Marshawn Lynch News Provides a Small Spark Leading Up to the Draft

#Beastmode is now a member of the Oakland Raiders; Marshawn Lynch is a Seahawk no more

As we awoke this morning to see that pending a physical Marshawn Lynch will be a Raider, most of the news leading up to the start of tomorrow night’s NFL Draft was pretty slow.

On the surface it may seem that the Lynch trade is huge news, but there are more questions than answers for the perennial pro bowl running back. It’s been heavily reported through statistics that show that most running backs performance declines in their 30s. We’ll see if Lynch can restore his swag that he lost after going under the knife to repair a core injury.

For the Seahawks, the move to trade Lynch was to give one of their beloved players the ability to not only play for his hometown team but to beat up on the Seahawks-hated rival, Belicheck and company in New England.

A few weeks ago, I thought for sure that there would be mammoth fireworks news that a package deal was in place to send Sherman and Lynch to Oakland for more/better draft capital and perhaps a few experienced players the Seahawks would need (offensive line and cornerback). Those fireworks fizzled once Sherman reported to camp this past week (thank God!).

There surely will be some fireworks beginning Thursday night. Just how much explosion will we see? Will it be as big as a roman candle? How about as big as a ‘Lightning Cake’, exploding every second? My hope is that the draft isn’t as exciting as a Black Cat firecracker like we saw in 2013.

Normal first round letdown?

For Seahawks fans, we certainly have been accustomed to a dud on the first night of the draft. We get all hyped up, mocking our drafts, choosing our top three guys, hoping that just once Mr. Schneider would pull the trigger and allow us to see the man we hope will lead us to the Promised land, put on that Seahawks NFL cap in front of the entire world.

But no, normally, we have to go to sleep dreaming about the next Tyler Lockett, the next Cliff Avril or Walter Jones (maybe not in this draft?).

Yup, the 2017 draft, by most pundits, is feeling like there will not be many superstars that are coming out to play on Sundays. Listening to John Clayton on 710 ESPN, even he gets the feeling that this year’s draft could be a dud.

I hope that it isn’t as bad as the 2013 NFL draft. Eric Fisher was the first overall pick. The Seahawks only four years later have two of the top five draft picks taken off the board from that draft. No knock on Luke Joeckel or Dion Jordan, but you would think if you were a top five pick, you would still be getting your mail sent to you in the same city you were drafted.

The 2017 NFL draft shouldn’t be a small firecracker in the whole scheme of things

There are a few players in the first round that I am really excited to see play on Sundays, unless they are playing against the Seahawks. I’m excited to see Christian McCaffery, not just because his dad used to play for the Broncos as a hated Seahawks rival, but because the kid is legit. I think of him as another Darren Sproles. That doesn’t come along too often.

I’m excited to see Leonard Fournette, as he could be a cross between LaGarrette Blount and Latavius Murray (now a Viking). I think the Day One winners will be the teams that get Deshaun Watson and John Ross. Mainly because their grit, their experience in big games and, of course, their talents will get them to the Pro Bowl faster than the rest of the Day One’ers.

Is Myles Garrett worth the number one pick?

Projected overall number 1 pick, Myles Garrett looks like a legit first rounder. I think even he may be thinking a number one rating may be too high. I have no empirical evidence, just a gut feeling. He will do well in the NFL, but I have a hunch that he may not be one of the NFL’s top 5 Number One picks looking back.

One of the main things I enjoy watching for are the trades during the draft. We get that alert on the TV saying that a team traded their pick to move back into the draft. We get this weird sinking feeling because we are forced to see change right in front of our collective eyes.

Almost every trade affects another team, especially the one we root for, so we have to know what team is trading what. We see if the value of the move was good, and of course ultimately see who the team that moved up decided to get.

Those of us old enough to remember the 2011 draft and the Eagles moving up just before the Seahawks can remember feeling that same sinking feeling, but this time it could’ve been a direct hit against us. Most of us were rooting for the ‘Hawks to take someone like Earl Thomas. Some of us laughed our butts off when we saw that the Eagles moved all the way up to take a DE..whew!

What jubilee we felt when cousin Earl was taken off the big board. Of course, we’ve seen that he may be the best NFL defensive draft pick in our history. So, we love the NFL draft night trades and sometimes we don’t.

The Seahawks on draft night

It remains to be seen if any NFL GM will get to open his present on draft night or if he decides to put the present on lay-away. My bet is that the Seahawks will do just that, by trading out of the first round to gain an additional pick. They may do that again in the third round, as they choose multiple times in that round.

By the end of the draft, the Seahawks’ seven draft picks will magically turn into nine or ten. It is reported that the Seahawks are only swapping a late-round draft pick for Marshawn in 2018. I think doing this strategy is like drafting an OL with a team’s first pick. It isn’t sexy but it can yield high dividends in the end.

Either way, as I yawn while writing this, the hub bub leading up to the 2017 NFL draft is uneventful and rather boring. Let’s hope that the draft itself isn’t boring and moreover, the guys we choose will help lead the team to multiple NFC championships and of course to help Russell Wilson hoist the Lombardi like we all hope he will again and again.