Seahawks drafting a RB in round 1 is a terrible idea
By Keith Myers
Some fans want to see the Seattle Seahawks draft a RB in round one of the NFL draft, but doing so would be a serious mistake.
An unexpected result of my musings yesterday on Seattle’s RB situation was a particular debate it caused. Apparently there’s a group of Seahawks fans that think that Seattle should select a RB with their first round pick. I honestly cannot find a single reason to support that idea.
The argument for taking a RB early seems to boil down to a combination of Ezekiel Elliot making Dallas good and Seattle’s offensive struggles after Marshawn Lynch’s retirement. Unfortunately, both of those ideas are a good reason for Seattle not to take a RB in round 1, at least not this year.
The common ground in both of those cases is their offensive lines. Seattle’s offensive was fine with Thomas Rawls in the second half of 2015 once the OL solidified. The 2016 offensive problems stemmed not from Lynch being gone, but from further regression of the blocking.
Dallas was the opposite of that. They spent years building the best offensive line in the NFL before they added Zeke. Their team building strategy ensured that they’d get maximum benefit from adding a player of Elliot’s ability.
The other side of this coin, which also supports the theory that Seattle has no business wasting a 1st round pick on a RB would be Todd Gurley. Gurley has all the talent in the world, but languishes as an unproductive member of a terrible offense with the Rams because of poor blocking.
Any Seahawks acquisition at the at the position would lead to minimal improvement overall, if any. The talent upgrade from a player like CJ Prosise to, say, LSU RB Leonard Fournette, would be insignificant on the field due to Seattle’s terrible blocking.
Next: Seahawks making coaching staff changes
That is why it would be a major mistake for the Seahawks to draft a RB in the first couple of rounds. Those early draft picks must be used to improve the results on the field. Selecting a RB there won’t do so.