Seahaws Draft Prospect Profile, Joe Dahl

With the NFL scouting combine underway in Indianapolis, we take a look at some possible Seattle Seahawks draft targets.

The NFL Draft is fast approaching and teams all around the NFL are working furiously to put together their draft boards. For the Seattle Seahawks, this is a crucial year for GM John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll. The last couple of drafts have produced more depth than superstars, but with their high-priced young core now causing annual salary cap constraints, they find themselves needing to hit on a couple starter-quality players this time around.

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Let’s take a look at some players who may appear to be a fit in Seattle, regardless of round.

JOE DAHL, OL, Washington State

Most of us are familiar with Dahl after seeing the stellar career he put together in Pullman, and he’s gotten a lot of chatter from Seahawks fans and draft geeks (and I use that as a term of endearment) recently. And for good reason. Dahl makes a ton of sense in Seattle for a number of reasons.

SPECS:  

• Height – 6’4″
• Weight – 299
• Arms – 33 1/8″
• 40 yard dash – 5.17

STRENGTHS:

Outstanding athlete who draws raves from coaches about his intelligence and work ethic. Extremely versatile. Started at guard for WSU before kicking out to left tackle the last two years. Outstanding in pass protection, and was rated as the best protector in the nation by Pro Football Focus in 2015.

Watch him work at the combine here today. He “makes it look easy.”

WEAKNESSES:

Playing in Mike Leach’s spread offense at WSU, Dahl is used to wider splits, working mostly out of a two-point stance, and pass protecting on about 90% of his snaps. But as he showed in the Senior Bowl, he has plenty of natural power and lean as a run blocker. There were concerns about his arm length, but he measured over 33″ in Indy, so the idea of him playing tackle isn’t that far fetched.

HOW HE WOULD FIT FOR THE SEAHAWKS:

Here’s the dilemma. Most analysts see him kicking inside to play guard in the NFL, but hovering around 300 pounds, Dahl doesn’t have the size the Hawks prefer out of the guards, particularly for the left side where the greatest need is. But Dahl is exactly the type of tough, smart, and versatile offensive lineman Tom Cable loves. If they see him as a starting caliber left tackle in their system, he could be an option. One intriguing idea I’ve seen floated is to have him play center. He’s the ideal size Seattle like for the position, he’s smart, picks things up quickly, and would be a massive upgrade in the middle of the pocket.

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The potential problem is that Dahl’s stock is rising quickly Pegged as a mid-round pick before this week by most, he could be working his way into the second round. Where he slots in the draft, and exactly how the Seahawks view his ideal position, will determine how likely he is to end up playing at CenturyLink Field in the fall.