Seahawks mock draft 6.0: Post-Quinton Dunbar trade
By Lee Vowell
Round one, pick 27 – A.J. Epenesa, defensive end, Iowa
A.J. Epenesa can get to the quarterback. In three seasons at Iowa, he had 22 sacks and 30.5 tackles for loss. He is 280 pounds and really strong. The Seahawks like players who are able to bullrush and that is exactly what Epenesa is extremely good at doing.
There are not a lot of weaknesses to Epenesa’s game. He even played a 4-3 in college so he already should know what the Seahawks would expect. No, Epenesa is not the quickest guy and at first NFL offensive linemen might simply use Epenesa’s strength against him by keeping him from getting around them.
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But Epenesa is a smart player who will eventually adapt and adjust and find ways to take down opposing quarterbacks. How quickly he adapts is completely up to him. But there appears to be no doubt about his motor or drive so there should also be little doubt that he will get to be where the Seahawks need him to be.
Where is that? That would be 8 sacks or more. Even rookies have shown the capability of getting 10 sacks or more. In the Seahawks system, I would not expect that for Epenesa but surely Epenesa would not be the bust that L.J. Collier was in Collier’s rookie season of 2019. Let’s just hope that Epenesa is still around at pick 27 should the Seahawks not trade out of that spot.