Nightmare NFL Draft scenario for Seahawks confirmed as a possibility

The Seattle Seahawks have some needs in the 2024 NFL draft. Even though general manager John Schneider signed left guard Laken Tomlinson this offseason, Seattle still needs to find interior offensive line talent early in the draft. Drafts, of course, are not just about one-year fixes, but long-term fixes.

This means every NFL team needs to get their early picks correct. The first and second-round choices have the higher cap numbers and whiffing on picks means having a player eat cap that won't help the team for a few years. Schneider, to be fair, has hit as much on later-round picks as he has on early-round picks. Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor, and Riq Woolen were all fifth-round selections, for instance.

Ideally, Seattle would find a way to add a second-round choice in 2024. They lost that choice when the team traded for defensive lineman Leonard Williams midway through the 2023 season. The best way for the Seahawks to get that pick back is to trade back in the first round and pick up the team's traded partner's second-round selection.

Seattle Seahawks choosing Kris Jenkins in the first round would be a mistake

If Seattle moves back, great. However, even after trading back, Seattle cannot whiff on its first choice. If FOX Sports' Rob Rang is correct, Seattle will make a horrible choice in the first round after trading back to pick 28 with the Buffalo Bills. With choice 28, Rang has the Seahawks taking defensive tackle Kris Jenkins from Michigan. What a massive mistake that would be.

The issue is that many have Jenkins projected to be a late-second or even a third-round pick. According to NFL Mock Draft Database, the average pick for Jenkins among all drafts is 50. The highest rank, excluding Rang's, is 39. Bleacher Report has Jenkins as a third-round choice with the "potential" to start one day. First-round selections should not be perceived as "potential" starters but as assumed starters.

Rang does not even give a good reason why Jenkins is worthy of a first-round pick other than he played for new Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald at the University of Michigan for one season (2021). John Schneider might want to give Macdonald the gift of taking a player he once coached, but why not linebacker Junior Colson instead of Jenkins?

Worse, Rang has Duke guard Graham Barton going to NFC West rival San Francisco 49ers at pick 31. Barton is more needed by Seattle than Jenkins. Barton could also be a 2024 starter while Jenkins might never be a consistently productive player.

Let's hope that Seattle does trade back in the first round and adds a second-round pick. Then let's hope Seattle grabs an offensive lineman or a different interior defensive lineman than Kris Jenkins. Taking Jenkins, who is not strong enough or big enough to produce right away, would be a mistake in round one, though spending a second-round choice on him would be better.

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