

#6.211 – Guard, Iowa, Beau Stephens

It still seems strange the way this front office and coaching staff has basically deferred the right guard job to Anthony Bradford. Will they continue to do so another year? It feels like a draft where there will be some late value on OL. We took a couple stabs at this idea in 2025 with Bryce Cabeldue and Mason Richman. Both have remained on the roster, while ultimately not overtaking Bradford.

Stephens comes from the same Iowa scheme that Richman came from, but is a much more accomplished player. He’s kind of the sneaky third-best known name from that Hawkeye OL behind center Logan Jones and right tackle Gennings Dunker.

We will be asking Stephens to flip from left guard at Iowa to right guard in Seattle.

#7.218 – Safety, Nebraska, Deshon Singleton

Much like most of this mock, for this draft, for this offseason; the goal might only need to be to replace role player with role player. In this case, we need a replacement for Coby Bryant. Singleton is a favorite of mine going back to the 2024 season. He’s a very high-floor, strong fundamental player. I love adding him to the DB room and letting him build from special teams and we go from there.

#7.242 – Tackle, Washington, Carver Willis

In the NIL era…and specifically in the UW/Fisch era…I have grown disenchanted with watching my beloved Huskies. I find it really difficult to connect with these random rosters of brand new transfer players every year. I don’t know who they are, where they come from, when they’re going to leave UW for another school.

In that spirit, I had not had a targeted viewing of LT Carver Willis until he was recently added to the Senior Bowl roster. After playing RT in 2024 for KState, Willis was the Husky LT this year. Listed 6’5″/312lbs, with sneaky athleticism on tape; Willis will slot into the backup OT role currently occupied by Josh Jones.

Seahawks draft targets: Edge Rusher

/ seattleseamocks

By Jared Stanger

As I’ve been locating, cataloging, documenting various aspects of this draft cycle; it started to occur to me there might be a post, or series of posts, illustrating various tiers of draft capital investment. In a big-picture view, this can help to establish positional priorities, and it may also lock in the tiers of talent across all positions that can help evolve a general draft strategy of when to focus your draft picks vs when to bail from draft ranges.

The first position group I’ve decided to take a closer look at is one that draft media has long said is a strength of this year: the Edge rushers. As I dug into the position in as comprehensive a manner as I could; I discovered multiple new names to add to my board, which I think supports the idea that this is a deep group.

Edge also feels particularly relevant to the Seahawks due to the news/rumors that came out during the trade deadline build-up where-in impending free agent Edge Boye Mafe was being floated as a trade away candidate. Seattle may be anticipating a good Edge draft and willing to let Mafe walk as a free agent for a potential compensatory draftpick, and replace Mafe with youth.

The format for these pieces, which I’m currently planning to do for all position groups, will be to identify a candidate(s) at a high price point (1st-2nd round), a mid price point (3rd-5th round), and a low price point (6th round-UDFA). These candidates will be weighted as much to what I believe to be current Seahawk traits under John Schneider as the buyer for a Mike Macdonald menu.

High round:

I did some pretty intensive research into what I think Macdonald likes in his Edge players. I tried to be pretty objective to the traits I think he likes, I allowed each player to have one category where they fell below standard, but they could not have two strikes against, and this led to some interesting eliminations, and certainly to some VERY interesting additions.

After going through multiple levels of eliminations; I only came away with one name still in consideration that currently has projection in the top 64 picks/top two rounds: Missouri Edge Zion Young. It should be noted there are five names that survived my process, and Zion finished fifth of five of those names.

Young has 15.0 TFL, 6.5 sacks, 11 hurries in 11 games so far this year, and he has projection in roughly the middle of the second round.

Mid round:

Again, I only came away with one player in this range: Miami Edge Akheem Mesidor. Mesidor had some interesting pings in studying the group. He has posted 12.0 TFL, 7.0 sacks, 4 hurries, 4 forced fumbles in 10 games. His consensus draft ranking puts him in the third round. I think this is an interesting idea. A trench player from a blue chip program is never far from Schneider’s heart.

Low round:

This is where I felt things got really interesting. This is where I came away with three names that survived all rounds of elimination without accruing two strikes. All three of these guys currently are projecting as undrafted free agent types. Some of that will change with decent athletic testing at the Combine. Some of that will change simply because the media is less aware of these guys than NFL teams actually are.

#1 – From SMU we have Edge Cameron Robertson, who has missed three games this year, but was back in the lineup for SMU’s most-recent game vs Louisville on November 22nd. In the eight games Robertson has played, he has posted 9.0 TFL, 5.0 sacks, 3 hurries.

#2 – From Central Michigan, we have Edge Michael Heldman. There’s something about the recent chatter about the Seahawks acquiring Maxx Crosby, a highly productive college player that came from Eastern Michigan and was drafted in the 4th round, that makes me intrigued with Heldman and the next guy I will talk about. Heldman has recorded 13.0 TFL, 9.5 sacks, 9 hurries in eleven games this year.

(Just for reference…Crosby in his draft year posted 19.0 TFL, 7.5 sacks, 7 hurries in twelve games.)

#3 – From Western Michigan we have Edge Nadame Tucker. Tucker was part of my recent mock draft that was primarily tape-based, and he looks even more intriguing after seeing him come out as still highly relevant in this more analytics-based study. He has 18.0 TFL, 12.0 sacks, 12 hurries, 4 forced fumbles in twelve games. He did come up short in one of my metrics, but in every other category; he really looked like a potential fit for Macdonald.

This is a very exciting player that draft media is not caught up on…yet.

I did a separate piece of analysis this week just trying to gauge Seattle’s interest in various position groups, and it really did make it seem they may be putting emphasis on Edge rusher(s). But then the question becomes: “does emphasis mean chronological priority?” Does needing an Edge rusher on your roster mean you force a pick on one in a draft that may see some quality guys fall further down due to depth of the class? Now, I’m not saying they wait until rookie free agency to get one of the three guys I highlighted as currently projected there…I suspect that will change by April. But it might mean you can get one on day three of the draft (like Crosby).

My priority list currently goes: Tucker, Heldman, Mesidor. In that order.

Seahawk November mock

/ seattleseamocks

By Jared Stanger

We’re now a week past the trade deadline and we have an update on what picks the Seahawks have left after acquiring Rashid Shaheed from New Orleans. It is commonly being reported that Seattle has four picks left, but I think it’s five*. At the end of the preseason, we traded OT Mike Jerrell to Atlanta for a conditional 7th round pick. I did some digging and I don’t see any reason why people aren’t counting that pick other than, possibly, they’re cynical that Jerrell will hit the triggers (most likely games active or season snap count rate) to secure the pick for Seattle. But for now I’m going to include it.

So, Seattle has the picks at roughly #1.29, #2.61, #3.93, #6.207, #7.224. If we get to the draft and haven’t traded our first round pick for a veteran player; I really think John Schneider will trade back their first to get some more picks. I’m actually projecting two trades: #1.29 goes to Cleveland for picks #2.38, #4.104, #5.151 and then I have our pick #3.93 going to Denver for pick #4.103 and #4.130. Final draft pick allotment:

#2.38
#2.61
#4.103
#4.104
#4.130
#5.151
#6.207
#7.224

The next thing I’m taking a look at to inform this mock draft will be the Seahawk 2026 unrestricted free agents. We’re due to lose CB Josh Jobe, Riq Woolen, and Shemar Jean-Charles, DE Boye Mafe, LB Chazz Surratt, OT Josh Jones, RB Ken Walker, S Coby Bryant, WR Rashid Shaheed and Dareke Young. TE and DT have really good continuity into next year.

Seeing three CB as potential roster losses, and then knowing that this draft is not that strong at CB is a huge problem, to me. I’m kind of pushing a pick up for need, but it’s not a huge problem because some of the other positions we “need”, like WR and DE, have pretty good depth in this class.

#2.38 – Cornerback, San Diego State, Chris Johnson

I think we need to re-sign one of Jobe or Woolen, but then also draft a CB as early as possible. Johnson was in my previous mock but at a later round. Now I’m just cutting to the point. He’s 6’0″/195lbs, and for the year so far he has 3 INT, 7 PBU, 40 tackles, 2.0 TFL.

#2.61 – Center, Florida, Jake Slaughter

Personally, I just don’t think Jalen Sundell nor Olu Oluwatimi are the future of our Center position. We need to actually address it with some urgency. Slaughter was my favorite college center in the 2024 season, and I haven’t really seen much to move someone ahead of him. I know Logan Jones from Iowa is a touted athlete with good zone blocking experience, but I just like Slaughter’s brain more.

#4.103 – Quarterback, Duke, Darian Mensah

Obviously, the narrative has changed on Sam Darnold. But it’s probably not the last time it does. He’ll be recency biased to death based on his two most recent games for a while.

That isn’t really what this mock pick is about. I’ve never been a fan of Drew Lock, and I’ve consistently had my doubts on Jalen Milroe. I would like to take another midround shot at finding a developmental QB. Maybe Sam Darnold continues his current play and Mensah will be an inexpensive backup QB for 2-4 years, maybe Darnold reverts to his Jets’ form and Mensah becomes a starter sooner than we’d guess in November 2025. Doesn’t matter. One thing this draft does have is depth at QB. The first round may be a QB landmine, but there are a number of guys with middle round projection and yet some upside.

Mensah is listed 6’3″/205lbs, and currently playing to a 69.8% completion, 8.7 ypa, 24 TD to 4 INT, and a 165.07 passer rating. Basically, top 15 numbers for all QB’s this year. He is a redshirt sophomore this year after spending two years at Tulane, the most recent of which he started 13 games.

#4.104 – Linebacker, Texas Tech, Jacob Rodriguez

I think we’ve seen enough of the Mike Macdonald defense over the last year and a half to recognize it can be massively impacted by not having the right kind of guy playing linebacker. Ernest Jones really stabilized that position when he was acquired last year…Drake Thomas has been doing some really interesting things since becoming a starter a few weeks ago…Tyrice Knight had probably the best game of his career this week with Jones inactive with his injury. All of those guys have team control for at least another year. Rodriguez is just gonna be a guy we use to take the roster spot of Surratt, while also believing Rodriguez could slip into that green dot player a year or two down the road.

Rodriguez is listed 6’1″/235lbs, and he’s putting together an impressive 2025 campaign with 91 tackles, 9.5 TFL, 1.0 sack, 3 INT, 5 PBU, and he leads the country with 7 forced fumbles.

#4.130 – Offensive Line, Boise State, Kage Casey

I like this class of Guards, with a few that are college Tackles that likely kick in to Guard. For me, I’m drawn to a guy that CAN play tackle so that we have a de facto replacement for Josh Jones, but then you also get another warm body to challenge for the starting Right Guard job.

Casey is listed 6’5″/311lbs and he’s a very Northwest guy…college in Idaho after high school in Oregon. It’s a fun story to close the circuit going pro in Washington.

#6.151 – Wide Receiver, Duke, Cooper Barkate

After trading for Rashid Shaheed, and the subsequent press conference commentary that it seems Shaheed and the Seahawks will look to create a contract extension for him; I think we can look for a different type of WR in the next draft. In a literal sense, we’re looking to replace Dareke Young on the roster, but watching Barkate’s tape I also found myself thinking of a different receiver.

Barkate is listed 6’1″/195lbs, and so far he has posted 50 catches for 824 yards, 16.48ypc, and 5 TD in 9 games.

#6.207 – Edge Rusher, Western Michigan, Nadame Tucker

I have this idea of what Mike Macdonald covets in his Edge Rushers. Tucker is not that. After including the Macdonald type guy in my outline prior to writing this mock; I kind of abandoned it and went with the guy that looks like a potential future NFL contributor that was available late in the draft. This is a draft with some projected depth at DE, so we’re hoping to hit on one from that depth.

Tucker is listed 6’3″/250lbs with 38 tackles, 15.0 TFL, 9.5 sacks, 8 hurries, and 3 FF for the year. There have been numerous reports that Seattle was close to trading away Boye Mafe last week, so it seems we need to be expecting that he won’t be back for 2026 once he enters free agency next March. The big question going forward is: “what is their idea for replacing him?” Do they have a DE trade in mind that they may revisit after the season? Is there someone on the roster or practice squad that they see upside in, and will look to elevate next year? Or, are they thinking they could trade Mafe away and find someone in a deep DE draft?

#7.224 – Running Back, Miami, Mark Fletcher

Ken Walker is another impending free agent, and it’s really not clear what Seattle might intend to do with him. For the first half of the season, they’ve really been closely monitoring K9’s pitch counts. Are they simply trying to maintain his health to get him to the postseason? Or, maybe, more cynically, they may be trying to keep his free agent price lower so as to allow them to re-sign him cheaper.

Fletcher is listed 6’2″/225lbs, and has 636 yards rushing and 9 TD’s for the year.

The only free agent I haven’t really addressed via draftpick is Coby Bryant. I do have a short list of priority free agents, one of which is Nebraska Safety Deshon Singleton. In a down draft year; it’s tough to expect much, if any, talent to fall to undrafted free agency, so these names can be taken with a grain of salt, but right now I’ve got names like Singleton, LB Jack Kelly, OG Justin Pickett that would be amazing to sign after the draft.