Seahawks 2021 NFL draft: Landon Dickerson would make Russ happy

Russell Wilson wants a better Seahawks offensive line. One way Seattle can get more talent is to draft center/guard Landon Dickerson in the second round of the 2021 NFL draft. Here is my preference, that Dickerson comes in and immediately replaces Ethan Pocic at center.

I have no ill-feeling towards Pocic. He is probably a good due. But while he is a lot bigger and stronger than I am, I am also not an NFL lineman and Pocic makes a living blocking defensive tackles. He isn’t strong enough to do that consistently well.

Landon Dickerson on the other hand is a massive human with great strength and won’t be so easily pushed around. Dickerson also played at the University of Alabama so he is well-coached and is used to playing against SEC players. SEC players lots of times become good NFL linemen so Dickerson isn’t going to be intimidated by his competition.

Seahawks need Landon Dickerson’s size

Dickerson is 6’6″ and 325 pounds so he is a lot bigger than Pocic and already big and strong enough to play in the NFL. The good thing for the Seahawks is that tackles are valued more than guards or centers when it comes to draft capital and Dickerson is never going to be a tackle in the NFL. He doesn’t have the athleticism.

But that is OK because he has the strength to play in the interior of the line. In college, he allowed just one sack and four quarterback hits in his last three years. His performance got better every year which is obviously what you want to see from any player. According to Pro Football Focus, Dickerson had more pancake blocks than any other college lineman in 2020.

The biggest concern about Dickerson is the health of his knee. He tore his ACL in December 2020 in the SEC championship game. While he did come in for one play in the national championship game, it was only for the last meaningless play when no one was going to hit him. Will Dickerson be ready for the 2021 NFL season?

Of course, NFL teams don’t choose players to be one-year players. Draftees are chosen based on the hope they will be successful in the future. If Dickerson plays center (and he should as that is his natural position), then he will play next to right guard Damien Lewis and the two young players should form the heart of the Seahawks line for many years to come with Russell Wilson at quarterback.