Seahawks fans' worst fears come true in this nightmarish 4-round mock draft

The 2024 NFL begins on Thursday, April 25, and the Seattle Seahawks have several position needs they need to address. General manager John Schneider, though, likes to choose the best player available until the very late rounds of a draft. Whatever Seattle has on their big board, which of course they are not going to let fans know how the board looks, Schneider may take whether the position has a need or not.

That is part of the issue. While Schneider has had some excellent drafts since he arrived in Seattle in 2010, many times those drafts have looked better because of the players Seattle got in the mid-rounds and not what Seattle did earlier in the draft. For instance, the first pick in 2019 was a huge whiff in the person of L.J. Collier, but DK Metcalf was taken in the third round so the entire draft was not awful.

2024 will be the first draft where Schneider has full control over who Seattle takes and who the team doesn't. Every other year, former head coach/Vice President of Football Operations Pete Carroll had the final say over every roster move. This means Schneider will be doing something this year that he hasn't done before and there will be a lot of pressure on him to be right. This is how he could go wrong.

How the Seattle Seahawks 2024 NFL draft could go very wrong

Nothing against Penix as he has an extremely lively arm and is better than almost any other quarterback in the 2024 draft. He can throw with velocity and accuracy to anywhere on the field. He would also be a fantastic fit in new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb's offense because Penix played under Grubb at the University of Washington. He is also a bit more athletic than some perceive him to be.

But taking Penix, or any quarterback, with the first pick in the draft while sticking at choice 16 overall hurts the Seahawks short term and long term. Seattle doesn't have a spot for a quarterback on the roster as the team does not normally keep three. Having three quarterbacks hurts depth at a different position. Seattle doesn't need to release Geno Smith because that has a negative impact on draft space and Sam Howell is extremely inexpensive to have around through 2025.

Ideally, Seattle would trade back in the first round and take an interior offensive lineman or interior defensive lineman. Sticking at 16 means not adding a second-round pick and not choosing again until the third round. Taking a quarterback does not improve the roster.

Bleacher Report has Shipley projected as a fifth-round pick, but the mock draft I used for this weak draft (Pro Football Network) suggested Shipley high in the third round so I chose him. The idea of the Seahawks taking a running back so high in the draft seems ridiculous except that the team has chosen a running back in the second round in each of the last two drafts.

Seattle did not need Zach Charbonnet in 2023 after taking Kenneth Walker III in 2022 but Schneider and Carroll chose Charbonnet anyway.

Plus, Seattle does actually need a running back somewhere in the draft. The current roster only has Walker, Charbonnet, and Kenny McIntosh as running backs and Seattle needs a fourth. This means it is likely Schneider will take his fourth running back in three years in the 2024 draft. Let's just hope that's not too early.

Seattle does need a safety in the draft, but unless they get one really early then the team might as well wait until the late rounds and then hope that player exceeds their draft status. This is a shaky draft for safeties anyway, but over-drafting one would be a mistake because a team is likely just taking a player who may or may not help on special teams.

Brade doesn't have good range, is not strong enough to disengage from blockers when attacking the run, and takes bad angles on tackles in the open field. Brade would only increase the issue Seattle has had as far as tackling the last couple of years. He might be worthy of a sixth-round choice - maybe - but certainly not before that.

Bortolini is not a bad player and is fairly athletic for an offensive lineman, but he is more a jack of all trades than a master of anything in particular. He might also be more of a center in the NFL and the Seahawks probably need a guard instead. Olu Oluwatimi is hopefully good enough to be given a chance to start. Choosing Bortolini might add depth, but Seattle needs interior offensive line starters in this draft.

Bortolini also would probably get manhandled in the NFL. While athletic, he slides off of defensive lineman. He might simply work as an open gate against strong defensive tackles. If Seattle already had a good offensive line with youth, taking Bortolini in rounds six or seven might be OK, but Seattle doesn't so choosing Bortolini would be a waste.

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