The Seattle Seahawks hit big with their first pick, then take advantage of Lady Luck to maximize the rest of the draft in my second mock draft of the year. Yeah, there's no way this actually plays out, but stranger things have happened in the draft than this.
It takes a lot of skill to fill in the missing pieces of your team through the draft. A little luck never hurts, though. Maybe the Seahawks will have the same luck I did when the real 2024 draft kicks off on April 25th. The Hawks have a lot of needs to address, even more than when I initially ran this. That will become readily apparent when you look at the second round of my mock draft. But, I see a fairly simple way out of the corner into which I found myself painted. It was less tortuous than that sentence construction.
As with all the mock drafts I ran, I used the simulation on the Pro Football Focus site. Again, to run a full seven-round draft, you have to be a subscriber. Without a subscription, you can round a three-round draft. Subscribers can trade picks into the following year and trade players. That turned out to be an important point for this draft. Yes, there are probably dozens of other sites to run your own drafts. Go forth, and have fun. For now,
Seattle Seahawks hit the jackpot standing pat on day one
As you may have guessed from the accompanying photo, my fake AI John Schneider struck gold in the first round. Yes, I landed one of the few players in this draft who's been described as a generational talent. That would be Georgia tight end Brock Bowers. Go ahead, search "Brock Bowers generational". You'll get over 100,000 hits, and there's good reason for that. As quoted by J.C. Shelton for The Players Lounge site, Georgia coach Kirby Smart said, “Generational, I mean, I don’t know how to say it any other way."
PFF has Bowers ranked as the fifth overall prospect in the draft. The NFL Mock Draft Database - I'll just refer to it as the consensus board after this - rates Bowers as the ninth-highest prospect. As I mentioned in my first mock draft - you drooled all over that one, right - that site compiles 115 different big boards. That doesn't mean it's more accurate than PPF's rankings, or any other site. But it is an accurate reflection of the value across a broad range of draftniks.
So, why Brock Bowers? He won the John Mackey Award as the best collegiate tight end as a sophomore, then again last year in his junior season. He can line up in the slot or inline and has been an excellent blocker throughout his career. He missed some games with Georgia in 2023, one reason his draft stock has slipped a bit, from a consensus top-five to the top ten. But the 6'3" 243 lb Bowers can do it all. He even ran the ball 19 times for the Bulldogs, gaining over 10 yards per carry and five touchdowns. So, yeah, the Hawks would be thrilled if they stood pat in round one and still managed to draft this guy.
2nd pick: Hawks engineer a trade for the QB of the future
I cannot imagine John Schneider would be any less surprised than I was if Bowers fell to the Hawks with the 16th pick. Especially since Bowers would be the only tight end under contract with the exception of Tyler Mabry. You know, the guy who's had 15 snaps on offense in his career and spent 2023 on the practice squad. As it turns out, the Hawks will be in need of a tight end, as they released Will Dissly last week.
That presented a problem for my mock draft. As I mentioned earlier, I ran this draft a week ago - before the Seahawks made the roster moves to clear cap space. Great decision, except that in my draft, I traded Dissly and Seattle's third pick - number 78 overall - to Tennessee for their second-round selection, number 49 overall. So, that blew up my draft.
Except that it's highly likely the Hawks will re-sign Will Dissly. John Schneider said that the door wasn't shut on any of the players they had released, and Dissly would be a very likely target. So why would they re-sign him only to trade him? Well, they have over a month before the draft. Signing Dissly to a less costly deal only makes him even more desirable in a trade. So with Bowers in place, it's even easier to move on from Uncle Will, again.
Oh, yeah. so what would I do in the second round? Not much - just draft local hero University of Washington quarterback Michael Penix. PFF rates him as the 48th prospect overall, while the consensus board shows him 38th. He's still a little raw, which is why it would be terrific for him to have the chance to learn under the wing of Geno Smith. They've already begun that process.
And there's the fact that the Seahawks' new OC knows a little about Penix. I wouldn't be too worried about the fact Seattle hasn't called Penix in for an informal interview. What could John Schneider learn in two hours that Ryan Grubb hasn't discovered in two years? The 6'2" 216 lb Penix would be a great pick for the Hawks, and well worth the trade.
Third pick: No worries, Coach: the defensive charge starts in round three
With Mike Macdonald in charge on the field, you'd certainly expect to see defensive talent show up on the Hawks draft board. It would have, but the availability of Bowers threw that out the window. That in turn set off a couple of dominos, allowing Seattle to move up and grab the heir apparent at quarterback. But we got your back, Coach Mike. Your guy is putting on his Hawks hat right now.
With their third pick and the 83rd overall, I have Seattle taking defensive lineman Kris Jenkins Jr. from the national champion Michigan Wolverines. In the past two seasons, the 6'3" 305 lb Jenkins dominated opposing linemen. As scouted by draftbuzz.com, Jenkins is best against the run but can hold his own in the pass rush as well. He's noted for his remarkable athleticism. He skipped the combine, as did many other top prospects. But he's been exceptional in individual workouts. Both his shuttle (4.33) and 3-cone drill (7.16) times were two-tenths of a second faster than any interior lineman posted at the combine.
Jenkins lined up in the B gap 526 times, and over tackle 332 times. So he's played in a lot of sets with four down linemen and five. We know how much Mike Macdonald likes versatility, and he'll get it with Jenkins. Considering he coached him in his sophomore season at Michigan, I'm sure he's well aware of what Jenkins can do on the field.
PFF has him rated as the fourth interior defensive lineman of the draft, while the consensus board places him fifth. Overall though, the consensus shows him as the 49th overall prospect, while PFF ranks him 53rd. Either way, getting Jenkins - the son of four-time Pro Bowl DT Kris Jenkins Sr. - with the 83rd pick of the draft was a terrific value.
Day three belongs to the defense - almost exclusively
The Seahawks would certainly open more than a few eyes if they used their first two selections on offense. I doubt there would be a single pair of eyebrows arched higher than those of new head coach, Mike Macdonald. Don't worry coach, I got your back on day three. Almost exclusively, as it turned out.
My version of the Hawks 2024 day three began by using the 81st pick on edge rusher Marshawn Kneeland from that perennial powerhouse, Western Michigan. The 6'3" 275 lb Kneeland is ranked as the ninth edge prospect by PFF, and the eighth-highest prospect according to the consensus draft board. There are a LOT of great edge rushers in this draft.
That's reflected by the fact that Kneeland is rated as the 61st overall prospect by PFF and 58th by the consensus board. In the past two seasons, he's racked up eight sacks and 50 hurries. He's rated just as effective against the run, too. Kneeland is the best Bronco to hit the NFL since John Offerdahl. Big shoes to fill, but Macdonald and his staff will certainly give him the best chance.
Sorry, coach, but if we're going to build on the offense Seattle put on the field last year, the Hawks need to beef up the offensive line. So I hopped off the defensive train for a moment and drafted PFF's fifth-ranked guard, Michigan's Zak Zinter. The consensus board rated him ninth among all interior offensive linemen, but they're a bit goofy as they lump centers in with the guards. PFF ranks the 6'6" 322 Wolverine as the 156th overall prospect, so getting him in the fifth round with the 151st pick worked out well. In three seasons at Ann Arbor, Zinter had just three sacks and five hits in 1,060 pass-block snaps. He gave up no sacks and no hits last season. Oh, and he's just as good in the run game.
We're in round six now, so it's hard to expect all gems here, gang. With the 194th pick overall, I went for Ole Miss safety Daijahn Anthony. PFF ranked the 6'0" 205 lb 14th among safeties, while the consensus rated him 22nd. In his first two seasons he played cornerback for Mississippi, but made the jump to safety as a senior. He still played 380 snaps as the slot corner, 162 deep and 150 in the box. His passer rating allowed was a solid 62.3, as he forced 10 incompletions and picked off three passes.
Here we are, 12s, the last pick of the Seahawks draft has arrived. With the 233rd pick, I took linebacker Darius Mausau of UCLA. The 6'1" 230 lb redshirt senior was the 19th-ranked linebacker according to the consensus board and 14th per Pro Football Focus. He may not have first-round talent, but nfldraftbuzz.com likes him quite a bit. He tallied 15 hurries and four sacks last year and was graded equally well in pass rush and run defense by PFF.
And that, dear 12s, wraps up my second mock draft of 2024. As with my first, I'd be a bit surprised if the Seahawks actually hit one of these picks. But as with my first draft, I didn't "game" the system or force any trades. So who knows? Maybe the real teams will be just as silly, and let the best tight end in years slip to number 16, all the way to the Seahawks.