4 potential steals in the 2024 NFL draft if the Seattle Seahawks trade back
These players could be immediately impactful in 2024.
By Lee Vowell
If Seattle Seahawks general manager follows his trend from the 2010s, he will trade back in the 2024 NFL draft in order to still get a player he covets but also add extra picks. Seattle currently has the number 16 choice in the draft but then not another until the third round. Somehow adding a second-round selection would be a very good thing.
Of course, to do that Seattle would need a willing trade partner but also not pass up a player that could truly help Seattle at pick 16. Schneider certainly should not trade back just for the sake of trading back. Seattle needs to fill immediate needs, especially along the interior of the offensive line.
The good part is that even if Schneider moves back, he should, based on many mock drafts, have a chance of taking a player who helps the team early this coming season. New head coach Mike Macdonald would also likely relish the opportunity to coach some of the players worthy of trading back for. Should the Seahawks do that, here are four prospects they might choose.
These four players would help the Seattle Seahawks early in the 2024 season
Defensive back Cooper DeJean, Iowa
If there were a lot of defensive back needy teams in the 2024 NFL draft, DeJean would likely not even last until pick number 16. There is likely no spot in the secondary that he cannot play and do so at a high level. In his five two years at Iowa, he only allowed two touchdown receptions but intercepted seven passes. He took three of those back for touchdowns.
In fact, that last part speaks about another aspect of DeJean's game that he can do well which is return punts. He returned 31 in college and had a very good return average of 13.1. The point is that not only will DeJean help keep another team from scoring but he is almost as capable of scoring himself. The Seahawks need a ball-hawk that can replace Quandre Diggs and DeJean has the ability to do so.
His versatility would be perfect in head coach Mike Macdonald's scheme as well. Macdonald could disguise coverages as an offense could never be completely sure about where DeJean might line up. Another potential good part for the Seahawks, if not DeJean, is that the 6'1" and 205-pound defensive back is likely to fall into the 20s of the draft because he suffered a fractured fibula late in the 2023 season. He is back to running at full speed, however.