Seahawks 2021 NFL draft: Grades for each Seattle pick

The 2021 NFL draft is officially over. The Seahawks chose four players. Seattle clearly was looking for one thing in the draft and that was players who could increase the team’s overall speed. Both of the first two picks are burners. Seattle’s offense and defense are now faster.

The Seahawks also seem to choose players who are mature and can fit in right away. 2020 was a weird year for a lot of reasons. One important one is that NFL teams didn’t have a lot of tape on players they were thinking of choosing. Seattle decided to go with guys who were more known entities.

Whether the 2021 rookies will make Seattle better overall remains to be seen, of course. But there is no doubt if Pete Carroll trusts his newcomers to play, their speed should make a difference.

Here are the grades for each Seahawks pick in the 2021 NFL draft

D’Wayne Eskridge – Receiver – Second round, pick 56 – Western Michigan University

The Seahawks had a few needs but no must-haves heading into the 2021 NFL draft. One of those needs was a third option at wide receiver. Seattle can also use a kick returner full-time so that D.J. Reed and Tyler Lockett can focus more on their respective positions. Eskridge fits both the third receiver option and can be a really good kick returner.

I am not going to give Eskridge an A because those kinds of grades should be left for immediate impact players who change the fortunes of their teams. Eskridge should have an impact but probably not a consistent game-changer. Still, he is going to help take the focus of Lockett and D.K. Metcalf and is going to beat NFL defenses several times with his sub-4.4 speed.

Grade: B

Tre Brown – Cornerback – Fourth round, pick 137 – Oklahoma

D.J. Reed clearly has had an impact on Pete Carroll. Most people thought the Carroll-type corner needed to be tall and rangy with a huge wingspan. This worked well in the past with players like Richard Sherman. But Reed started halfway through 2020 and was really good. Brown is a lot like Reed but even faster. Brown can also, like Eskridge, return kicks.

Grade for a round four pick: B+

Stone Forsythe – Offensive tackle – Sixth round, pick 208 – Florida

Forsythe is a massive human at 6’8″ and 310 pounds and should gain more for the NFL. Bleacher Report had him projected as a first or second round pick. This would have been a bit surprising as Forsythe has a lot to work on, especially run blocking, but he has nimble feet and excellent size and with good coaching could be a starter one day. Finding a player like him in the sixth round? Awesome.

Grade for a sixth round pick: B+

The Seahawks had an excellent draft with only choosing three players. Of course, if we re-draft this in five years it could look differently. But, on paper, Seattle drafted three potential starters, and good ones, and all after round one.

Overall grade: B+