Seattle Seahawks Draft Needs

Last week, I asked all of you to identify what you thought the Seahawks biggest needs were going into the draft. Overall, I think that the results of the poll were fairly accurate.

The Seahawks biggest need is still Linebacker. I know that LeRoy Hill, Barrett Ruud and Matt McCoy have all been recently signed, but I don’t think that lessens the need at all. Rudd isn’t healthy, and he might not be by the time training camp opens in August. Hill and McCoy are good depth, but shouldn’t be starting for a decent NFL team.

Defensive End is also a need, but I wouldn’t put it at #2 on the list as your readers did. The Seahawks have 2 starters in place, and Jason Jones will spend time at DE on running downs. Any DE picked will see fairly limited playing time, getting on the field only on passing down to replace the run-stuffing Red Bryant. The draft pick will also have to beat out Dexter Davis, who when healthy might be the best pass rusher on the roster.

Personally I think offensive line is a bigger need than all of you indicated. James Carpenter likely will start the year on the PUP list, and John Moffitt is still recovering from a major knee injury himself. Paul McQuistan is a good backup, but as of right now, he’s the starting LG. Deuce Lutui was added for depth, but has struggled with his weight and injury for his entire career. The Seahawks also lost their only promising young development tackle because of Jerriel King’s arrest for sexual assault. So the Seahawks could use a starting LG, and a couple of young players who might develop into starters down the road.

The RB need was partially removed with the signing of Kregg Lumpkin. Lumpkin is a serviceable backup, but are you really comfortable with going into a game with Lumpkin as the featured back if Lynch is hurt like he was last season for the Cleveland game? I’m not. I like Lumpkin, but he just doesn’t feel like someone who you’d want to be the centerpiece of an offense.

TE and WR are also interesting questions. Both have plenty of established players, but could use an upgrade. Miller and Morrah are great at TE, but McCoy was a major flop last season. The Seahawks have a ton of receivers, but aside from Doug Baldwin and Sydney Rice (when healthy) The Seahawks have a lot of roll players but not really any playmakers. Lockette and Durham might eventually become playmakers but neither should be counted on to make a major contribution until they’ve proven they can get open with regularity.

The other need I think has been seriously overlooked is the secondary. The Seahawks could really use a backup safety, who’ll get considerable playing time in the nickel package, now that Atari Bigby is gone. If the Seahawks choose to use Marcus Trufant in that roll as I’ve suggested in the past, then that only makes the lack of depth at CB even worse. Besides the starters and Trufant, there isn’t else  on the roster.

Walter Thurmond is struggling to return from yet another season ending. His career now seems in jeopardy. Maxwell is a great unknown, and have a tough time even getting on the field last season despite all the other injuries at the position. Kennard Cox is a special teams player. Roy Lewis, contrary to his popularity, played poor enough last season that the Seahawks didn’t even tender him a contract after the season. Lewis should have been a restricted free agent, but the Seahawks weren’t interested.

So the Seahawks are seriously lacking depth at CB. And that even before we get into just how overrated Brandon Browner is. Do Seahawks fans not realize that he gave up more penalty yards then all other CBs but one, or that only 6 CB gave up more yards than he did? I get that he had a bunch of ints, but on more than half of them, another DB made a play on the ball, and it was just tipped to Browner. The Seahawks might be ok with him going into this next season, but a long term solution at the position will need to be found at some point if he doesn’t improve.

So there’s an idea of what the Seahawks need to try and find during the draft. Obviously a LB or 2, then RB, DE, DB, 2 OL, WR and maybe a TE. so that’s 9 players… too bad the Seahawks only have 9 picks.