Seahawks 2024 7-round mock draft: John Schneider stands pat and wins

Given the abundance of trades Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider has made in past drafts, this may seem like madness. In this case, it worked. Read on for the incredible not-true story. I mean, it's a mock draft, people.

The phrases "draft day trade" and "Seattle Seahawks John Schneider" go together like peanut butter and jelly. Or peanut butter and chocolate. Or you know what's really good, - sorry, I got distracted. Anyway, most 12s know the history of the Hawks and trades. Since he came to Seattle in 2010, Schneider has made at least one trade every year during the NFL draft. Even those single events contain multiple picks, as in 2015 when Seattle traded four picks to get Tyler Lockett. Pretty solid move, as none of the four draftees Washington selected amounted to much.

Not to say Schneider's been a total genius. 2015 was also the year they traded Max Unger for Jimmy Graham. Blecch. But when it works, it works. Take 2019 as an extreme example. I think Schneider must have gotten double miles with every trade that year, as the Seahawks swung nine trades during the draft weekend. Three of those trades came on day one, although the only outcome of any import was the selection of L.J. Collier. Double blech. Day two proved to be a bit more propitious, as the Hawks landed DK Metcalf for a third and fourth-round pick. Super win, John!

Seattle Seahawks make no trades but still land a stud on day one

So to say I'm bucking the trend is an understatement. Considering that the Seahawks have 29 player contracts that expire after this season, they have a lot of needs. So maybe it's not the best year to stand pat with seven draft picks. But sometimes you have to shake things up, and since this is a mock draft, why not? It's not like John Schneider is goofy enough to actually do that. I do think he'd be pretty happy if the draft turned out this well, though.

In my mock, the Hawks stick at number 16 on day one and land defensive tackle Byron Murphy II. I managed to get Murphy in this previous mock draft, so feel free to jump there for the deets. For the tl;dr set, the 6'0" 297 Texas junior racked up 45 pressures while lined up in the A or B gap (stats per Pro Football Focus, subscription required). That's ridiculous production from those spots. It's no surprise that he's the consensus top-ranked defensive tackle in the draft, according to the NFL Mock Draft Database. He's most often compared to Aaron Donald. Yes, please.