Seattle Seahawks mock draft: with no early offensive linemen!
By Keith Myers
Round 2
Round 2, Pick 1: Vernon Butler, DT, Louisiana Tech
The Seahawks kicked off day two of the draft with a tough choice between Robert Nkemdiche from Ole Miss and Vernon Butler from Louisiana Tech. While the super-athletic pass rushing Nkemdiche was tough to pass on, getting a starting nose tackle to replace Brandon Mebane turned out to be the choice in the end.
At 6 ft 4 inches tall and 232 pounds, Butler has a size and strength to dominate against the run. He also is surprisingly explosive off the snap, allowing him to get into gaps and cause problems for the QB.
The one concern with Butler at this point is that he isn’t consistent with his pad level. He gets too high at times. Luckily, this is something that can almost certainly be fixed with proper coaching.
Round 2, Pick 25: Derrick Henry, RB, Alabama
With the DT problem solved and moratorium on picking offensive linemen this early, the Seahawks were clearly in “best player available” mode here at the end of the second round. That player turned out to be Alabama running back Derrick Henry.
Henry is an athletic freak that runs with both power and speed. At 247 pounds, he punishes defenders who try and tackle him. Henry doesn’t have much wiggle to his game. You aren’t going to see him make people miss. You also aren’t going to see one guy bring him down.
Henry isn’t an ideal fit in Seattle right now because of the sorry state of the offensive line. Hopefully the line play will improve over the next year so the team can get the most out of Henry’s skill set. For now, he can be the change of pace back. Henry can be a great between-the-tackles grinder as the counterpunch to the zone-stretch game with Thomas Rawls.
Next: Round 3