nfl-draft

Seahawks new year mock

/ seattleseamocks

By Jared Stanger

Welcome to 2025! As I’m writing this we’re still a few hours away from the Seahawks’ season finale in Los Angeles. It will be a meaningless game for the already-eliminated Hawks in terms of this season, but maybe it gives us some ideas about what they will be doing going forward. The big intel might be how they handle Geno Smith in the game, as he is on pace to hit a number of contract performance bonus escalators if he plays and plays well today.

I’m not a salary cap expert by any stretch, so the way I read the projections for Seattle’s 2025 cap, they’re in bad shape. Like, “bottom five teams in the league” bad. It’s no wonder they had to table negotiations to extend Ernest Jones. They really need to make some cuts first. And there aren’t really clean cuts to make. There’s a lot of dead money they are going to have to just eat. I think the best way to do that is to rip the bandaid off. The three biggest cap hits are Geno Smith, Tyler Lockett, and DK Metcalf. The single biggest cap savings would be cutting (or trading) Geno before June 1…saving $25million. The biggest dead money also comes from probably your best trade chip…DK, with $21mill dead money. And Lockett is probably the most replaceable based on his current role on the roster with JSN now looking like WR1. Lock will dead money you almost $14mill, and save you $17mill.

Personally, I might just do all three. But I kinda doubt Seattle does. I’m going to split the difference, cut Geno, trade DK, and just ride it out with the always classy Lock.

For a DK trade, I look at competitive teams that have good cap space, maybe only have a WR1, and then have a decent amount of draft capital. Buffalo has the draft picks, but don’t really have cap space. Washington has cap, but only mid on draft picks. Minnesota has cap space, but hardly any draft picks. I came away with the Chargers having the best fit.

Chargers have the 8th-most cap space. They have 11 projected draft picks. And their leading WR this year was Ladd McConkey with 1000 yards, followed by Josh Palmer and Quentin Johnston with under 600 yards. It’s a pretty young WR room, where DK would actually become the elder-statesman at 27. I’m going to project the trade is DK for the Chargers’ 2nd (#2.57) and one of their four picks in the 6th round at #6.178.

In one note on free agency, before you wonder why I don’t have Seattle drafting a left guard after losing Laken Tomlinson to free agency…I will project Seattle goes out and signs Teven Jenkins as their #1 priority in free agency.

In the first trade within the draft; I have Seattle moving back from #1.18 to #1.29 while adding #2.62 in deal with Buffalo, who also own the #2.61 pick.

We’ll immediately flip #62 to Las Vegas for pick #3.69 + #5.146. And we’ll move Seattle’s native 3rd round pick to Baltimore for their 3rd (3.91) and one of their 4th’s (4.128). This will be a LOT of draftpicks, but Seattle needs to get younger and cheaper while they take the dead cap hits from Geno and DK.

1.18(SEA)->1.29(BUF) + 2.62(BUF)

1.29(BUF) – QB, Ole Miss, Jaxson Dart

I’ve decided the way forward for Seattle isn’t to cut Geno Smith and then immediately target someone like Sam Darnold, who is going to cost almost as much as Geno. Nor do I want to lose draft picks to acquire, say, JJ McCarthy in trade. Seattle has Sam Howell under contract for another year. They also have Jaren Hall on the active roster, and then there’s John Rhys Plumlee who was also recently added to the active roster but now listed as a WR. (This might be some parlor trick bullshit until they resolve the Geno situation. It would just be a bad look to openly show four QB on the active roster in a game that doesn’t matter, but could cost the team millions.)

I think the move here is giving thorough examination of Howell, Hall, Plumlee, AND two more QB that they will get in the draft. To me, Howell, Hall, and Plumlee all have a very similar vibe, and Jaxson Dart has that same vibe. (Maybe I’m on to the right idea, but the wrong player, and it actually ends up Riley Leonard…but I prefer Dart.)

I’m not gonna telegraph the entire thinking here, but suffice to say, focus on the strategy.

https://twitter.com/SSN_OleMiss/status/1875021882279506216

2.50(SEA) – Defensive End, Boston College, Donovan Ezeiruaku

Seattle needs a more consistent Edge rush presence. Uchenna Nwosu missed most of the year injured, and now has only played 11-12 games over the last two years, producing only three sacks combined. We can’t count on him. Derick Hall has had a nice sophomore season with 8.0 sacks, but to my eye a lot of those have been coverage and/or cleanup sacks. And Boye Mafe only has one sack over his last five games, after opening the year with four sacks in the first five games.

This draft looks incredibly strong in the Edge rush class. It is the best philosophy to pick from the strength(s) of a draft. Seattle should do this just based on that, alone.

Ezeiruaku is a more long, slender, speed edge rusher than the guys we have presently have at 6’2″/247lbs. He bends the corner better than almost anyone in the class. He had 20.5 TFL, 16.5 sacks, and 15 QB hurries this year.

https://twitter.com/NoFlagsFilm/status/1841918705288012035

2.57(LAC trade DK) – Offensive Guard, Georgia, Tate Ratledge

As I said before, Seattle should target Teven Jenkins in free agency to address one of the guard spots. The second guard (right) they should get early in the draft. There are some college tackles that project to move inside that I’d be happy to get, but in this case I’m taking one of the true guards.

Ratledge is listed 6’6″/320lbs and is just one of the most well-rounded OL in the draft. Intangibles, too.

https://twitter.com/JosephHerffNFL/status/1874875736148046105

2.62(BUF)->3.69(LVR) + 5.146(LVR)

3.69(LVR) – Linebacker, Ole Miss, Chris Paul Jr

Maybe Seattle gets Ernest Jones re-signed, maybe they don’t. But Seattle needs more talent in the linebacker room. It clearly made a difference in the performance of the Seahawk defense from Baker and Dodson to Jones and Knight. If you end up redshirting Paul for a year or two…fine.

Listed 6’1″/235lbs, Paul posted 88 tackles, 11.0 TFL, 3.5 sacks, 9 hurries, 1 INT, and 4 PBU this year as the MIKE in the #14 defense in the country (#3 in scoring defense). He checks a lot of boxes that I’m looking for.

https://twitter.com/BengalsBrews/status/1859046662028542307

3.82(SEA)->3.91(BAL) + 4.128(BAL)

3.91(BAL) – Defensive Tackle, Nebraska, Ty Robinson

Seattle has impending free agents at DT in Jarran Reed, Johnathan Hankins, and Brandon Pili. Cameron Young has been non-existent since he was drafted in 2023. We need reinforcements on the interior DL. I’m a fan of using vets at DT, as the younger guys seem ineffective until they’ve had 3-4 years in the pro’s, but Seattle may not have the cap space to do that.

Robinson is listed 6’6″/310lbs, and he’s played everywhere along the Huskers’ line (not to mention some fullback). This year he posted 12.5 TFL, 7.0 sacks, 7 hurries, 4 PBU, 1 FF, and 1 blocked kick. It may not be a sexy pick, but this guy makes your roster better.

https://twitter.com/JaredNFLDraft/status/1873070977397219825

4.128(BAL) – Quarterback, Louisville, Tyler Shough

I mentioned last week on twitter that I kind of like Seattle doing what Washington did in 2012 when they drafted RG3 in the 1st round and then Kirk Cousins in the 4th round of that draft. I don’t really think the quality of this quarterback class will be in the 1st round. I think there’s a number of quality leaders of men that play QB, but have not caught the eye of the media, and probably not the league. But history will look kindly on a couple guys drafted in the 2nd-4th rounds.

Shough has a complicated story, having started at Oregon, played a couple injury-plagued years at Texas Tech, before finally getting a full healthy year in 2024 at Louisville. He now has ties to the schools that recently gave us Justin Herbert, Patrick Mahomes, and Lamar Jackson. He’s got the ideal QB build at 6’5″/225lbs. He’s an older player at 25, which is why he will fall in the draft, but I like his longterm prospects.

https://twitter.com/dpbrugler/status/1869755257540235527

4.136(SEA comp) – Tight End, Miami, Elijah Arroyo

I think this is a lowkey nice TE class. I’d like to see the Hawks invest a decent pick at the spot. A) they need a quid pro quo replacement for free agent Pharoah Brown. B) I kinda think the right TE player could end up being a pseudo replacement for DK Metcalf.

Arroyo is listed 6’4″/245lbs and posted 35 catches for 590 yards and 7 TD this year.

https://twitter.com/PFF_College/status/1855299379197825066

5.146(LVR) – Defensive Tackle, Ole Miss, JJ Pegues

Listen, at this point, I’m just ride-or-die with some of these guys. The only thing that changes is how early I need to draft them. Pegues is one of my favorite players in the entire draft. I want him on my team. He’s listed at 6’2″/325lbs and still has a pretty legit outside edge rush. And he can get you short yardage carries as a ball carrier. He makes your roster better and deeper.

JJ finished the year with 13.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks, 5 hurries, and a total 7 rushing TD.

https://twitter.com/BradLoganCOTE/status/1815468165184331958

5.173(SEA comp) – Wide Receiver, Tennessee, Dont’e Thornton

This is another, more literal, attempt to find a replacement for Metcalf. There’s a sneaky group of BIG receivers that will be available in this draft, and most aren’t getting crazy buzz. Maybe that changes for the ones that flash at the combine, but for now I’m seeing Thornton available this late.

He’s listed 6’5″/214lbs. I believe the rep is that he will test well. And in 2024 he only had 26 catches, but he averaged 25.42 ypc on those catches, with 6 going for TD.

https://twitter.com/Volology/status/1837651506893291623

6.178(LAC trade DK) – Center, Florida, Jake Slaughter

One of my biggest complaints of John Schneider’s last decade running the show in Seattle has been the way he has mismanaged the center position. He traded away Max Unger and the offensive line, and the team’s success, has never been the same. And he’s screwed up time after time in the draft with his decisions (and indecisions) regarding centers.

Ironically, this year comes around and I don’t think the draft warrants an early pick at the center position. As I scan national big boards, the top ranked center isn’t coming off the board until the 5th round. Yeah, it’s potentially that empty.

So we don’t want to spend a high pick on a center, but we do need to take a shot on a potential upgrade to 2023 5th-rounder Olu Oluwatimi.

I like Slaughter. He’s listed 6’5″/308lbs. He’s a very smart player.

https://twitter.com/AKing_Evals/status/1802352928377753985

6.184(CHI) – Offensive Tackle, Kansas, Logan Brown

This pick is two things…1) it’s a de facto replacement for Stone Forsythe, who will be a free agent coming off IR, 2) it’s a lotto ticket to finding a decent hedge for Abe Lucas’ future at RT.

Brown is listed 6’6″/315lbs and I just like the temperment he brings.

6.210(SEA comp) – Wide Receiver, Auburn, Keandre Lambert Smith

It’s possible I’ve got way too many picks in this mock draft. There’s a reason I think it might be good to draft a high number, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s plausible. Trading draft picks isn’t as easy in reality as it is in mock draft simulators, etc. So if I were to cut down on picks, this would be the one that I’d lose first.

But I like the story of Lambert Smith. You may remember in 2015, the Seahawks had a safety named Keenan Lambert they got as an UDFA. That was Kam Chancellor’s half-brother. Well, with a first name that starts with ‘K’ and the last name Lambert, you might put together that Keandre is actually Kam’s nephew.

KLS played this year for Auburn after spending four years at Penn State. After swapping Lions for Tigers, Lambert led Auburn in receiving with 50 catches for 981 yards and 8 TD. Listed at 6’1″/182lbs, but I think he plays bigger than that. He’s very strong winning contested balls in the air. If you can get Jermaine Kearse production out of him (about 40 catches, 550 yards, an explosive play per game); that’s a great value.

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1860519940853280846

7.234(SEA) – Safety, Nebraska, Deshon Singleton

There are a couple safeties in this draft that I wouldn’t mind seeing Seattle draft early, and giving Mike Macdonald his new Kyle Hamilton type. Notre Dame’s Xavier Watts is an absolute ball-hawk that is second in the country in INT this year, after tying for the national lead in the same category last year. And South Carolina’s Nick Emmanwori is a huge safety at 6’3″/227lbs that should end up one of the top performers at all positions at the Combine. Either of those guys is worthy of a top 60 pick.

Singleton is probably not as complete of a player as the two aforementioned. He basically seems to have the kind of hands that show why he’s playing defense, not offense, and his career mark of 1 total INT all but confirms it. But the guy is one of my favorite tackling safeties I’ve seen. This could be the kind of guy whose ceiling is on special teams, but it might be the special teams player that goes to the Pro Bowl every year. Listed 6’3″/210lbs with 71 tackles on the year from safety.

https://twitter.com/HuskerEastNE/status/1843112305720271109

December Seamock

/ seattleseamocks

By Jared Stanger

We’ve turned the calendar to December, and with it comes an update my Seahawks seven round mock draft. A lot of this is carryover from the previous edition, because if you believe in something, you don’t change simply for the sake of content, or not repeating yourself. But, also, there’s quite a bit new in here.

As I’m writing this, the Seahawks are on their opening drive of their game versus the Jets. They currently hold the lead in the NFC West, and with it a draftpick at #20 overall. Picking in the twenties is historically no-man’s-land. This year, in particular, that could be especially true. So I’m trading down the #20. The first trade will be with Detroit for their picks at #32 and #64.

John Schneider is recently, openly of the mind that he won’t draft interior offensive line in the first round. A) we’re barely in the first round at pick #32, and B) there have been instances in the past when John drafted a college offensive tackle in the first round, who would go on to play the majority of their pro careers at guard. So this will be like that.

#1.32 – Offensive Line, West Virginia, Wyatt Milum

I had some consideration to take one of the better true guards in this class in a Donovan Jackson, Tate Ratledge, or Tyler Booker with this pick, but as I mentioned, that feels like something Schneider won’t do. Milum is the starting left tackle for WVU with very high marks in everything but arm length. As a result, most in the draft community believe Milum gets moved to guard. I’d be happy to be the team that gets to do that. Milum is 6’6″/317lbs with enough nastiness to send a message to the opposing team, and enough smarts to keep it within the rulebook.

#2.51 – Edge Rusher, Boston College, Donovan Ezeiruaku

It’s going to be interesting to see how the league handles how good this year’s class at rush linebacker is expected to be. I’m contending that we will see very strong players at the position lasting, basically, until the end of the second round. Seattle could have it’s choice between some combination of Mike Green, Kyle Kennard, Bradyn Swinson, Princely Umanmielen, Josaiah Stewart, Antwuan Powell-Ryland, and Ezeiruaku last until their native pick at #51.

I’m going with Donovan for a few reasons, one of which is his projectability metric that puts him top three amongst this class, and the #1 still on the board. Ezeiruaku is listed 6’2″/247lbs, and is expected to have arms well over 34″ at the combine weigh-in. He has a great combination of speed, power, and football IQ.

This is a draft that falls in a time when Seattle is still young into a new head coaching regime, and we need to draft volume to get Mike Macdonald more shots at his type of players. With that said, my second trade of this mock comes when I send pick #2.64 to the Raiders for picks #3.69 and #5.140.

#3.69 – Linebacker, Ole Miss, Chris Paul Jr

The linebacker spot is going to be crucial to nailing this draft, which in turn will make the Macdonald defense work. We’ve seen so much turnover at LB already under the former linebackers’ coach, and there is no guarantee that Ernest Jones will be back in 2025. We need to invest for the longterm in the position. This isn’t a great draft to find off the ball linebackers, and as such, this may not be early enough to target one. It may be a better strategy to take a stand-up LB before drafting an Edge-rush LB (which has way more depth).

For now, Paul is underrated nationally, and so I’m taking advantage of that to get him in the third round. Paul is listed 6’1″/235lbs, averages 7.33 tackles per game, and has 11.0 TFL, 9 QB hurries, 1 INT, and 4 PBU on the year for the very underrated Ole Miss defense.

Here, again, I’m looking to add volume picks to my draft board, and I trade #3.84 to Jacksonville for their picks at #3.92 and #4.129.

#3.92 – Quarterback, Louisville, Tyler Shough

In the biggest change from my previous mocks, I’ve abandoned taking Jaxson Dart in the second, and am now pivoting to the unexpected pick of Shough in the late third.

Shough is listed at 6’5″/225lbs and in 2024 he has posted 3195 yards, 23 TD, 6 INT, 62.7% completion, 8.2 ypa, and a 148.15 rating in his sixth-year senior season. Yes, Shough is an old prospect. He was originally the backup to Justin Herbert at Oregon in 2019. He was the primary starter for the Ducks in the Covid-shortened 2020 season. In 2021, he transferred to Texas Tech where he suffered through three injury-shortened seasons where he played a combined 15 games. In 2024, finally healthy, Shough has made every start after transferring again to Louisville.

In a year where Seattle projects to pick well outside the top 10 overall, and the QB landscape seems incredibly uncertain, I think you mitigate some of the risk by hunting value in a later round. Shough will fall in the draft because of his age, but perhaps, counter-intuitively, his age will also mean maturity and a faster development time in the pro’s. It’s worth discussing why recent career “comeback” success stories like Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold (and to lesser extent Geno Smith) happened because those QB’s had __ number of reps as pro’s, or if they simply matured as men as they’ve aged. If it’s the latter; we may be cutting to the point by drafting a guy that is already 25.

Darnold was famously young (20 years old) when he was drafted in 2018, and he’s only found success this year at age 27. Mayfield didn’t start to cut down on his INT, and play smarter ball until his third year in Cleveland at the age of 25. Years earlier, Aaron Rodgers sat behind Brett Favre for multiple seasons. When he did finally get the chance to start, Rodgers was immediately very good. He was also 25 when that happened. Tom Brady’s first year starting came at 24 y/o. Drew Brees’ two worst years as a starter came when he was 23 and 24, then he turns 25 and makes his first Pro Bowl. Kurt Warner didn’t break through until he was 28. Tony Romo didn’t take the reins for Dallas until he was 26. Russell Wilson won his Super Bowl with Seattle when he was 25.

Right after acquiring Sam Howell last offseason, Schneider lauded how young Howell was, with specific reference to him being younger than multiple of the 2024 QB draft class. Howell is, in fact, only barely 24 years old, but by most reports Howell has been kind of terrible when given the reps in training camp and preseason.

I’m just not sure youth is something to be coveted at the quarterback position. The years of inexpensive team control is what is useful, but if you’re punting 1-2 years of that away because your guy needs to, basically, grow up…what’s the point? If you can cut to the chase by getting a guy in that 24-25 year range, and he’s ready quicker, you’ve actually sped up the clock of your rebuild/refresh. That’s my theory, anyways.

I like Shough. I like his arm-talent. I like his ability to play off-platform. He’s got a very underrated running ability (go back and look at some of his Oregon tape). And he’s got the kind of intangibles that generally seem to pay off longterm.

#4.129 – Tightend, Miami, Elijah Arroyo

This is a sneaky good class of TE. I think there will be value still to be found in the 4th round. In fact, when I was cross-checking who might still be available in the 4th round, I was shocked at how many names I found. I’m going with Arroyo because of the athleticism he puts on tape, but also because of the effort. There’s a play somewhere out there showing him chasing down an INT return backside after running like 70-80 yards…yeah, I’ll take that dude. And he’s listed 6’4″/245lbs and can burn.

#4.136 – Right Tackle, Kansas, Logan Brown

I tend to think we need to draft someone STAT that can replace Abe Lucas longterm. George Fant has barely played this year with injury. Stone Forsythe will be a free agent, and has also been injured. And neither of the 2024 draftpicks (Jerrell and Laumea) will be playing right tackle in the near future without other guys being injured.

I’ve been looking at various RT options all year and none have quite fit. I’ve looked at left tackles that we could move to RT, but that would require bigger draft capital investment. I’ve looked at many of the natural RT guys, but most had one kind of flaw or another.

I’ve only recently spent time looking at Logan Brown, and it was the kind of lightbulb moment you hope for. Listed as a 6’6″/315lb redshirt Junior, Brown began his career with Wisconsin in 2019. So he’s already spent four years as a Badger, before his last two with the Jayhawks. Why he’s listed as a rs-Junior is beyond me.

After watching many of the Kansas games from this year; I’m not sure why Brown isn’t more touted. There is, possibly, the age issue, and then I did notice his Kansas profile mentions he is a type 1 diabetic. I don’t know how that factors into his future as a pro. I just know I thought he had some of the best RT tape I’ve watched all year.

#5.140 – Defensive tackle, Ole Miss, JJ Pegues

Some of my player picks haven’t changed, we just need to tweak where we draft them. This part will continue all the way up to the draft.

JJ Pegues is one of my favorite guys in this entire draft. I just love everything about him. I love his versatility. I love his toughness. I love his personality. This would be like our new Brandon Mebane type of guy if we can add him.

Listed at 6’2″/325lbs, the Mayor has 41 tackles, 13.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks, 4 hurries, and a pretty ridiculous 7 rushing TD on the year.

#5.173 – Defensive tackle, Nebraska, Ty Robinson

We immediately go back to the DT class, but for a different kind of profile. Robinson is all of 6’6″/310lbs, and can play all up and down the line, and has played some fullback this year. For the season he has 11.0 TFL, 6.0 sacks, 6 hurries, 3 PBU, 1 FF, and 1 blocked kick.

#6.185 – Wide Receiver, Kansas, Quentin Skinner

I’m not gonna lie…two days ago I had Tennessee WR Dont’e Thornton in this spot. But then Saturday comes, Thornton gets a plug from Senior Bowl Director Jim Nagy pre-game, and then proceeds to catch three passes for 118 yards and two TD’s in the Vols’ game that day. I would love to get Thornton here, but I think his stock will be rising directly.

Skinner has a very similar profile, though. I found both of these guys in the last 10 days, or so, while hunting WR that would still be on the board late. There is still a possibility that DK Metcalf will be a cap casualty trade in the offseason. It feels like the Seahawks’ future cap can’t hold both DK and Geno (and maybe neither). So I’m looking for WR with some size, speed, and highpoint ability.

Skinner is listed 6’5″/195lbs. He could add a few pounds, but that’s what NFL weight training staff is for. His speed seems decent. He runs pretty good routes for his size. But mostly, I like his body control and the aggressiveness he has going after the ball. Kansas doesn’t throw the ball very much (#114 in the country before this week), and so Skinner only has 25 catches on the year, but he’s averaging 22.28 ypc and has 4 TD from those 25 grabs.

#6.210 – Center, Florida, Jake Slaughter

In our third, and final, pick to help improve the offensive line; I’m taking Florida center Jake Slaughter. Listed 6’5″/308lbs, Slaughter reminds me quite a bit of Max Unger. This is a VERY smart player. If it doesn’t work out for him as a player, he will certainly be able to coach.

#7.236 – Safety, Nebraska, Deshon Singleton

I’m a big fan of drafting to the strength(s) of a draft class, and this year is very strong at running back, which I haven’t addressed to this point. I wouldn’t mind if we drafted a RB pretty much anywhere on day three, but there’s also the points that we don’t necessarily NEED a RB, and with the depth of the class and the decreased positional value…we might get the guy we wanted late as a rookie free agent.

I’m pivoting to a pet project pick. I spotted Singleton some weeks ago, and the more I watch him, the more I appreciate him. Maybe not the highest floor player, but he’s so reliable the way he plays in run support, and the way he tackles. At minimum, he’ll be a very good special teams player. Listed at 6’3″/210lbs, I’d love to see what he could become in the Macdonald scheme.

So there we have it. An intentionally trenches-heavy draft. This is the way more of the recent Super Bowl teams have been built. And we’re also back-filling behind 2025 free agents: Jarran Reed, Johnathan Hankins, Laken Tomlinson, Stone Forsythe, Ernest Jones, Kvon Wallace, Pharaoh Brown, Trevis Gipson, Laviska Shenault, and, in a sense, Connor Williams, who left a wee bit early.

Hawktober Mock

/ seattleseamocks

By Jared Stanger

After falling to the Niners on Thursday Night Football, and their record dropping to 3-3, the Seahawks now stand to draft at #14 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Mike Macdonald coached defense ranks 25th in the league in points allowed, with the rush defense ranking 27th. QB Geno Smith leads the league in passing yards, but ranks 20th in passer rating and is tied for the league lead in interceptions thrown. And the offensive line has run-blocked to the tune of 27th in the league.

There’s a LOT wrong with this club right now, and we’re progressing to a draft that is extremely light on 1st round talents, and isn’t particularly deep overall either. Some of the positions this draft looks strong at; Seattle doesn’t have as immediate needs (like edge rusher and running back). It’s really not looking like a good situation for Seattle to make a quick rebuild.

In terms of the first round…a lot of times the media will pre-emptively stack their first round projections with guys that come from the annual “Freaks List”. This year, I’d say there’s maybe 8 of 32 (25%) that overlap. Oh, so, is the first round stacked with guys that are grading out elite or have top of class production through six weeks? Not really. It’s kind of a bananas year.

With this in mind…and this specifically applies to the state of the draft class in the middle of October 2024…I think Seattle should trade back their first round pick. If/when the media starts re-ranking the class, and we get more guys that fit what Seattle needs, then maybe I’ll change my mock to reflect that with a stick-and-pick edition.

Seattle currently projects to having nine picks after they are awarded their slate of compensatory picks. We don’t need to add more volume. I just want to re-position a little bit in the first two rounds. I like the look of trading with Buffalo. The Bills have ten picks projected, included two in the second round. Pending their performance this week in MNF, they should be drafting between #21 to maybe #23 in the first round. Their second round picks are roughly #54 and #64. There is a scenario we should get #54, but for now to make the numbers work; Seattle gives #1.14 overall for Buffalo’s #1.21 + #2.64 + #4.137.

#1.21 – OT, West Virginia, Wyatt Milum

There are obviously reasons Seattle should try to fix their defense urgently. A guy like Ohio State DT Tyleik Williams would immediately improve our run defense. And there are certainly edge rushers available in this range that look pretty special and would be a good BPA pick. But when I reverse-draft; I think I can get a nose tackle later because of position value, and I can get an edge guy later because of depth in this class.

You know what I can’t get too much later? Offensive line.

Well, let me clarify. If Seattle is replacing Stone Forsythe…I think they can get one of those on day three. But…if we’re needing to truly commit to replacing Abraham Lucas; I think we need to do that pretty early in the draft.

Milum is listed 6’6″/317lbs…which is pretty ideal measurements for an OT. The guy is country strong, too. He’s been playing LT for the Mountaineers, but I’ll move him to RT similar to how the Chargers drafted Joe Alt and moved him to RT, while leaving incumbent LT Rashawn Slater in place.

#2.48 – QB, Mississippi, Jaxson Dart

If Seattle is truly prepared to draft a QB of the future; why not stick at #14 and take him there? As we saw last year; the guy(s) we need probably don’t fall out of the top 10. We’re gonna have to try to pull some Jalen Hurts, Dak Prescott, Russell Wilson shit. Which, also, seems to be the only way John Schneider is comfortable to take a shot on a QB.

To me, Dart is still a top two QB in this draft, but he’s the one we can get. He’s hitting 70% completion, over 10.0 ypa, and over 4 to 1 TD to INT.

#2.64 – OG, Georgia, Tate Ratledge

It’s perhaps foolhardy to take two OL in our first three picks when there are equally big needs on defense, but I just think it’s such a big need with such a shallow class available. And Ratledge is probably only available this late because he’s currently shelved for another month with an ankle surgery recovery. If he gets back in time for a few regular season games and a playoff push; his stock probably climbs out of this range.

#3.79 – DT, Mississippi, JJ Pegues

Pegues is one of my favorite players in this class, and so I’m allowing myself to draft him well before the national media are valuing him. Mississippi has the #1 run defense in the country, and JJ is the (literally) biggest part of that at 6’2″/325lbs. The Rebels use him all up and down the DL, plus he’s become a pretty frequent collaborator on offense as a running back. He’d be such a unique player to add to the Macdonald defense.

#4.115 – Edge, Marshall, Mike Green

There are still a few very intriguing passrush linebackers available into this range. Kyle Kennard, Collin Oliver, and Green come to mind. I’m going with Green for the repertoire, and some of the projectability metrics. Listed 6’4″/248lbs and a redshirt sophomore, but this is his 4th year in college. His production of 10.5 TFL, 8.0 sacks, and 10 hurries all rank top 5 in the class. If he can add another 7 lbs of muscle, even better.

#4.136 – RB, Iowa, Kaleb Johnson

I don’t think I had room for a RB in my last mock, but with the extra pick from Buffalo leading to back-to-back picks in the fourth round; I think it’s good draft practice to take one in this very strong RB class.

Johnson has been one of the top two most-explosive RB this year with Ashton Janty. His style reminds me of somewhere between Arian Foster and Shaun Alexander.

Even with Ken Walker missing a couple games to start this year; Seattle has only given third-string RB Kenny Mcintosh 3 carries all year. So, I don’t think they believe in him for some reason.

#4.137 – LB, Mississippi, Chris Paul Jr

There is no position in this draft that I’ve spent more time on that has yielded worse results than off the ball linebacker. I’ve looked at the freak athletes…they don’t have good instincts. I’ve looked at the guys with good season stats…they look slow. I’ve looked at the guys projected high by other media outlets…they don’t come across like they can handle the playbook in interviews.

So, as much as I’d like to use one of the second round picks on the “QB of the defense” for Macdonald, I just don’t think the value is there.

Chris Paul Jr is my compromise. Listed 6’1″/235lbs he’s got good size. On the season he has 48 tackles, 7.0 TFL, 2.5 sacks, 7 hurries, 3 PBU. It’s a well-rounded production line. He can blitz, he can cover, he can get sideline to sideline. In his tape he looks athletic enough.

#5.172 – TE, Oregon, Terrance Ferguson

It seems like a pretty strong class of tight ends, which may allow for some patience to draft one. Bowling Green TE Harold Fanning is top 10 in receiving overall for the year. Penn State TE Tyler Warren had 17 catches and over 200 yards this last weekend. Guys like Colston Loveland, Orande Gadsden, Anthony Torres, Brant Kuithe, Jake Briningstool, Elijah Arroyo, Luke Lachey, Gunnar Helm, Eli Stowers have all popped in one way or another.

I’m going with Ferguson, probably because of recency bias, because I just thought he looked awesome this week versus Ohio State. Listed 6’5″/255lbs and averaging 16.05 ypc on the year.

#6.193 – DL, Nebraska, Ty Robinson

Seattle is due to have both Jarran Reed and Johnathan Hankins hit free agency after this year, so two DT is in the draft is probably a must. JJ Pegues is a good run-stuffer that can passrush a bit, and Ty Robinson is a good passrusher that can play the run a bit. Ole Miss is the #1 run defense in the country, but Nebraska is no slouch at #4.

Robinson is listed at 6’6″/310lbs, but if you told me he was 285, I’d believe it. He has 6.0 TFL, 4.0 sacks, 2 hurries, 3 PBU, and a blocked kick on the year. Like Pegues, I think you can use him all over the DL…and Nebraska does.

#6.210 – LB, California, Teddye Buchanan

Seattle really needs to draft two linebackers with both Tyrel Dodson and Jerome Baker only signed to one-year deals. Maybe they’ll go back to free agency for a linebacker like a Nick Bolton as their top overall target.

Buchanan is listed 6’2″/235lbs, and has 56 tackles, 6.0 TFL, 4.0 sacks, 3 hurries, 3 PBU, and a FF on the year.

#7.228 – DS, Virginia, Jonas Sanker

Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if Seattle took any of, like, 10 position groups with this pick. They could triple down on OL or DL. They could take a WR or a CB, which they haven’t taken thus far. I’m going with safety because I’m following the free agency lead. K’von Wallace may walk after the year, so to replace him I’m going with Sanker.

Sanker is listed 6’1″/210lbs. Senior Bowl reported this week he runs 4.4. On the season he has 49 tackles, 4.0 TFL, 1.0 sack, 1 hurry, 3 PBU. He’d be a great special teams guy at minimum.

Overall, this is a back to basics draft. We’re going heavy in the trenches again until John Schneider gets his philosophy in order and starts picking the right OL/DL guys. We’re going QB, RB, and LB. Honestly, if we can get somewhere near what the Commanders did this last draft when they got QB Jayden Daniels, DT Jerzhan Newton, DB Mike Sainristil, TE Ben Sinnott, OT Brandon Coleman, WR Luke McCaffrey, LB Jordan Magee, DS Dom Hampton…that’d be a pretty solid draft towards a quick turnaround.

Seahawks 2025 mock #1

/ seattleseamocks

By Jared Stanger

Three weeks into the NFL season, four weeks into the college season, and I’m already getting the itch to do some Sea-mocking. As I noted yesterday on my twitter; OTC has recently updated their projection of the 2025 compensatory picks, and in that Seattle gained a 6th round comp for losing Bobby Wagner. This comes in addition to the 4th and 5th they were already expected to get for losing Damien Lewis and Jordyn Brooks. These are not official, but it’s a good chance they’re close.

We lost a 5th rounder for the Leonard Williams trade, gained an early 6th rounder for the Darrell Taylor trade, and lost a late 6th rounder for the Trevis Gipson trade. So currently Seattle has 9 picks projected:

1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 4th-comp, 5th-comp, 6th-CHI, 6th-comp, 7th

As one of only two NFC undefeated teams (MIN), Seattle gets slated into the NFC championship round in terms of draft position, which means roughly the #29 overall pick.

I ran some reader polls on my twitter this last weekend just to kind of gauge fan interest in a couple of draft areas. In the first, fans were about 3 to 1 in favor of drafting a QB to redshirt behind Geno Smith and Sam Howell for a year. And, in terms of the offensive line, fans are most interested in finding a long-term fix at Left Guard over Center or Right Tackle.

Personally, I have some pretty strong interest in finding a long-term fix at nose tackle for Seattle. This has been the biggest problem on defense so far this year…stopping runs right up the middle. Johnathan Hankins has not been great, and he’s a free agent. Jarran Reed gets listed as a nose tackle, but he’s not really a true nose, and he’s also a free agent.

There are some pretty interesting draft names at DT that are already getting floated in the first round: Ohio State’s Tyleik Williams (my favorite), Kentucky’s Deone Walker, and Michigan’s Kenneth Grant. In this exercise, all three are off the board in the top 25 picks. I’m not doing projections of where guys eventually will land in the actual draft. I’m looking at current market price. This means that guys that media are probably over-valuing are not available, but also guys that are under-valued are clear to draft. Both sides of that play into this mock.

#1.29 – QB, Mississippi, Jaxson Dart

We’re at the part of the season where the QB’s I think eventually climb into the top half of the 1st round are currently available in the 2nd in national mock drafts. Around this time last year, guys like Jayden Daniels and Michael Penix and JJ McCarthy and Bo Nix were not going top 10. It’s the same right now for 2025 class. Right now all of Cam Ward, Drew Allar, Jalen Milroe, Jaxson Dart are consensus 2nd round, while guys like Carson Beck, Shedeur Sanders, Quinn Ewers are the 1st round names. I like, literally, all of the 2nd round names better than all of the 1st round names. I think Beck is Nick Foles-esque. Sanders is such an entitled shithead of a person, that I put more in the Johnny Manziel or Kyler Murray class of guys that will never be true leaders of men. And Ewers, to me, is more of a Jay Cutler vibe.

Amongst the guys I like…Ward kinda reminds me of Geno Smith. I don’t LOVE him, but there’s enough in the toolbox that he could be a top 10 QB in the league, and with the perfect surrounding cast, he might win a Super Bowl.

Allar is 4 of 4 of these guys, and I probably wouldn’t draft him until the 4th round. But, if I’m going to do that, I’m probably just gonna pivot to the next tier that is more like 5th-6th round.

Milroe is fascinating. He’s got the highest marks among all seven of these QB’s in certain traits (arguably, the traits that I think lead to continuing success in the NFL). But he’s also got, probably, the most glaring flaws. If he’s Jalen Hurts or Dak Prescott; he’s probably well worth a 2nd round pick. Would I take him in the 1st?? Tough call. We’ll know better in February.

And Dart, to me, is the best combination of now skill and future upside. He’s definitely the highest floor guy, to me. He can run the ball plenty, but if you told me you were asking him to be a pure pocket-passer; I think he’d still be great. Listed at 6’2″/225lbs, Dart is plenty stout, and he’s at the low-end of what I think is acceptable QB height. He’s got plenty of arm, but that won’t be his standout trait at pro day. To me, his ball-placement is top 2 or 3 in this class.

#2.62 – OG, Georgia, Tate Ratledge

I wouldn’t mind seeing John Schneider getting aggressive on an interior OL in this draft. But he probably won’t. I don’t know which OL pick hurt him, but he’s got a pretty substantial blindspot to the concept now. This is part of the plus/minus of having all these notebooks (long memory) he keeps…sometimes you over-correct when you should just let nature and the turning of the next class be its own correction.

Ohio State’s LG Donovan Jackson looks VERY good in his season debut last week, but he’s generally seen as a 1st round guy. Ratledge is currently listed as a late 2nd round name. He’s currently on the shelf with a foot/ankle injury that is expected to sideline him until November. He’s listed 6’6″/320lbs. I wouldn’t mind if we found out he was slightly shorter at the Combine, but otherwise very solid build.

Historically, I believe he has only played right guard, and I would want him to play left. I can’t imagine the challenges of moving from RG to LG are nearly as big as moving from RT to LT, so I’m guessing he can make the move. Ratledge is a character. He looks really athletic on tape, and he’s certainly got some nasty to him.

#3.93 – LB, Alabama, Deontae Lawson

Seattle has two starting linebackers playing on one-year deals in Jerome Baker and Tyrel Dodson. Maybe they’ll re-sign one, but I doubt they keep both. I don’t get the impression that they are super in love with 2024 LB draftpick Tyrice Knight. Like, I don’t think they want to green-dot Knight.

So we go back to the well in the draft to try to find a long-term piece at ILB. Knowing the free agency picture; I’ve been doing a fair amount of digging at the spot, and I was pretty happy when I got to Lawson. Listed 6’2″/239lbs; he more closely resembles the ILB we were seeing 7-8 years ago. The last couple of LB draft classes, there was nary a man that was over 230lbs. I like Deontae’s bigger body profile. I like his instincts. I like the way he moves almost like a running back cutting through the wash when he gets downhill towards the line of scrimmage.

#4.131 – TE, Texas, Gunnar Helm

It’s still early in the Ryan Grubb offense evaluation, but the early results don’t really show much preference for using the TE. We’ve seen exactly 6 targets to the combined TE group in the first three games. At UW, I don’t have the target numbers, but the reception numbers averaged about 4.5 catches per game to tight ends.

As much as people thought Seattle might target Brock Bowers in the 1st round last year; I just don’t know that this staff needs or wants a bigtime TE. We drafted a 4th round TE last year in AJ Barner. We’ve got Noah Fant signed through the end of 2025. We just need to draft a replacement for Pharoah Brown, who is only on a one-year deal.

Helm is listed 6’5″/250lbs, and he’s got 11 catches for 197 yards and 1 TD so far this year.

#4.136 – LB, Iowa, Jay Higgins

This was the first pick in this mock where I kind of found a cluttered board. It was mostly defense, but also potentially another stab at finding a Center of the future. I could see Seattle commit to Connor Williams going forward (he’s only 27), so I’m actually probably gonna punt on Center this year. Plus, there haven’t really been any standout centers so far.

I’ve recently made an observation that, in years past, when Seattle has drafted two players from the same position in the same draft…one of those two picks should have been used on a quarterback. This year, I’ve already drafted a QB, so I’ve cleared myself to double-dip.

Higgins is listed 6’2″/232lbs and has been a tackling machine for the Hawkeyes in 2023, ranking 3rd in the country per game, and 1st in total combined tackles. A 5th-year Senior; Higgins has paid his dues with all five years at Iowa…emblematic of the way coach Kirk Ferentz runs his program.

#5.172 – DL, Mississippi, JJ Pegues

I think DT is probably a bigger need for Seattle in the 2025 draft, than to wait until the 5th round. But as of right now, the 1st round DT are probably being over-valued, and all of the rest of the DT are probably being undervalued. So these next two picks are currently available super late…technically later than this…and I’m just slotting them here for now.

Pegues is a super interesting player. He’s listed 6’2″/325lbs, but Ole Miss have played him at DE, which isn’t too crazy, but it starts getting pretty nuts when you see that they’ve given him 5 rushing attempts. We’re not talking fullback, blocking reps. The guy has five designed runs, with two TD in four games, and on at least two of his carries, the guy leapt the pile. AND they’ve used him as additional OL in short yardage.

I definitely was drawn to him by his DT work, but I’m not gonna exclude the idea of him becoming a fullback/goalline option on a roster that isn’t currently carrying a fullback.

If you’re playing two positions; you get two highlights in the mock draft. Pegues at DT:

#6.180 – NT, Florida, Cam Jackson

I really think the true nose-tackle is something Seattle needs the most this draft. But I also wonder if it’s a spot that they will pay high value pick to acquire. I spent maybe an hour researching the draft class of nose tackles and immediately found ten candidates. This might be a great year to try to find one of these guys late. (**Technically, I also had Pegues on my NT shortlist, but I think his skillset is broader than JUST the nose. Hence, he gets picked earlier of the two.)

Jackson is one of 2-3 of my NT list that currently show up in the undrafted free agent range. So I’m already giving him more respect than the national media, even though 6th round seems late.

Jackson is listed 6’6″/342lbs. He has 2.5 career sacks in his three years at Memphis, plus two years at Florida. I don’t have misconceptions that he has some hidden passrusher in him. He would be picked to join the DL rotation as a run-stuff specialist. Period.

#6.210 – OT, Wisconsin, Riley Mahlman

Seattle’s RT situation is so cluttered. Incumbent starter Abe Lucas is injured and yet to play in 2024, with fears that his injury is degenerative and he’s not long for his playing days. George Fant is recently injured and placed on IR to miss at least three more games this year, and he has another year on his deal for 2025. Sataoa Laumea played a lot of RT in college, but is listed by the Seahawks as a Guard. Mike Jerrell was drafted in the 6th round of 2024 draft and is currently behind Lucas, Fant, and Stone Forsythe on the depth chart. Current RT starter Forsythe was a 6th round pick in 2021, and is currently set to be a free agent after this year.

While I wouldn’t mind if Seattle spent significant Draft capital to either trade for, or draft, a right tackle of the future…it doesn’t feel like that is what they will do. But if we spend another 6th round pick at the spot, we at least replace Forsythe straight-up, and then we work to see if the combo of Lucas, Fant, Jerrell, and draftpick can net us a decent starter for 2025.

Mahlman is a redshirt Junior for Wisconsin, listed at 6’8″/308lbs. He caught my eye while I was watching fellow Badger OT Jack Nelson. Mahlman is the natural RT, so we don’t have to do the projection on the side switch.

#7.243 – DS, Oklahoma State, Trey Rucker

This was a tough pick. I really like this class of RB, which I haven’t found room for yet. I didn’t give them any WR, and there are always WR (which can include into UDFA). And I haven’t drafted them a replacement for 2025 free agent K’von Wallace. Julian Love is under contract, Rayshawn Jenkins has another year left, Coby Bryant now seems to be a safety and he has another year on his rookie deal, and Jerrick Reed is still on the PUP.

It’s not a high priority position, but I do think that safety is a lowkey deep position going into this draft. I literally wrote down three safety names that are currently ranking as UDFA that I could have chosen from for this one pick alone.

I went with Rucker because he’s listed 6’0″/210lbs, and he’s third in the country in tackles per game with 13.25. He’s probably the future of the safety position where you’re kind of hybrid safety/linebacker. He also has 2 INT, 1.0 TFL in four games.

December Mock

/ seattleseamocks

By Jared Stanger

It’s the middle of December 2023. The Seahawks are four-deep into the longest losing streak of the Pete Carroll era, with a chance to make it five on Monday night versus the defending NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles. There is more uncertainty about the future of this team than we’ve seen in 12+ years.

There are legitimate questions about whether Pete should continue as the coach. That will be a bigger decision for after the season. The easier call should be that a change needs to be made at quarterback. With the latter in mind, I will propose three things:

  1. Trade Geno Smith to the Tampa Bay Bucs. Geno’s contract, although putting a strain on the Seahawks’ limited cap situation, is not excessive to the point of being unwieldy for teams like Tampa who have around $50mill in space for the 2024 season. The Bucs’ current starter, Baker Mayfield, is on a one-year deal. And, former Seahawk QB coach, Dave Canales is in Tampa as their Offensive Coordinator. So he could know Geno and how to maximize him. I’m asking for the Bucs’ 2nd round pick for Geno. We’ve now replaced the pick given up to get Leonard Williams.
  2. Send the Detroit Lions the third round pick we acquired from Denver in last year’s draft (est. #3.79) in exchange for second year QB Hendon Hooker. Hendon has yet to play as a pro after coming off a knee injury sustained at end of 2022 college season. Tough to gauge his value, so I’m using kind of the “original round tender” idea and giving Detroit the same value they used to draft him last year. I like Hendon more than any of the 2024 class.
  3. Draft a QB from the 2024 class. More on this later

Heading into the draft, I really don’t love the value of the mid-first round players. If you’ve missed on the top three QB’s, which I believe they will, and you’re not terribly interested in drafting one of the top OT on the board, which could fit this range, then I think you might as well trade down.

I will make one quick aside in that I am, for the first time, re-considering Michael Penix. I’ve always liked Penix’ intangibles, but I’ve had questions on the physicals. There’s the obvious injury stuff, he’s not the runner that Russell Wilson was coming out of college and I think PCJS prefer, and I think his arm talent is overrated in the media. But…the thing that I recently looked at that is, at least anecdotally, interesting is the hit rate of………the Heisman runner(s)-up. Look at some of these top 2’s:

Bryce Young or Aidan Hutchinson?
Devonta Smith or Trevor Lawrence?
Joe Burrow or Jalen Hurts?
Kyler Murray or Tua Tagavailoa?
Derrick Henry or Christian McCaffrey?
Robert Griffin or Andrew Luck?
Cam Newton or Andrew Luck?
Matt Leinart or Adrian Peterson?
Jason White or Larry Fitzgerald?
Charles Woodson or Peyton Manning?

I think the 2023 NFL season, and the number of random-ass QB’s that are being forced into duty AND winning games, is showing the modern league may have to change the way it evaluates QB’s. From the on-going rags to riches story of Brock Purdy, to guys just recently splashing like Jake Browning, Tommy Devito, Aidan O’Connell…maybe to lesser extent Bailey Zappe, Easton Stick, Nick Mullens, Gardner Minshew. I think we should take a dart throw. Buuuuuttttt…we should mitigate the risk slightly by pushing the dart throw down the board somewhat. I’m probably not doing it in the 1st round outside of Jayden Daniels.

So let’s up our inventory, up our darts. I’ve got one trade in mind sending the #13 pick to Arizona for #17 and #81. And then I will flip #17 to Cincinnati for #23 and #87. We’ll go into our first pick looking like this:

#1.23, #2.51, #3.75, #3.81, #3.87, #4.114, #5.147, #6.188, #7.229

#1.23 – OC, Duke, Graham Barton

The Seahawks really need to invest in the Center position. They have for years. The ongoing instability there since Max Unger was traded away is potentially one of the lowkey biggest reasons Seattle has not contended since. Evan Brown will be a free agent, and the team hasn’t seem confident in 2023 5th-rounder Olu Oluwatimi.

I don’t love the strength of this class of interior OL. I think it’s much stronger at OT. But that can be a way to find value: moving OT to guard or center. Barton has been playing LT for Duke, and the reports are that his short arms will force him inside. Maybe that’s guard, but I like his intelligence to be a cornerstone at center.

There’s an argument to be made about positional value of centers in the 1st round, or about Seattle never drafting one this early. Some of that should be put aside after they broke trend last year to draft a Corner in the first round for the first time in this regime. And then they picked a WR in the 1st for the first time. If they are really hunting best player available, I think this is the move, with backup plan the Minnesota safety, Tyler Nubin.

#2.51 – LB, NC State, Payton Wilson

Seattle really needs to come out of this draft with a stud linebacker. Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks are both currently free agents at the end of the season. I’d re-sign Brooks at minimum, and might do another one-year deal for Bobby, but I’m really trying to find the next 10-year guy for the middle of the defense.

I’ve got a handful of LB I’m interested in, with Cedric Gray, Michael Barrett near the top, but Wilson checks the most boxes. He’s a big dude at 6’4″/238lbs, he’s a team captain, he’s got great marks for athleticism, he’s extremely productive including top 10 in the country in total tackles and TFL, plus 6.0 sacks, 10 hurries, 3 INT, 6 PBU, 1 FF.

The only downside is potential medical redflag, and possibly him not being available this late after the Combine.

#3.75 – DT, Ohio State, Tyleik Williams

Seattle sort of showed their hand that they wanted improvement from their IDL when they invested a 2nd round pick in a half-year rental for Leonard Williams. It wouldn’t surprise me if they drafted someone at DT in the 1st round. I’m trying to play a bit more strategy and find some hidden gems. I’ve done a LOT of vetting of this class of DT. I like Jer’zhan Newton and T’vondre Sweat if you want to invest that much. There’s a guy out of UMass named Billy Wooden if you really want to take a late flyer. But, in the middle of the draft, I think you look at Auburn’s Marcus Harris and Tyleik Williams.

Williams is 6’2″/290lbs, with 10.0 TFL, 3.0 sacks, and 5 PBU this year. I think his floor is Jarran Reed.

#3.81 – OG, Michigan, Zak Zinter

This is a tricky one. Zinter is a two-time winner of the team OL Joe Moore Award, he’s a 2023 first team All-American, and he’s a 6’6″/322lb team captain for the national title contending Michigan team. But he suffered a pretty gruesome broken leg a few weeks ago when he got rolled up on vs Ohio State. This might end up similar to Trey Smith falling to the 6th round in 2021. Personally, I’m not letting him fall. This guy is a culture-setter.

Damien Lewis and Phil Haynes are both gonna be free agents. Between 2023 picks Oluwatimi and Bradford, and 2024 “picks” Barton and Zinter we have four bodies to fill three starting jobs for 2024.

#3.87 – QB, Tennessee, Joe Milton III

Having “acquired” Hendon Hooker earlier via trade; I’m now free to take a bit more of a risk on a draft QB. And how fun would it be to reunite Hendon with his former teammate at Tennessee, Joe Milton?

I’ve been curious since about this time last year at how the media would treat the huge-armed Milton in the same offense that people gave a ton of shit to Hooker for playing in. Milton has objectively performed much worse than Hooker in the same scheme, and really nobody is overrating him just based on his physical traits. Hooker was the #2 rated passer in college last year behind CJ Stroud at 175.51…Milton this year is closer to #40 at 147.27. Hooker was 27 TD, 2 INT over 329 attempts, Milton is 20 TD, 5 INT in 354 attempts. Hooker ran for 430 yards, 4.13 ypc, 5 TD, Milton ran for 299 yards, 3.83 ypc, 7 TD.

If Milton can learn to throttle down his arm a bit, there are enough other traits here to interest me, and it would be very fun to watch him develop. I could see a Dak Prescott trajectory. Well worth the 3rd round investment on a 6’5″/235lb leopard tank.

#4.114 – DS, Wake Forest, Malik Mustapha

Safety is a spot that Seattle really needs to re-evaluate this offseason. They’re currently paying a ton of money to their starting duo that are both having the worst years of their careers. Julian Love seems like an okay piece to keep on the roster, but you don’t want him to be a focal point. I don’t know what the future would be for Coby Bryant if he’s now a safety. Jerrick Reed is currently post-op of a knee surgery, and never really got much play before he got hurt.

I’d be pretty okay with Seattle spending a high pick on Tyler Nubin, who I like as a centerfield, ball-hawking deep safety. And I like Mustapha when he’s in the box coming downhill. That might be a sick combo. I didn’t do that pairing in this mock, but it was highly considered.

Mustapha is a 5’11″/207lb technician with 80 tackles, 5.0 TFL, 1 INT, 2 PBU, 1 FF for the year. Should be a good athletic tester, too.

#5.147 – DL, Alabama, Justin Eboigbe

This is probably a pipe dream to get an Alabama DL this late, but I haven’t seen Eboigbe ranked very highly to this point. I’d like to get Seattle a replacement for free agent Darrell Taylor, and there is some good volume/depth at that profile in guys like Mohamed Kamara, Nelson Ceaser, Jasheen Davis, but I just didn’t have enough picks. Instead, I’m going to give them another shot at the Mike Morris profile. Morris is 6’6″/292lbs, Eboigbe is 6’5″/292lbs. This year Eboigbe posted 11.5 TFL, 7.0 sacks, and 4 hurries.

Alabama uses him all over the line, so you can get some outside reps from him. But he also has enough sand in his pants to play the run inside.

#6.188 – DS, Ohio State, Josh Proctor

I don’t know that Proctor is the centerfield counterpoint to Mustapha that I’d like to find, but he’s a good player and great value this late. He’s 6’2″/205lbs with 41 tackles, 4.0 TFL, 1 INT, 8 PBU this year. And he packs a punch.

#7.229 – RB, South Dakota State, Isaiah Davis

Davis is a 6’1″/220lb running back that has run for almost 1500 yards and 17 TD this year for the Jackrabbits while averaging almost 7.00 ypc. With Deejay Dallas a free agent after the year and Kenny Mcintosh still a huge question mark; it feels appropriate to take a late-round flyer RB.

The jump-cuts for a back this size are very intriguing.

I think my mock is short on a tightend with the turnover coming at the position, but I really don’t like this class. Plus, Seattle doesn’t seem to know how to use them. Maybe that’s a Geno problem, cause even Russell with his height seemed to find ways to use them more. Regardless, I just preferred to go other directions.

After spending 1st round picks on CB and WR last year; I passed on those spots this year, even though both classes are pretty nice throughout the draft. People thought we didn’t need a RB last year when they took Charbonnet, but that’s turned out to be a pretty nice pick. I won’t begrudge a BPA pick if one happens again this year.