Seahawks 2018 draft: Best options for Seattle at receiver
By Lee Vowell
Tight ends
Mark Andrews, Oklahoma
Andrews got to catch the ball a lot with the Sooners with 62 catches for 958 yards in 2017. This is one thing Nick Vannett did not get to do at Ohio State when Seattle took him. But Andrews is as good of a blocker as Vannett was and a much better receiver.
He is 6’5″ and 250 pounds so he is smaller than Jimmy Graham. But most likely, Graham will not be returning to Seattle. The Seahawks need someone to replace him with a tight end that can catch and Andrews could help fill his void.
Dalton Schultz, Stanford
Schultz is a more accomplished blocker than receiver right now and close to Vannett out of college. But Schultz may be a better blocker than Vannett was at OSU. He still needs to add some weight but he is 6’6″ so he has the length to do so.
He was also well-coached at Stanford so he should translate to the NFL pretty well with blocking alone. This is important as Seattle appears to want to get back to a much larger role for the running backs.
Dallas Goedert, South Dakota State
There is no doubt Goedert is an excellent receiver. Each of the last two seasons in college he had over 1,000 yards receiving. He also is a big target at 6’4″ and 260 pounds.
The biggest question about Goedert, of course, is whether he can translate all those receiving yards to something close to that production in the NFL. There might be less question about it had Goedert played at a bigger school.
Troy Fumagalli, Wisconsin
Fumagalli missed time in 2017 with a leg injury. But most scouts seem to predict the tight end can be a three-down player in the NFL. He may be more of what Seattle really needs at tight end anyway. Graham improved as a blocker with Seattle but he was never good. Fumagalli can fix that immediately.
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Luke Willson is also scheduled to be a free agent this offseason leaving Seattle with only Vannett set to return. It could be that Seattle chooses two tight ends in this draft.