These combine studs will be long gone by the time the Seahawks draft
The Seahawks had hoped to sneak a few players past other teams. No doubt they still will, but these guys all staked their claim to draft positions out of reach.
The NFL Combine is all about measuring up. The Seahawks and the other 31 teams flock to Indianapolis every winter to watch large, powerful men jump high and far, run fast in straight lines and back and forth, and even take a really hard quiz. It’s important they do really well to maximize their draft position. Unfortunately for Seattle, several of the players they’ve been watching did too well and moved beyond the reach of the Hawks.
Lee Vowell wrote about a spectacular instance of this the other day, the freakishly talented receiver/demigod D. K. Metcalf. The only thing that makes me sad about this was the Hawks had a chance to get another alphabet guy, like D.J. Fluker and J.R. Sweezy. Yeah, I know the main alphabet guy, but I’m not jinxing anything by even mentioning him.
Anyway, Metcalf will take his 4.33 40 time and his 1.9 percent body fat to some crummy team with a losing record this past year. A player that both Lee and I have mentioned as a potential fit for the Seahawks is Hakeem Butler, the wide receiver from Iowa State. At 6’5″ and 227 pounds, he’s the prototype of the big receiver Pete Carroll has wanted since, oh, probably since he was five years old.
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Seahawks won’t land these combine standouts
You can see Butler is considered a bit of a project as he doesn’t have the greatest hands. You can also see that it’s something he should be able to improve. The problem for Seattle is his time on the 40. Not that it was bad, at all. While he didn’t come close to matching Metcalf, he wasn’t exactly a lumbering oaf, either, as he hit the tape at 4.48 seconds. At 6’5″ and 227 pounds, he’s an even taller target than Metcalf. And that’s the problem.
Before his performance at the combine, he was projected as a third to fifth-round pick. Now one site even has him going in the top ten overall. Frankly, it’s insane to think he’ll go ahead of Metcalf and Parris Campbell, just to name two. Then again, they have the Bills making the pick, so it’s certainly possible, given their draft acumen. Regardless, Seattle isn’t sneaking him past anyone now.
Another name that had been linked to the Seahawks was edge defender Montez Sweat of Mississippi State. His availability for Seattle was already pretty questionable at the 21st pick, but he’ll be long gone now. A lot like he was when he ran his 40 at the Combine. Sweat ran a 4.41 and set the modern record for a defensive lineman. That time would place him eighth among wide receivers, by the way. Not bad for 260 pounds, right? He’s almost certainly a top ten pick now.
Sweat’s teammate Johnathan Abram has shown up in more than a few mock drafts at safety for the Hawks. Known for his ability to play the run and level ballcarriers, he almost certainly took himself out of Seattle’s range with 4.45 40 yard dash. It’s not likely he’ll be the next Kam Chancellor. Okay, it wasn’t likely anyway, but he does fit that mold. Too bad it won’t be for the Seahawks.
Next. Pete Carroll speaks at the Combine. dark
You win some, you lose some. Just as a reminder, the Hawks have done pretty well with lower-round picks in the past. I have complete faith that Pete Carroll and John Schneider will work their magic again this April. But I sure wish Butler would somehow magically fall to us.