The first thing the Seahawks need to do is re-sign their excellent defensive end Frank Clark. The next thing? Give him a playmate at the other end.
The Seahawks had 43 sacks in 2018, which tied them for 11th best in the league. That’s pretty good, right? Room for improvement, but just outside the top ten is respectable. Well, it would be if more than half the sacks hadn’t come from just two players. Seattle needs to get to the quarterback more often, and defensive end is the best place to start.
As I said, more than half of the Hawks sacks came from two players. Frank Clark posted 13 sacks en route to his criminally overlooked Pro Bowl caliber year. Defensive tackle Jarran Reed added 10.5 sacks, the most Seattle has had at that position since the great Cortez Kennedy had 14 in 1992. The third highest sack count was just three, racked up by both Quinton Jefferson and Jacob Martin.
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That isn’t going to cut it. Sacks are no guarantee of success, to be sure. The Rams ranked just 15th in sacks with 40, and the Patriots were pretty dismal with just 30. Both of those teams have attributes that let them overcome that aspect, though, namely high-powered opportunistic offenses.
The Seahawks need a bookend for Clark, and the 2019 NFL Draft has plenty of potential choices. Lee Vowell ran down some of the names already popping up in mock drafts. We’ll look at a few more players today. But before we get to them, there are two players Seattle needs to avoid.
The Seahawks need to pass on these two players
First, let’s take a look at a couple of players who won’t be on the Seahawks short list. Or at least shouldn’t be, no matter what. I’ll start with Nick Bosa, the phenomenal end from the Ohio State University. Sorry, my sister-in-law made me write it that way. Yeah, I know Bosa will likely be long gone before the Seahawks take the 21st pick. But what if his injuries scare teams off?
The injury is exactly why Seattle needs to pass on him, unless he somehow falls into later rounds. He only played in three games last year after suffering a core muscle injury. Sounds a lot like his older brother. Joey Bosa missed his first four games with the Chargers in 2016 with a bad hamstring, then the first nine games last year with a foot injury. If Nick does fall into later rounds, of course he’s worth the risk. In the first round? No thanks. The Seahawks have a lot of needs, and too much history with players that can’t get on the field.
The second player is one whose name has popped up in mock drafts already. That would be Florida State defensive end Brian Burns. He’s got the height at 6’5″, but weighs in at just 235. You can be an edge rusher in college at that weight, but there are no ends in the NFL at that weight. You may recall the name Shaquem Griffin. In his last two collegiate seasons, he had more sacks and more tackles for a loss than Burns in his.
Burns might make an excellent linebacker, but he isn’t a first-round pick at defensive end. According to walterfootball.com, the teams they spoke with have Burns graded as a second round guy. At his height and weight, there’s just no way he could handle drive blocks by a beast like D.J. Fluker. Or much more to the point, someone like Andrew Whitworth or Joe Staley. Again, Burns might transition into an excellent linebacker. He broke up seven passes in his last two seasons. But a first round pick is a valuable commodity. As the Seahawks know all too well, you need as close to a sure thing as you can get, not a reach or project. That’s why they’ll trade down and look at these players.
Seahawks should move down to draft one of these three
Seattle only has four picks in the 2019 draft. One in the first round, then one each in the third, fourth and fifth rounds. There is no way they’ll stay in the first round. Yes, last year I said there was no way they would draft a running back in the first round. They promptly drafted one, taking Rashaad Penny. Undoubtedly this was just to make me look foolish. I need no assistance to do that, trust me. Ask me about Eddie Lacy if you need proof.
On to the defensive ends the Seahawks should be looking at. The first is Zach Allen, from Boston College. 6’5″ and 285 pounds, he’s noted as very tough against the run, but still had 16.5 sacks in his last three seasons. Allen added 40.5 tackles for a loss and broke up 14 passes in those three years. A player who’s stout against the run and can still pressure the quarterback. Sounds like Michael Bennett without the penalties. Allen might be gone by the second round. It all depends on how the draft plays out. CBS Sports has him ranked fifth, while walterfootball.com has him sixth.
Jaylon Ferguson shredded quarterbacks for Louisiana Tech. I’d be more impressed if he’d posted these stats for LSU in the SEC instead of Conference USA, but it’s hard to argue with 45 sacks in four years anywhere. Ferguson really cranked it up as a senior with 17.5 sacks and 26 tackles for a loss. Yes folks, that was in just 13 games. He also posted 65 combined tackles, defend three passes and forced two fumbles last year. The 6’5″ 262 pound Ferguson is ranked sixth by CBS, sixth by Sports Illustrated, and seventh by walterfootball.com.
The last player I’ll highlight (for now) is ranked ninth by CBS Sports and twelfth (for pure defensive ends) by walterfootball.com. Undoubtedly this is because it isn’t readily apparent that they play defense in the Big 12, and Charles Omenihu played his college ball at the University of Texas. I can’t vouch for the conference as a whole, but Omenihu can defend. He really came through as a senior with 9.5 sacks, 18 tackles for a loss, and 45 combined tackles. He’s very quick, shows excellent strength in shedding blockers, and at 6’6″ and 275, he’s no hybrid edge rusher.
Listen, if Bosa somehow falls to the second round, I’d be thrilled for the Seahawks to get him. But he’ll almost certainly be gone in the top ten, maybe even five picks. Seattle has a lot more needs to address than just defensive end. They’ve proven they can find talent in the lower rounds, and this is a year they need to get that done again.