Most people know what the Seattle Seahawks need in the 2025 NFL draft. That would be good interior offensive linemen. Not just one, but two. Currently, Seattle holds three picks in the top 52, and five in the first 100. Two of those should go toward IOL.
But the first-round pick? It would seem unlikely for Seahawks general manager John Schneider to take a lineman. Not because he doesn't think Seattle has a need there, but for most of the 2010s, the team chose the best player available with their first pick. Suppose that works out to be a lineman in 2025, great. That probably won't be the case.
Seattle also created another need this offseason. The team traded quarterback Geno Smith and replaced him with free-agent acquisition Sam Darnold. Seattle also released wide receiver Tyler Lockett and traded DK Metcalf. In place of them, Seattle brought in Cooper Kupp and Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
NFL analyst has the Seahawks taking wide receiver Matthew Golden in the first round of the 2025 draft
Kupp should be productive if he stays healthy, but he and MVS are over 30 years old. The Seahawks will need to replace them sooner rather than later. The hope, of course, is that Darnold works out well with Seattle and stays as the long-term QB1, but he will need long-term future weapons besides Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Adding a wide receiver early in the draft, though far from the Seahawks' greatest current need, could help the team in the future. It would also allow Darnold to keep highly skilled players around him, assuming JSN signs an extension in a few years.
ESPN's Field Yates believes he has just the answer for Seattle's future pressing need at receiver, as he has the team taking Texas wideout Matthew Golden in the first round. Yates understands that Seattle needs interior offensive linemen, but perhaps the best one is North Dakota State's Grey Zabel, whom Yates has going at pick 17.
The most positive part could be the speed that Golden would bring to the Seahawks. He is even faster than Metcalf, though not as big. Some have compared him to wide receiver Tyreek Hill, one of the most explosive receivers in the NFL over the last decade. Maybe Golden cannot achieve what Hill has, but even getting close would be good enough.
Golden would also be expected to step in and immediately be Seattle's WR3 behind JSN and Kupp. Valdes-Scantling can be explosive, but is also extremely inconsistent. Plus, as rookie receivers often have difficulties adjusting to the speed of the NFL, having JSN and Kupp is only going to help Golden adjust to the league.
Still, even taking Golden should not exclude the Seahawks from potentially taking a player such as Alabama guard Tyler Booker in the second round. Taking Golden would be nice, but trying to fix the offensive line is a must.