Seahawks 7-round mock draft finds success with luck and a big draft-day trade
Sometimes you have to be lucky to win the draft, and sometimes you need to be bold. In this mock draft, the Seattle Seahawks were both. John Schneider is known for bold moves, so in this mock draft, I did my best to follow suit.
The Seattle Seahawks have filled quite a few gaps in their roster already. John Schneider has done such a good job in free agency that for many draftniks, the mystery of who the Hawks will take with their first pick is no mystery at all. It isn't exactly a secret that Seattle needs guards, and with very little cap space left, perhaps the only way to address this need will be through the draft. Over the Cap estimates Seattle's cap space at $4.2 million, while spotrac.com sets a more generous $5.1 mil. Regardless, the Hawks' current draft slots are slotted at $6,0 million in compensation, so some deals will still need to be made.
With that in mind, clearly, my priority in this, my third mock draft for 2024, would be to find some big boys up front for Geno Smith, Kenneth Walker III, and their pals. At the same time, I'm aware of Schneider's draft mantra: draft for the best player available. You can hear this on the March 21st episode of Seattle Sports The John Schneider Show. Start at the 1:30 mark, when Schneider begins his explanation of how he incorporates need into the team ranking of draft prospects. As he says, "You don't go need until the end of the draft." So that explains my first pick of this mock draft.
Seattle Seahawks beef up the defensive line with their first pick of 2024
Yes, the Hawks re-signed Leonard Williams, still have Jarran Reed and added professional very large man Johnathan Hankins to their defensive line. And as is abundantly clear, the Seahawks are in desperate need of interior linemen. Maybe desperate is an exaggeration, but considering the following. Prospective starting center Olu Oluwatimi got one start and took 129 snaps on offense. Presumptive starter Anthony Bradford got 10 starts, all at right guard, but he was the lowest-graded blocker of all of Seattle's guards, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
The Hawks signed free agent guard Tremayne Anchrum, but he had just one start in four seasons with the Rams. He spent all of 2021 bouncing on and off the practice squad and has a grand total of 95 snaps in three active seasons. So you might see why guard is a priority for Seattle.
That is precisely why when the 16th pick of the 2024 draft came to my mock Seattle Seahawks, I promptly drafted Texas defensive tackle Byron Murphy II. Murphy is PFF's top-ranked defensive prospect on the interior line. In fact, he's their second-ranked defender overall, immediately behind cornerback Cooper Dejean. As you probably know, Seattle already has some good corners; besides, Dejean was long gone at number 16. For the record, so was draft darling offensive tackle Joe Alt.
So why not address the Seahawks clear need at guard? Uh, does "best player available" ring a bell? Tackle Troy Fautanu, a name with which you're familiar if you clicked your links like a good little 12, was already off the board too. Picture a 6'1" 300 lb DT who is often compared favorably to Aaron Donald. Now picture he plays twice as much at the A gap as his 6'4" 362 lb behemoth teammate, T'Vondre Sweat. Byron Murphy is a monster, as nfldraftbuzz.com will attest. Despite playing all but 17 of his snaps inside the opposing tackles, he racked up six sacks and a ridiculous total of 40 pressures. If he falls to 16th in the real draft, I guarantee you the Hawks will snap him up without a second thought.