Team-by-Team Draft Review: Seattle Seahawks

Jacob Feldman

lockett

When you are the Super Bowl runner-up one year after winning the Super Bowl, you probably aren’t counting on too many rookies to step up and make an instant impact for your team. This is especially true when you take your first round pick and trade it away for someone like Jimmy Graham. The Seahawks are hoping his addition to the offense along with keeping most of their key players on roster for another year will get them back to the Super Bowl for a third year in a row.

When it comes to the Seahawks draft, there really wasn’t a whole lot there. They had traded away all but four picks in this draft class plus they had an additional four compensatory picks. The vast majority of those picks were spent on players in the trenches. In fact, they only spent a single draft pick on a skill position player.

Round 3, Pick 5 – Tyler Lockett, WR

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The Seahawks have been trying to find a lead receiver for a while now. They have brought in free agents like Sidney Rice, traded for players like Percy Harvin and drafted other receivers like Golden Tate. Rice was pretty broken by the time he made it to Seattle, Harvin was and still is a headcase and the Seahawks just couldn’t figure out how to use Tate (though the Lions figured it out quickly!). It is easily one of the biggest holes on the Seattle roster as they have one of the worst receiver groups in the entire league. Adding Graham should help cover that up a little bit, but if they want Russell Wilson to take the next step, they need to get him someone to catch his passes.

Considering they didn’t have their first pick until the very end of the second round, using the fifth pick in the third round on a wide receiver says they view it as a bit of a hole as well. I’m not quite sure what to make of the player they took there though. The biggest issue with Lockett is he’s only 5’10” and 182 pounds. The Seahawks already have a few small receivers, most notably Doug Baldwin, so I expected them to go for some size to help out in the red zone. After all, they were one red zone play away from back to back rings. Graham helps a lot in that area, but I still expected them to go for someone a little bigger.

Other than size, Lockett has a lot of what you are looking for in a receiver. He’s one of if not the best returner in this year’s draft class. He’s very dangerous in the open field and works very hard as a receiver. He has nice hands and runs pretty good routes. The question is how good of a receiver can he be when almost all of the cornerbacks are going to be bigger and stronger than he is and can just press him at the line. He isn’t a bad pick, I just question how much it fits what they needed.

For a more detailed opinion on Lockett, check out Matt Caraccio’s rookie profile on him here.

That’s it for the skill positions when it comes to the Seahawks draft.

Offensive Line selections:

Round 4, Pick 31 – Terry Poole, OG

Round 4, Pick 35 – Mark Glowinski, OG

The Seahawks have had a little bit of turnover this offseason on the offensive line thanks to trades and free agency. Given that they are still a run first team and have one of the best running backs in the game, it was pretty important for them to patch those holes and keep the depth chart strong on the line. Both players are strong mauler types and should excel at run blocking. Just what Marshawn Lynch ordered!

Defensive selections:

Round 2, Pick 31 – Frank Clark, DE

Round 5, Pick 34 – Tye Smith, CB

Round 6, Pick 33 – Obum Gwacham, DE

Round 6, Pick 38 – Kristjan Sokoli, DT

Round 7, Pick 31 – Ryan Murphy, DB

The Seahawks have shown that they dance to the beat of a different drummer from the rest of the league when it comes to how they build their team and who they draft. Frank Clark wasn’t even on the draft board of a lot of teams due to all of his off the field issues, yet the Seahawks felt the need to take him with their first pick in this year’s draft. It isn’t like his off the field issues were having a few drinks underage or smoking some weed in the back of someone’s car. We are talking major issues here. He has talent, but they are taking a big risk with him.

As for the rest of them, I don’t really see any impact players for IDPers to get too excited about. Pete Carroll has shown an affinity for finding amazing defensive backs in the later round of the NFL draft, so you never know. Murphy is another big and fast defensive back at 6’3” and 214 pounds, so he fits the mold of the Seahawks defense.

That’s it for the Seahawks draft. Once again, not a whole lot for fantasy fans to get very excited about. The most interesting question around the Seahawks is what will happen with Russell Wilson and how will his contract impact the rest of the team. It could end up being like Joe Flacco and the Ravens after they won their Super Bowl. Flacco got paid and every other big name left in free agency. It will definitely be interesting to watch!

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jacob feldman