Is ___ ____ the perfect fit in the draft for the Seahawks?
By Dan Viens
A certain college player from a place not too far from Seattle might just be the perfect draft choice for the Seahawks.
So there’s this thing that the Seahawks do when scouting prospects and preparing for the draft; they go stealth mode. They do everything they can to avoid the appearances of looking hard at a certain player they covet. Want to know who they like? You’re better off looking at workout attendance lists that DON’T list the Seahawks as participants. They’re wary of all the eyeballs that are on them and their process, a process that’s produced one of the more remarkable personnel turnarounds in recent NFL history; from a roster that not a single General Manager would want in 2008, to one any of them would eagerly take just a few years later.
Never was their ninja-style scouting approach more apparent than in the now infamous 2012 draft. No one would have guessed they would select DE Bruce Irvin in round one, and they shocked everyone….including the player himself.…by taking QB Russell Wilson in the 3rd. They even told him he wasn’t going to be their pick.
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So with that in mind, trying to pinpoint who they like in the upcoming draft, a crucial one as they attempt to add to their talented core and extend their championship-contention window, is like trying to find a dime in a barrel full of nickels. Speculation runs rampant as draft pundits and analysts try to crack the Seahawks code.
But this year there’s one player who’s getting a ton of attention as someone who might be the ideal fit for what the Seahawks need, and I really wish they would all just shut the hell up.
For the sake of avoiding exactly the kind of attention I’m suggesting we don’t want, I won’t name the player. But suffice to say he fits the bill in a number of ways:
- He plays precisely the position that the Seahawks need to improve above all else.
- His strength as a player is in an area that is precisely where the team is most lacking.
- He’s versatile, capable of playing many spots in his position group, something the Hawks covet.
- He’s experienced, and comes from a major conference where he showed his ability against top competition.
- And, bonus…… he’s from the general region, and likely grew up as a Seahawk fan.
A couple months ago, when I started to realize what a great fit ___ ____ might be for the Seahawks, he was slightly under the radar, party because of the program he plays for and also due to the system he’s coming from (where there have been questions about skills translating to the NFL). But then his play on the field started to garner him national attention, as he was highly rated by one of the leading analytical statistics websites. Seemingly overnight his name gained traction. Maybe a 3rd round pick now? OK, still right in Seattle’s wheelhouse.
But this week he went and screwed everything up and blew up at the Senior Bowl, getting high marks and constant praise from the talking heads at the major sports networks. Worse yet, he took his practice performance into the game. He was impressive, further cementing himself as someone who could likely step in as a rookie, start right away, and make the Seahawks a better team.
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Is it possible that he’s now put himself in the first round conversation? Would the Seahawks, if they indeed covet him, have to spend the 26th overall pick to get him? Or, if they choose to wait, do they risk losing him to another team at the top half of the second round?
We will have to wait 3 months to find out, of course. But in the meantime, let’s all agree not to speak of ___ ____ by name anymore, at least not in connection with the Seahawks.