The Seahawks have not had a history of taking quarterbacks early in the draft during the John Schneider era. Could that change in 2024? For Seattle, the decision to take a quarterback in this year's draft is a tough one. They already have a good quarterback in Geno Smith who has been their man the past two seasons. The Seahawks also have other priorities that need to be addressed this off-season and do not have a second-round pick in this year's draft.
In total, the Seahawks have seven picks in the 2024 draft, including two third-round picks. If the Seahawks use their 16th overall pick on a QB, they might have to wait 61 selections before making their next selection at pick 78 on day two. By then, most of the potentially excellent quarterbacks would be gone.
The first round of this year's draft is stacked with talented defensive linemen including Byron Murphy II, Laiatu Latu, Jer'Zhan Newton, and Jared Verse. With a new defensive-minded head coach, the Seahawks are going to have a tough time passing up on any of those defensive players.
Seattle Seahawks might have a chance to choose one of these three quarterbacks in the 2024 NFL draft
Should the Seahawks decide to take a quarterback early in this year's draft, GM John Schneider and his scouts would have to be blown away by a QB prospect. The dilemma for the Seahawks is there are both good QB prospects and talented defensive linemen who will come off the board early in this draft. The Seahawks also must navigate not having a second-round selection, which they could mitigate by trading up or trading back.
Whether the Seahawks decide to take a QB early in this year's draft either on day one or day two, they are going to need to weigh their options and find the best QB for them. Here are three QB prospects the Seahawks should consider in this year's draft:
QB prospect No. 1 - Bo Nix
Bo Nix had a long and successful college football career at both Auburn and Oregon. Starting 61 games at each of those universities and posting a 149.6 quarterback rating. Nix threw for 113 touchdowns and just 26 INT in his college career. In his senior year at Oregon, Nix threw 45 touchdowns and had only three interceptions. His experience and statistics show Nix is a promising young quarterback for the Seahawks to think about in this year's draft.
Not only is Nix an accurate passer, but also has a unique ability to make plays with his legs. Nix rushed for 1,613 yards in his college career. He scored 38 touchdowns running the football, showing Nix is more than just a pocket passer. His ability to run the ball could be a real weapon in the red zone for opposing defenses to worry about. Being a duel-threat quarterback makes Nix one of the more intriguing quarterbacks in this year's draft.
Currently, Bo Nix is expected to be taken either at the end of the first round or early second round. The Seahawks would likely want to either trade up or trade back to select him if they like what they see from Nix. Taking him at #16 overall would be a bit of a reach for the Seahawks, given there are players who are more talented than Nix on the draft board. What the Seahawks decide to do with their picks will be interesting to follow, if they consider taking a quarterback such as Bo Nix.
QB prospect No. 2 - J.J. McCarthy
J.J. McCarthy is the youngest top QB prospect in the draft for 2024. At just 21 years old, McCarthy entered the NFL Draft after his junior year at Michigan, where he helped the Wolverines to a National Championship. In his entire career at Michigan, he had just one loss in 28 career starts, posting a (27-1) record as the Wolverines starting quarterback. McCarthy's success in his short time at Michigan has elevated his draft stock.
For his college career, McCarthy threw for 49 touchdowns and had just 11 interceptions. He played in a more conservative offensive system which ran the ball more, but that does not mean McCarthy is only a system quarterback. In the Rose Bowl, McCarthy showed how good he can be at playing under pressure with his team's season on the line. Leading Michigan on a game-tying 75-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter, finishing the drive with a 4-yard TD pass to Roman Wilson.
Not only is McCarthy a solid QB prospect, but he also has ties to Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald. Macdonald was Michigan's defensive coordinator when McCarthy was a freshman at Michigan. Certainly, coach Macdonald is knowledgeable of what McCarthy can do and has a connection to him. J.J. McCarthy is another interesting QB prospect for the Seahawks to consider and expects to be taken late in round one or early on day two of the NFL Draft.
QB prospect No. 3 - Michael Penix Jr.
Michael Penix Jr. also has ties to the Seahawks coaching staff, having played in Ryan Grubb's system at the University of Washington. The Heisman runner-up has been a tricky prospect to evaluate given his injury history and success at UW. If not for the leg and shoulder injuries he suffered at Indiana, Penix would be a no-doubt first-round pick in this year's draft. Considering Penix's arm talent and big-game experience, he led the Huskies to the National Championship in 2023.
In his college career, Michael Penix Jr. threw for 96 touchdowns and had 34 interceptions. His last two seasons were his best as he threw 67 touchdowns and had just 19 interceptions at UW. Penix has been one of the best college quarterbacks in each of the past two seasons. The question is will his game translate to the pros and can he handle the pressure? Penix had a great offensive line and potentially three NFL draft picks for his receivers at UW which helped him have the success he had.
One advantage for Penix over other prospects in this draft is that he already knows Ryan Grubb's playbook. Also, the Seahawks might not want to use their first-round pick to help them make a quarterback selection. Given Penix's injury history, there is a chance he could fall further into day two of the draft. This would provide the Seahawks an opportunity to take him with one of their two third-round picks. Although the Seahawks might have to trade up to get Penix, they would not have to use a first-round pick on a quarterback.