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Seattle Seahawks Weekend Mailbag: 2015 NFL Draft Questions

By James Silberman

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The first ever ECS Mailbag! You guys ask the questions, we give you the answers. Thanks to everyone that contributed.

First up is Mr. Benjamin Focht from Boise.

"“Do you think the Hawks will draft an offensive lineman, WR, or CB with the 63rd overall pick, or just best player left on the board?”"

That is a great question. In the first four drafts of the PC/JS era, the best player available strategy definitely applied. In 2014, however, they went WR and RT with their first two picks. Unless you make the argument that Paul Richardson and Justin Britt were the highest rated players on the board at 45 and 64, they were definitely drafting for needs there. So according to overall history, BPA. According to recent history, need based.

Another factor is the depth of the draft class at a certain position group. If they don’t see anyone that they like in the later rounds, they will be more inclined to get a guy at a position of need in the early rounds. As you mentioned, OL, WR and CB are all needs for Seattle.

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Offensive line is historically one of the more top-heavy position groups. The 2015 class definitely could end up that way, with as many as seven possible first rounders. However, there are some unique talents in the middle rounds. Shaq Mason and Chaz Green are two guys who will go somewhere in rounds 4-6 that I really like. At 63, none of the elite guys will still be there, so I don’t see them going OL with that pick.

Same goes for CB. This is a very deep class (Ladarius Gunter in the fourth round would be the steal of the draft in my opinion), and Seattle gets all their best corners in the fifth and sixth rounds anyway.

Receiver is a different story. The top 11-12 guys are REALLY good. Like good enough to challenge the 2014 class possibly. But once you get past round 3, it’s scarce pickings. Tyler Lockett, Devin Smith and Devin Funchess are all definite possibilities at 63 or 95, and I really like Lockett in particular. I would say of the Seahawks’ positions of need, WR is definitely the most likely one to be adressed early in the draft.

"“My question to y’all: who are a few wild card, unexpected type of players that Hawks could pick up? Strong upsides, that’ll be available when we go at 63… Any theories???” -Pat from Port Orchard"

Pete Carroll and John Schneider will make a wild-card pick, that much we can safely assume based on their history (Christine Michael, Bruce Irvin, Justin Britt). Hard to guess who they’ll go with, but it typically is that versatile, athletic, high-upside player like you were talking about. Bruce Irvin would be exhibit A.

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Hobart OG, Ali Marpet fits the bill. He ran the best 40-time at the combine among offensive linemen, and was second in the three-cone drill and the 20-yard shuffle. He even visited with Seattle a few weeks ago. However, as I mentioned above, this is a deep offensive line class, so I would be surprised if they took Hobart in the second round.

Another guy with a lot of potential is X…. Xav…… Xavier….. Xavier Coop….. Xavier Cooper from Washington State. As you can tell, it kills me to say this, but the Coug DT has Pro Bowl potential. One of the most explosive defensive linemen in the class, he ran a 4.86 40 at the combine, best among DT’s. He was also first in the three-cone drill and second in the 20-yard shuttle. His explosiveness definitely shows up on tape as well. He is almost always the first guy off the snap and plays with great leverage to collapse the pocket. He could be a solid three-technique for the ‘Hawks, and will almost certainly be available at 63.

"“What’s the Seahawks’ biggest need to fill with the draft?” -Kody (@kody_davis) from Spokane"

Wide Receiver is a need, but only in the earlier rounds most likely. The Seahawks have plenty of depth on the roster, but could definitely use some help at the top.

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Cornerback is where they need depth. I could see the Seahawks taking two, or possibly even three CB’s in the mid-late rounds. With Byron Maxwell gone, Jeremy Lane likely out until mid-season and Tharold Simon being the wild card that he is, Seattle needs to be hoarding CB’s at this point.

And unfortunately, O-line is a combination of both. As of now, we are looking at Alvin Bailey and Patrick Lewis as full-time starters, alongside the already shaky play of J.R. Sweezy and Justin Britt and the oft-injured Russell Okung. This is a serious rag-tag group that needs to be added to significantly before the season starts.

Defensive tackle would be the other one with Kevin Williams and Tony McDaniel being well into their 30’s, Brandon Mebane on the last year of his contract, and Jordan Hill coming off a torn achilles.

This last question comes from Danny (@DBHawks19) on twitter.

"“I’m pretty sure we mostly trade back, but may we trade up from 63? Can we let 62 go before us?”"

Unless I’m forgetting one, the last time the Seattle Seahawks traded up in the draft was when they moved up to get Deon Butler in the third round. But that was in 2009, the year before PC/JS. However, 11 picks is the most they’ve ever come into a draft with. So if there was ever a year to do it, this would be it. On the other hand, in 2013, they waited until 62 to take Christine Michael.

The main reason I don’t see them trading up is the success they’ve had in later rounds. In the past five drafts, the Seahawks have acquired eight starters in rounds 4-7, and seven starters in rounds 1-3. Of course, they’ve had more picks in rounds 4-7, but nonetheless, that’s a pretty unusual and telling statistic.

Next: Seattle Seahawks Mock Draft 2015: Complete 7 Round Predictions

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