3 boom or bust prospects the Seattle Seahawks could draft in 2023
By Lee Vowell
The Seattle Seahawks enter the 2023 NFL draft with quite a bit of high-end draft capital. Seattle has two first-round choices and two second-round picks. And that is currently. It could be with a trade down from pick 5 overall or some other maneuvering, Seattle ends up with more first-round picks or more second-round ones.
But in the 2022 NFL draft, Seattle general manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll, among others who have input, didn't overthink their picks. Instead, Seattle chose smartly and wisely for positions of need and chose those players who they thought might help them most in the long term. That said, no one thought fifth-round choice Tariq Woolen would immediately be as god as he was, but I digress.
My point is that the Seahawks don't need to overthink the 2023 draft, either. This draft, if done correctly, will add an abundance of talent to an already talented roster and could push Seattle into a championship contender by 2024. But at least three players on Seattle's board might turn out to be great. Or, well...complete disasters.
Seahawks draft 2023 boom or bust No. 1: Lukas Van Ness
Van Ness has all the physical ability to be great. But why was he not great enough at Iowa to ever start. I get the fact that even though he didn't start any game ever he might have been a very valuable member of the defense. But, still. Him not starting is either wretched coaching or something else we don't know about.
The fact is that currently Van Ness is a workout monster with speed and agility, but not much else. His technique needs a lot of coaching and he has no inside pass rush move to speak of. The problem is that he isn't that good against the run either. So was he working out so much in college that he didn't study film enough?
But Van Ness has the natural ability to be a disruptor. In two years he could develop into a very good edge rusher rusher who can play all three downs. But he is without a doubt a risk and there is no guarantee he is anything but a well-built athlete who isn't a good NFL player.