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.
Sometimes you catch a break, and sometimes you make your own
After that stoke of luck, I thought, WWJSD? You know - what would John Schneider do. John would go for the kill and strike a deal, of course. So I did much the same. The Seahawks still needed guards, so I offered a few deals until I got close to what I wanted. as I've mention in previous mock drafts, Pro Football Focus doesn't allow you to make ridiculous trades. Okay, technically it does, but only if you hit the little button that says, "force this trade". And what's the fun in that?
So I talked with the Buffalo Bills, who needed a wide receiver. They also happened to have the 28th overall selection this year. Now don't get mad, 12s, but you all know there's been a lot of talk online about trading DK Metcalf this year. Mike Salk said they should, while Brock Huard said there is no way this will happen. Our own Lee Vowell broke down four potential trade partners for Metcalf while maintaining from the start he does not want this to happen. For those 12s who don't believe there's been much buzz around this idea, you're right. There are only about 319,000 results for the Google search, "Seahawks should trade DK Metcalf."
The thing is, I really wanted that number 28 pick from Buffalo. They drove a tough bargain, and I had to adjust my offer twice before it was accepted. I sweetened the deal by adding Seattle's 81st pick from round three and the 118th pick from round four, plus the Hawks' second-round pick from 2025. Yes, it was a lot, and yes, it hurt. But in the end, I bit the bullet and traded all that plus the Seahawks' former second-round pick, wide receiver Dee Eskridge, for the Hawks' second pick of this year's first round. What, you thought I was crazy enough to trade away DK Metcalf?
Anyway, I got one of the players who's been mocked to the Hawks several times already, Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson. I don't know anything about him; I just thought it would be cool to have another hyphenated guy on the offense. Okay, so, yeah, JPJ was easily the highest-rated interior lineman left on the board at that point. He played exclusively at center last year, but he has over 450 snaps on his resume at guard, too. PFF has the 6'3" 320 lb junior ranked as the 19th player overall, while the NFL Mock Draft Database (the Big Board) ranked him 24th, and projected the Steelers to snatch him with the 20th pick.
I have to laugh at the NFL's own draft projection, as they wrote, "Despite average athleticism, he doesn’t seem to have many issues in pass protection..." Well, considering he gave up three hurries, one quarterback hit, and zero sacks throughout his collegiate career of 1,355 snaps. Please note that wasn't written as he projects to have little difficulty in the NFL, but that he doesn't seem to have any issues. Jackson Power's Johnson could easily start at left guard for the Seahawks and would be their second-straight Rimingtown award winner as the nation's top center, following Oluwatimi.
Seahawks day three sees the Hawks hit top value picks and needs
After the trade of Met- sorry, Eskridge - the Hawks were left without their third-round pick. They headed into the draft without a pick in the second round, as we all know. I picture Leonard Williams as more than worth it, though. I decided to stand pat and celebrate landing the best interior linemen on both sides of the ball in this draft. With this draft, I pulled two hot names buzzing on the interwebs. So it's possible I had a draft beverage or three. Okay, maybe I had just two sips since the simulation of day two took about two minutes. On we go to day three.
I kicked off the fourth round with the 102nd overall selection by taking Boston College guard Christian Mahogany. PFF ranks the 6'3" 314 lb senior as the second-highest prospect at guard and at number 92 overall. The Big Board slots him at 97, while NFL Draft Buzz places him at 96. So to get a consensus third-rounder on day three, even if it's just a few slots lower, was a nice win.
He played 706 snaps as a true freshman for the Eagles, all at left guard. He moved to the right side in 2021 and had exactly 706 snaps again. He improved from eight QB hurries and three sacks to four hurries and just one sack.
After missing all of 2022 with an ACL tear, he rebounded with a stellar 2023 campaign. He allowed seven hurries but gave up zero QB hits or sacks. NFL Draft Buzz describes him as Seahawks' in the run game. Sounds quite a bit like the Seahawks former road grader, the massive D.J. Fluker. Despite his success, PFF agrees with Draftbuzz that he could use some refinement in his pass-blocking technique. I'm pretty sure Scott Huff can help him with that. One would think that a guy who's given up one sack in over 1,500 snaps has some pretty good foundational skills already.
Hawks score a hit and a maybe in the sixth round
Again, I stood pat and let the draft come to me. Time for another couple of sips of a frosty beverage as the fifth round blew by. In the sixth round, I switched back to defense. Gotta keep coach Mike happy, you know. Since you can never have too many edge rushers - and really, can you have too many of any position in the NFL - I added Michigan's edge Jaylen Harrell. PFF ranks him 182nd overall, Draft Buzz at 206, while the Big Board slots him at number 202 (although some mock drafts see him going as high as pick 127).
The 6'4" 250 senior racked up six sacks in each of his last two seasons at Ann Arbor while boosting his overall pressures a bit from 24 to 27 as a senior. According to Draft Buzz, one of his three most comparable players when coming out of college was the Seahawks' budding star Boye Mafe. While his 4.55 40 time places him at the 97th percentile of edge rushers, he'll have to work on the rest of his game. He won't turn 22 until the week after the draft, so he's got time to improve his run defense. Right now, he projects to be a bit like a Darrell Taylor 2.0. For a sixth-round pick, that's not a bad thing.
I'll admit, Harrell is a maybe. But I'm pretty happy I managed to get Purdue halfback Tyrone Tracy with the 192nd selection of the draft. The Seahawks running back room took a hit when Deejay Dallas signed with the Desert Chickens of Arizona. The 5'11" 209 lb senior will definitely be a project for the Hawks. He played his first four seasons at Iowa, then transferred to Purdue as a fifth-year senior. With the transfer, he also moved from wide receiver to running back. PFF sees him as the 175th prospect, the Big Board as the 179th, while Draft Buzz rates him considerably higher at 123.
For a guy with one season at the position, he did pretty well. He had over 700 yards rushing with a 5.3-yard average and eight touchdowns. He added 26 catches for 185 yards, although he didn't score through the air. As Lance Zeurlein wrote for nfl.com, Tracy will bring a lot of versatility to the lineup, as he has a lot of experience with gadget plays and lining up in multiple sets. Tracy has experience as a kick returner as well, so getting him this late in the draft was a big win.
Seahawks wrap up a sweet draft with another Swiss Army knife player
With that, we've reached the final pick for the draft for the Seahawks. I may have gone against the gospel of John here - John Schneider, of course - and just gone for a guy I liked, rather than strictly for need. The Seahawks now have three potential new starters at safety with the addition of K'von Wallace. Coby Bryant looked good last preseason, and Jerrick Reed II was a human missile strike until his season-ending injury last November. But, you can never have too many yadda yadda yadda, right? So I nabbed Nebraska safety Omar Brown in the seventh round with pick number 235.
The 6'0" 201 lb safety/nickel hybrid began his career at Northern Iowa. Yes, that's a D1 school, a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. In three seasons at cornerback, he broke up 13 passes, had seven interceptions, and added 39 stops. Oh, and his worst passer rating allowed was 52.9. He transferred to Nebraska for the 2022 season as he "wanted to play against better talent in a better conference." His words, not mine. As a senior transfer, he only got 53 snaps on defense that year. He made the most of it with two tackles, two assists, and one-stop. Not a bad rate at all. He adjusted to playing as the slot corner and at safety, yet kept his passer rating allowed at a solid 66.7.
As a fifth-year senior, he logged over 400 snaps as a slot corner and over 200 at safety, split between box and deep coverage. While he only had one pick, he broke up six passes, had 18 stops, allowed no touchdowns, and held opposing QBs to a passer rating of just 61.7. It's his versatility and his confidence that sold me on Brown.
PFF rates at number 213, while Draft Buzz sees him considerably lower at 284, despite their overall praise. That would put him out of the draft entirely, as there are only 257 picks this year, including all comp picks. Yes, the seventh round is full of reaches, but Seattle got Chris Carson and David Moore back in 2017. I'm all in on Omar Brown this year. Not like the Cowboys are all in, but you know, actually invested. Like the 12s are in the Seahawks.