Seahawks Draft 2017: A Look Ahead to 2022
By Lee Vowell
Everyone and their aunt has a mock draft and why not? Here’s another three round mock, with a twist…
I could really go off the rails here and lose all credibility. (I know what you are thinking, “Lee, what credibility?” Well, I thank you for your mistrust.) I could say…”with their first pick in the NFL draft the Seahawks select Joshua Dobbs, quarterback, University of Tennessee.” The Seahawks need a backup quarterback who will not break the law. Is Dobbs a safer bet in his expectations as a backup than any other player would be as a projected starter in Seattle’s first round?
Oh, I see you. Fans do not want who might best meet expectations. You want hope. You want someone who will fill an immediate role and take the Seahawks from near-Super Bowl contender to clear favorite? Fair enough. I give you, though, a first-three-picks mock draft that will offer Seahawks fans the most hope beyond 2017. Why? Because you want a championship in 2022 as much as you want one in 2017, right?
First Round, Pick 26
Sidney Jones, University of Washington, cornerback
Will Jones be ready in 2017? No. He will first overcome have to overcome his torn Achilles. Then he will have to learn the Seahawks way of playing corner. Step-kick and back…and then step-kick and forward. (It is a dance, you know.) The great thing about Jones in 2022 is that head coach Chris Petersen (because you know it is coming, right?; Carroll will have retired and Petersen will have become the head coach) knows Jones. Plus, Petersen is as great a college coach with the secondary as Carroll is in the pros.
Jones can be a beast. He will take Sherman’s place. Jones will be leading the new Legion of Boom, alongside two other great safeties. Sure, no one replaces Earl Thomas. But Thomas’s replacement, whomever he be, will be within close proximity.
Second Round, Pick 58
Takkarist McKinley, University of California at Los Angeles, defensive end/outside linebacker/punter
McKinley will not be taken in round one or two by the Seahawks this year. Fingers crossed. Seattle has more immediate needs. Seattle needs a cornerback who will play in 2017. They need an offensive lineman who hopefully can play tackle. They need a linebacker. But Carroll do be loving his pass rushers. And so does Petersen. And so does every other coach who ever coached football. McKinley will get run over in the ground game. But who cares? In 2022 McKinley will be the new Cliff Avril. Frank Clark will be the new Michael Bennett. Just wait until you see McKinley rushing Tom Brady in Super Bowl LVI. Brady, with four years left on his New England Patriots contract, will wish he never played a day over 43 years old.
Third Round, Pick 90
Dobbs, University of Tennessee, quarterback
Russell Wilson will be an old man in 2022. Have you seen the line he plays behind currently? Sure, he is only 28 years old. But behind that line he is 33 in Robert Griffin III years. The Seahawks need to find a replacement sooner rather than later. Dobbs sounds like Wilson. He plays a bit like Wilson. He cannot play as well as Wilson as a rookie or even a second-year player. But in year five? Well, what walks like a Wilson and talks like a Wilson is most likely a Wilson.
Think I am wrong? Check back in 2022 and tell me I am wrong!