Former Seahawks head coach reveals Seattle got a great gift in 2024 NFL draft

The Seattle Seahawks did not end up solely taking who the team saw as the best player available in the 2024 NFL draft. Maybe the best player available did fit a position of need too, of course, but based on nearly every pick between rounds two and six, general manager John Schneider made choices based on the best player who would help fix a position that begged for assistance.

Even in the first round, maybe Schneider thought the defensive line was a greater need than the offensive line and so Seattle took defensive tackle Byron Murphy II. Seattle could have also taken offensive lineman Troy Fautanu and that would probably have been fine as well. Murphy and Fautanu should both be Week 1 starters in 2024.

One likely did not wonder what Jim Mora would do if he was still trying to help the Seahawks win games. Mora only coached Seattle for one season and did not lead the team to the playoffs. To be fair, he was given a roster that even Pete Carroll could not turn into one with a winning record in the year after taking over for Mora.

Former Seattle Seahawks head coach Jim Mora discusses Christian Haynes

Sure, the 2010 Seahawks went to the playoffs. They also won the NFC West with a 7-9 record.

But indirectly, Mora is back helping Seattle. He is currently the coach of the UConn Huskies football team and has been involved in that program since 2021. That means he has been around or been the coach of the Seahawks' third-round pick in the 2024 draft, guard Christian Haynes. Haynes has the size, starting experience in college, and tenacity to be a Week 1 starter at right guard for Seattle. He could eventually be a Pro Bowler.

Mora was recently on Seattle Sports 710 AM's Bump and Stacy program to discuss how Haynes could immediately help Seattle. The coach not only raved about Haynes the player but Haynes the person as well.

Mora said, "(Haynes is) as good a person as I’ve been around in 40 years of coaching. I’m just really excited for him. Really, as a Seahawks fan my whole life, I’m really excited for the Seahawks...He’s consistent, but he’s just dog tough. Nothing rattles him. He’s going to fight through the end of every play...You know, a nastiness that I think you have to have at that position in order to be successful in the National Football League."

Haynes should slide into right guard next to right tackle Abe Lucas (or George Fant if Lucas isn't physically capable of playing). He would need to beat out Anthony Bradford but Haynes has the physical attributes to do that. If Jim Mora is correct, Haynes has the correct mental approach to winning the starting spot as well.

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