Mock Draft Monday: Seahawks go defense early

Round 5: Seahawks select Anthony Gordon, QB WSU

The Seahawks will be looking to address their backup quarterback spot once again this spring. Typically, they have gone with a veteran or a UDFA type of talent, but with Anthony Gordon falling into the early 5th, they should snap him up and lock up the position for the next 4 years.

What is interesting about John Schneider is that he grew up in the Green Bay Packers organization, but has forged his own identity in two ways. First, he is much more aggressive on the trade market than his old organization, both in the draft and on the veteran market.

The second is his lack of spending on the quarterback position, at least in terms of draft picks. Green Bay used to take a QB every year, let them grow up behind Brett Farve, and then trade them away in 3 years. It worked with the Seahawks own Matt Hasselbeck and is an excellent way to turn 5th and 6th round picks into 2nd and 3rd round picks. But Schneider hasn’t done it yet. I think Gordon should buck the trend.

It would be really easy to compare Gordon to the man whom he replaced at WSU, Mr. Gardner Minshew. But Gordon is nowhere near the personality of Minshew, so heaping that expectation on him would be unfair. But Gordon does a lot of things really well.

He throws a good, catchable football. He can extend plays with his legs. Gordon also takes good care of the football, which isn’t always easy to do in the air raid. He also shows good leadership skills and has battled adversity in his career, a skill often overlooked when evaluating quarterbacks.

Gordon doesn’t have the elite arm talent, but he’s not working with a pea-shooter either. He posses the necessary arm strength to fit balls into tight windows and throws with good anticipation and rhythm.

He only started for one season in college, so he has some fundamental things to clean up. His footwork and throwing fundamentals can both get out of whack and he will stare down his primary read longer than he should. But these are all things that can be fixed with time.

In Seattle, there would be no pressure or expectations placed on Gordon, who can focus on adding strength and learning an NFL offense behind the games best, Russell Wilson.