Offensive tackles the Seahawks should target in the draft
By Geoff Shull
Every year teams lose valuable players to free agency and injuries. This year the Seahawks offensive line group is going to go through some turnover, namely at the tackle position.
Both Germain Ifedi and George Fant will be hitting unrestricted free agency. The Seahawks elected to not pick up Ifedi’s fifth year option for the 2020 season. Meanwhile, Fant was retained last offseason as a restricted free agent. Many, including myself, believed Fant would be more involved in the offensive line this year after a breakout season in 2018.
However, Fant only played 38% of the offensive snaps during the regular season. While it is still possible that Seattle retains one of the two free agents, nothing is guaranteed at this point. Fant has made it clear to Seattle that he believes he is a starting-caliber prospect, if he won’t start next year, he will not return.
The sexy option would be to go to free agency to fill the right tackle opening with an established player, such as Jack Conklin from the Titans. This is a very costly and risky move for the Seahawks to make. Quality offensive linemen rarely make it to the market. If they do it’s likely because they are seeking an astronomical amount of money, have difficulties with the locker room, or have off-field issues.
More times than not, players who make it to free agency are poor to slightly above-average offensive linemen. The problem with this is every team needs line help. As a result, these slightly above-average linemen get paid like they are a top tier player at their respective positions. Think back to tackle Nate Solder, who left the Patriots for the Giants on a record-breaking four-year $62 million contract. Or guard Andrew Norwell leaving the Panthers for the Jaguars on a record-breaking five-year $66.5 million contract.
Since being paid, both have been mediocre at best. Norwell finished the year sitting just above the middle of the pack on Pro Football Focus this season with a grade of 65.5, allowing 3 sacks and 8 penalties. Nate Solder finished below him on PFF with a 64.7 rating. During the 2019 season, Solder allowed the second-most sacks this year at 11, and cost the team 5 additional penalties. That’s a very expensive player, whose stats rival Germain Ifedi’s.
This brings me to the meat and bones of the article. The Seahawks should look to utilize the draft to replace Ifedi and Fant as opposed to spending big on a likely overpaid offensive lineman. These are three players I think Seattle should look to in the 2020 NFL draft. [Editor’s note: the photos below all depict the player comps, not the actual draft target.]