Draft Plans

With two weeks left in the season for the 6-8 Seahawks, Seattle sits tied for 18th overall in the NFL standings with our St. Louis nemesis. This would put the Seahawks at either the 14th or 15th slot in the upcoming NFL draft. Teams sitting at 6-8 in most divisions would have their fans crying for them to lose out to gain a higher draft pick, however in the Wild Wild Weak NFC West division, 6-8 is tied for the division lead, so at this point we can’t exactly cheer to lose at this time. So for now, sitting around the middle of the draft we have to be realistic of what is even possible for the Seahawks. With still so many needs from; O-Line, CB, D-Line, QB (unless your satisfied with Jesus Whitehurst), and maybe even a LB or WR. Granted we have some young talent at the WR position with the emergence of Mike Williams, the 2nd round draft pick of Golden Tate, and the slow development of Deion Butler and Ben Obomanu, but it would never hurt to take a proven playmaker if the situation arose. WR however is probably lower on the totem pole as far as need for the Seahawks. Linebackers are also something Seattle should consider, yes two drafts ago we took Aaron Curry who has shown flashes of greatness at times while making 3rd string mistakes others, yes David Hawthorne has turned out to be a pretty solid LB once he was given the chance when Leroy Hill went out, and yes Lofa Tatupu is our play caller on defense regardless of his undersized frame that has extreme difficulty shedding blocks to stuff the run, needless to say were solid but I don’t know if I would go as far as saying completely satisfied and once again probably still lower on the totem pole.

Staying with the defense, Seattle is pretty weak in just about every category. The defensive backfield struggles at the corner position with an aging Marcus Trufant (31 years old) and the combination of an undersized Kelly Jennings and inexperienced Walter Thurmond, overall more important than WR or LB but at the same token Seattle might be able to wait until next year . Our defensive line has some positives with Brandon Mebane and Chris Clemons. Colin Cole and Red Bryant have been off and on and their size is nice for attacking the run, however with Seattle being 21st ranked rush defense maybe it hasn’t worked out as much as they had hoped for. So maybe looking for another pass rusher to go along side Chris Clemons might be a decent route for the Hawks. Probably the most important necessity may be the dreadful offensive line. Sure we picked up Okung in last years draft and he’s been solid when healthy, but he can’t do everything by himself. Our run game has been terrible and we’ve given up our fair share of sacks. But with the O-Line being fairly deep in the draft we might be able to wait for the 2nd round pick to address it. Which leaves us with the QB position. Now some of you maybe satisfied with Charlie Whitehurst from what you’ve seen in the little playing time he’s been given and obviously the Seahawks see something since they gave up $16 million dollars over the next two years and a 3rd round pick to bring him to Seattle, but I on other hand am still skeptical. If a future franchise QB is still available in the 1st round when it comes to Seattle’s pick, I would be a little ticked off if Seattle decided to pass on it. The general consensus has always been the 1st most important position to have is the QB then OT and then a pass rusher. So with that in mind would you still say your happy with Charlie Whitehurst being the most imporant position for the future of your franchise (I hope not).

So taking all this into consideration, we then need to look at what is actually going to be available for Seattle when it comes time for their projected pick. Andrew Luck is obviously what every team with no QB is drooling over, but unless Seattle trades up to get him you can pretty much count him out. Then that leaves Jake Locker, Ryan Mallet, Cam Newton (if he leaves after this season), and the late emergence on several rankings of Missouri QB Blaine Gabbert. Although three possibly four teams ahead in the draft are looking for QB’s as well; 49ers, Cardinals, Vikings, and possibly the Bills. So if all of them are taken maybe we wait until next year, but hopefully one is still available. The last thing we want is for all three of our divisions rivals to have young franchise QB’s that were going to have to face for the next ten years while were riding Charlie Whitehurst to lead the way. As far as offensive line, there are about 10 noteworthy choices in this year’s draft, 6 of which are 1st round worthy, so as noted before they could possibly wait for the 2nd round. For CB’s there are four highly regarded prospects; Patrick Peterson, Prince Amukamara, Janoris Jenkins, and Aaron Williams. If Peterson or Amukamara were available I’d say Seattle was insane to pass on them, however in just about every mock draft out their, they are most likely gone in the first 6 or 7 picks. Janoris Jenkins and Aaron Williams are both good as well, depending on what is still available. Defensive line much like the offensive line is pretty deep in this year’s draft as well. ESPN has 11 d-lineman projected as first round talent, 5 of which are ranked in the top 10; Da’Quan Bowers, Marcell Dareus, Robert Quinn, Stephen Paea, and Nick Fairley. Like CB’s if any one of these guys were still available I think Seattle would be smart to use their pick on them. Now as I stated earlier WR and LB could be upgraded as well if certain players were still around primarily being; AJ Green, Julio Jones, or Justin Blackmon at WR, and Von Miller or Akeem Ayers at LB. So with all this in mind what to do? I say they go in this order; 1st if Mallet, Newton, Gabbert, or even hometown hero Locker is available I’d say go for it, 2nd if QB’s are gone and Anthony Costanzo is available to be opposite of Okung at the other OT position take him, 3rd and maybe even 2nd over the OT is if Patrick Peterson or Prince Amukamara were still around, don’t think twice, 4th if one of the premiere d-lineman are available barring the other positions aren’t up to standards go head and grab one, and lastly if AJ Green, Julio Jones, or Justin Blackmon are there I wouldn’t see a reason to pass on them. LB’s Von Miller and Akeem Ayers are great but nothing that couldn’t be seen in future drafts. It’ll be an exciting draft to say the least! And by the way, in a mock draft that I see as being one of the most accurate to date, they projected the Cardinals will take Ryan Mallet and the 49ers taking either Cam Newton or Jake Locker. So look forward to facing Mallet, Newton or Locker, and Sam Bradford for the next ten years, can’t wait…