4 prospects the Seahawks must monitor at 2023 NFL Combine

The NFL’s scouting combine begins on February 28th and runs through March 6th. Some players the Seattle Seahawks might have high on their draft board currently might fall with a bad showing at the combine while others will rise. This is the way it will be for every NFL team.

This is what makes the combine so fun for fans. A few players will run faster and jump higher than we thought possible, while other players who we might assume will be great in the NFL will show up not in great shape and not lift as much as people thought they could. The combine is part of an entire interview process for getting a job and we all get to watch it happen.

The Seahawks, of course, already have eyes on many players. While they don’t know who they will pick already because they don’t know which players will be available, you can bet when head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider, among other Seattle brass, show up to the combine they definitely have several players they want to see how they do. Let’s just hope Seattle doesn’t get interested in a Malik McDowell-type player and draft him in error. McDowell did reportedly horribly in interviews at the combine and still, Seattle chose him in the 2017 draft.

Seahawks should monitor edge rusher Will McDonald IV of Iowa State

While Seattle will clearly be monitoring a bunch of players at the combine, I want to focus on four here. Each player on this list plays a position of great need for the Seahawks in 2023. McDonald does several things well that could help Seattle immediately and long term he could be one of the key pieces to the defense.

First of all, while McDonald is 6’3″ and 240 pounds, he is solidly built. In fact, he is so much so that he isn’t just a pure edge rusher and that’s it. He is good against the run because of his lower body strength. There is a decent chance he lasts until the second round as well because he is a bit overshadowed by bigger names like Will Anderson and Tyree Wilson. McDonald might be able to do a lot of the same things as Wilson, however, and should be able to bulk up a bit once in an NFL weight-training program.

McDonald also has traits that would help the Seahawks specifically. His best fit is probably in a 3-4 base which Seattle switched more to in 2022. Pete Carroll likes guys with high motors and McDonald is that personified. He also plays with a bit of a chip on his shoulder which Carroll likes. The reason Seattle needs to monitor McDonald at the combine is that he has excellent athletic ability and could do well enough where he rises up draft boards and isn’t around at pick 20 or early in the second round for Seattle to choose him.