Seahawks Draft 2020: 7-round mock including trades

Round 2, pick 39: Julian Okwara, DE Notre Dame

The Seahawks have a glaring need on the defensive line. This draft has a decent amount of depth for DT’s and 3-4 OLB. What this draft struggles with, are potential 4-3 defensive ends, especially LEO’s. Julian Okwara to me, is the top LEO in the draft in terms of potential. The best part of it, he should be available into early day 2.

Okwara is a speedy, long, and athletic defensive end that plays with a red-hot motor. His first step is explosive out of his stance. He pairs his explosiveness with blistering speed around the edge. Watching his tape he blows by offensive tackles on a regular basis. When challenged turning the corner, Okwara possesses enough bend that he can effectively beat the tackles around the edge.

His pass-rushing toolbox has a nice base to it. However, he will need some time to refine and gain a better understanding of when to implement each. For now, his pure speed rush with the long arm is his bread and butter. This is very similar to Bruce Irvin’s staple rush. Although he is not refined, he finished his junior/senior year with the best-combined QB pressure percentage at 19.1% in this draft class. This bested both Chase Young and Curtis Weaver.

Seattle is in desperate need of speed, Okwara would more than make up for that. If it hadn’t been for his injury many analysts expected Okwara to blow up the combine. In year 1, Okwara will likely be used as a rotational piece alongside Bruce Irvin and Benson Mayowa. However, he should have no problem taking over in year 2. He has star potential written all over him.

Round 2, pick 59: Matt Peart, OT Connecticut

In free agency several stop-gap players were added to the offensive line such as Brandon Shell, BJ Finney, and Cedric Ogbuehi. While all 3 players having starting potential today, it is a clear need that Seattle needs an insert of young, high upside players to groom.

The Seahawks would be wise to take advantage of a very strong offensive tackle draft class this year. The player drafted needs enough versatility to take over for either Brandon Shell at right tackle or Duane Browns (if he retires) at left tackle. This brings me to Matt Peart from UConn.

Peart has the athleticism and size Seattle covets. He stands at 6’7”, 318lbs with 36-inch arms. At the scouting combine, he put up some very solid numbers including 26 bench press reps (which is very impressive for a player with such long arms), 30” vertical, 113” broad jump and a solid 5.06 40-yard dash. What these tests show is that he has explosiveness. He placed between the 75th to 94th percentile in the vertical, 40-yard and broad jump. Seattle focuses on explosiveness as it shows how quickly a player can get out of their stance to pop the opposing defender.

The most important thing to me about Peart is he has experience at both left and right tackle. He has functional athleticism that needs a decent amount of technical refinement. Think of him as Germain Ifedi 2.0. I know, I know, that is a terrifying comp. However, both are incredibly athletic and possess exceptional size. The difference between the two is that Peart’s coaches say he is like a sponge when it comes to learning. He simply loves to learn and has a desire to be great.

That’s where Ifedi struggled, he has all the physical gifts. He just had such a hard exterior that made it hard for coaches to get through to him and played in-game with a soft interior that allowed defenders to get into his head. Peart has All-Pro potential, he will just need a year or two to develop. With Shell, and Brown already established as the probable starters at tackle, this pick could pay dividends for years to come with time and technical refinement.