Mel Kiper Big Board: Best players for the Seahawks on Day 2 of 2024 NFL Draft

Mel Kiper is still the king of the draft gurus. After Day 1, here are his top-ranked players, highlighting the names the Seattle Seahawks are most likely to target.

If you told me before the draft that John Schneider would stay at pick number 16, I'd probably have recommended you pay a visit to your doctor. But as it played out, it made perfect sense for the Seahawks to take the best defensive lineman in the draft, Byron Murphy II. The only issue now is that the Hawks currently don't have another selection until the third round at number 81. Schneider has been nothing if not creative in the past, though, so I don't doubt he'll find his way into the second round tonight.

As Mel Kiper's Big Board covers his first 150 prospects, Seattle will most assuredly have a shot at some of these players. In case you fell asleep last night, 32 of them are gone. The players that were actually selected don't quite match with Kiper's picks. But as he explains in his rankings, it isn't meant to be a mock draft, but his personal rankings of the best players in the draft. Let's see who's left.

Seattle Seahawks could still draft some of Mel Kiper's favorites

The first round is in the books. I'll highlight the few players that Kiper highlighted as his top 25 that are still available, then dig into players that Seattle may be able to pick up later. If the Seahawks don't make any moves at all - which would be unbelievably weird - they'd still have three of the top 150 selections. That's not exactly a lot, considering the Cardinals have six picks remaining, and already drafted two players in the first round. Alright, on to the surprises that fell out of the first round.

Cooper Dejean, DB

Kiper had him ranked 14th, and virtually every site had him in the top 20. Yeah, it was a weird draft as no defensive players were taken until number 15. But three cornerbacks were eventually selected. Granted, they were all in Kiper's top 25, but it's still surprising that the versatile Iowa Hawkeye dropped out of the first round. If the Hawks do trade up, they have far more needs than a defensive back, no matter how good he is. But dang, it's tempting.

Edgerrin Cooper, LB

Kiper rated the Texas A&M inside linebacker as his 26th prospect. Almost every other site projected him as a second-round pick, somewhere between 45 and 59 overall. Consider this: not only were the first 14 picks all on the offensive side of the ball, but five offensive linemen and four wide receivers were taken in the last half of the first round. Cooper would be a much better fit for Seattle, as both Jerome Baker and Tyrel Dodson are on one-year show-me contracts.

And that, dear 12s, sums up the players that Kiper missed. 30 of the 32 players he identified as his personal choices were drafted in the first round. Granted, he wasn't close to the correct order, but who was? To his credit, he had both Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix going in the first round. Most sites saw both QBs as second-round picks. You're dying to know who the two players are who screwed it up for him, I know.

The first was offensive tackle Jordan Morgan, taken by the Packers at number 25. Kiper ranked him at 34, barely outside the first round. The other spoiler was wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, taken at number 31 by the Niners. Leave it to them to ruin a good thing, right? Kiper rated the Florida Gator at 39. Most sites ranked him in the mid to late 40s, so I can happily say that he seems a bit of a reach. Whether the Hawks move up to the second round or not, there's plenty of talent left on Kiper's Big Board.

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