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.
Seahawks should monitor wide receiver Josh Downs, North Carolina
As good as DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett are, they need more consistent help. Add to that the fact that Lockett isn’t getting younger and might only play at a very high level for two or three more years and Seattle will eventually have to replace him, Seattle needs to add a quality receiver who is going to be in a Seahawks jersey for years to come to help this coming season and beyond. Josh Downs might be that guy.
There is little doubt about Downs’s technical route-running ability and his hands. Both of those traits are NFL-ready. The concern would be if Downs can stay healthy for most of a season as he is just 5’10” and 175 pounds. Downs is tall enough but is he built well enough to take NFL-type punishment?
Still, his footwork is Doug Baldwin-esque and he can get himself open quickly. Downs also has the ability, much like Lockett, to line up inside or outside the line and beat his defender. If Seattle chooses Downs, he will also be faced with a bunch of one-on-one matchups, and Downs already likely has the ability to make NFL cornerbacks look silly.
Downs is probably an intriguing product to many teams as most teams can use more good receivers. The question is how Downs will test at the combine. If his 40 speed is much better than expected he will rise higher and likely out of range where Seattle wants to choose a receiver.
Seahawks should monitor cornerback Joey Porter, Jr., Penn State
Porter is an interesting prospect. He is a bit all over the mock draft maps as he could go midways through the first round or could fall into the second round. He definitely has the physical traits to play in the NFL and be a good corner, but he also needs to find the right system to be successful. He is 6’2″ and about 200 pounds, but he isn’t the quickest corner either.
Porter would be best in a press-man system. That is what the Seahawks used to run in the early 2010s when they had Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner. Of course, Seattle had safeties that were talented enough to erase any mistakes Sherman and Browner might have made. Quandre Diggs is a good safety for Seattle and he would come close to being as good as Earl Thomas was, but Seattle has no one nearly as good as Kam Chancellor.
If Seattle were to choose Porter, it might be a sign that they are wanting to get back to a 2013-style scheme. That is to trust the cornerbacks to shut down receivers and allow the front three or four to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Porter has the strength to play with any receiver in the NFL, but he also doesn’t have the quickness out of breaks to stay with a talented receiver who knows how to use Porter’s weaknesses against him.
All that said, if Porter runs a cone drill at the combine at blazing speed, he is probably going to definitely end up in the top half of the first round. If the Seahawks really want Porter, that means taking him as high as number 5 overall because he probably won’t be around at number 20. If Porter has a good combine, of course.
Seahawks should monitor defensive tackle Jalen Carter, Georgia
I don’t mean to suggest Jalen Carter isn’t going to be taken near the top of the first round of the NFL draft because he most definitely will (barring some weird off-the-field issue before the draft). Carter appears to be as NFL-ready as any player entering the draft could be. He’s got good size at 6’3″ and 300 pounds and could even gain some more size in an NFL weightlifting regime and still be as quick as he already is.
But the top slots of the NFL draft could go lots of different ways. Most likely, two of the teams currently choosing in the top five picks – the Texans and the Colts – will take quarterbacks. That leaves two picks before the Seahawks at number 5.
But if the Bears or Cardinals trade down (those are the other two teams besides the Texans and Colts who choose before Seattle), then all bets are off. There could be another quarterback-needy team – let’s say the Panthers – who moves up and takes the Cardinals’ or Bears’ choice. This would mean Seattle would probably have a choice between Jalen Carter or Will Anderson or Tyree Wilson.
Carter is a fantastic prospect but he isn’t going to work out at the combine and instead will just take part in the interview process and undergo a physical. The top 10 prospects in this year’s draft should all be good so a player not working out at the combine might scare a team or two. Still, if Carter is around at pick 5, Seattle has to take him, right?