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.
Offensive lineman Jackson Powers-Johnson, Oregon
Seattle has an abundance of needs along the offensive line. The team certainly needs a left guard to start in Week 1 of next season. Center Olu Oluwatimi was drafted in 2023 and was productive in college but he could not work his way into the lineup very much last season even though Seattle's starting center, Evan Brown, was not very good. Right guard could belong to Anthony Bradford, but Bradford wasn't very good either in 2023.
Jackson Powers-Johnson will likely still be around late in the first round (and possibly even in the second round where Seattle currently does not have a selection) as he is an interior lineman with no previous history of playing tackle. NFL teams like players who have position flexibility, but they also like players with tackle experience as that position is normally seen as more important than guard or center.
Very few mock drafts have Powers-Johnson going inside the top 20 of the draft so Seattle could potentially find a trade partner and move back into the early 20s, hopefully pick up a second-round choice, and then the Seahawks would choose the offensive lineman. Powers-Johnson could then be a Week 1 starter at either guard or center, though guard appears to be the greater need currently.
Powers-Johnson has been a standout this offseason, however. He was perhaps the best offensive player overall at the Senior Bowl. He also had a terrific NFL Combine where he did 30 reps on the bench press and had a 32" vertical (helpful for rebounding in case a basketball game breaks out in the middle of an NFL game, I guess). He is 63" and 328 pounds and strong enough to be very good immediately.
Defensive tackle Jer'Zhan Newton, Illinois
Devon Witherspoon might love this pick as Witherspoon played with Newton at Illinois. This might also help Newton's transition to Seattle and the NFL because Witherspoon would be able to help. But whether Witherspoon was on the Seahawks or not (and thankfully, he is), Newton would be a terrific pick at a position that is likely going to be one of great need for Seattle as soon as 2025.
In 2024, Seattle has talent with players such as Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed, and Dre'Mont Jones, but Williams and Reed are both going to be in their 30s and Seattle needs to add younger depth. Having players like that already on the roster is going to help Newton, however. He won't necessarily be forced to play 70 percent of snaps right away and he can better acclimate to NFL blocking by having time to adapt and learn from the veterans.
Newton has decent size at 6'2" and 304 pounds, but what really impresses is his athleticism and intelligence. He could overpower some college blockers, sure, but he also knew how to gain leverage and was great at reading the blocking assignments and getting around or through them. His athleticism is proven by the fact he led the FBS in 2023 with four blocked kicks which shows he can jump and run fast for a player his size.
To be clear, however, Newton, who is also called "Johnny," is capable of playing early in his career. A defensive line that features Williams, Newton, Reed, and Jones could be very formidable under Mike Macdonald. Most mock drafts have Newton going in the 20s (some even as late as pick 32), so he should be available if Seattle moves back.
Edge rusher Laiatu Latu, UCLA
There are a couple of mock drafts that have Latu going in the top 10 but there are just as many that have the edge rusher going late in the 20s. The discrepancy could be more about Latu's injury history than his production or raw potential as a player. There is little doubt that without his previous neck injury, Latu could easily be a top-10 choice.
Besides being excellent athletically, Latu has a motor and a need to destroy his opponents. He won't stay blocked long and even blocking him in the first place is a chore because he is intelligent in how he approaches both as a pass rusher and against the run. That kind of versatility is something Seattle desperately needs.
The Seahawks have a few capable edge rushers, but Darrell Taylor, for instance, can only seemingly inconsistently get to the quarterback. He is a liability against the run and is not a good tackler. A top-three edge rush rotation of Uchenna Nwosu, Boye Mafe, and Latu would give Seattle the type of sustained pass rush it has not had in years. But he would also make the run defense better by his ability to set a hard edge.
At UCLA, Latu did not have any medical issues. Before he transferred, though, he played for Washington and his career was in doubt due to a neck injury. While that does not appear to be a problem now, neck injuries, as 12s have learned recently with players such as Chris Carson and Kam Chancellor, could be a major issue for the player and person.