Thought this was a very good draft. Still would have liked to have seen a center chosen- Not so sure on the #5 Cb pick , we shall see. I do like the Utah Guard he is /or can be a very good player. Go Hawks!
On Knight, while a different position, love how he reads the play then attacks the ball carrier vs Taylor who is always on his heals. Do wish we got someone like Trotter but guess they are fine with 1 year rentals. What is interesting no RBs and the team needs 2 right now. Sounds like Penny has a good chance to be back.
One thing I think can be addressed with an ever increasing certainty: Geno Smith was never on the trade block.
I think the Falcons have put the final nail in the coffin for the trade “rumors”.
If Geno was actually on the trade block especially at the combine - why did the Falcons not get him? The Falcons knew that Penix was in play at that point.
Much to the dismay of Rob Staton and others, who has been talking about drafting a QB since the RW trade and been wrong over and over again, the Hawks stuck with their QB1 and a young developing QB.
What JS and the brass thinks about Geno and some fans is like the Grand Canyon.
Looking forward to this year, great draft and offseason!
All things considered, I’m happy. Even though Murphy is not Aaron Donald, he’s a three-down DT and those don’t grow on trees. By all accounts, Haynes has starter-level talent. The rest seem like special teams players and depth filler, but who knows? Maybe one will emerge as something more than that. Overall, the draft haul from 2022-24 is encouraging, and it might turn out to be more than encouraging.
Guys are in full meltdown over at SDB. They can't understand why John took guys the Hawks wanted in day 3 instead of the guys who were their personal favorites.
A few thoughts now that the draft is over, and a bunch of the UDFA's are known.
- The competition is ON in the trenches. There's a way Mike Mac wants to play, and only the players who will consistently play that way get to be on the team. He has lots of players and reps to go around now, and depth all around. So away we go.
- Loved the Barner pick, and they apparently signed Westover from the Huskies as a UDFA. Again, a signal in how Mike Mac wants to play. We're not going to try to be pretty. We're trying to be ugly.
- If you haven't watch any Hayden Hatton highlights, grab your coffee and check him out. Good athlete, and the ball just finds him. I don't think I've see a WR highlight reel before with so many hurdles of a defender. Really good UDFA pickup. Could turn out to be nothing, but Doug Baldwin.
- Really, really surprised how the league in general, and the Seahawks specifically evaluated the safety group this year. I was almost positive they would grab one of them in the 4th round when a group of good ones (my evaluation not theirs) was still on the board. Not sure why, but obviously something was missing.
Looking forward to reading more about some of the young'uns we now have.
I love the Knight pick. He's a tackle machine, and a smart LB who can really read plays - ideal for our new look defence. With a bit more up-coaching he could be a great solid piece. Of the LB's available at 118 he was probably the best and the best team fit.
AJ Barner. Went off to watch some highlights after his name was called and damn, the guy blocks as well as a lot of linemen that go on Day 3. This is a really interesting pick for heavy sets and special teams, whilst making clear Fant is the the receiving TE. For the 121 pick hard to knock it, but with Cade Stover and Jared Wiley on the boad (who both went very soon after) Barner has some work to do to impress me and convince me he was the right pick.
Pritchett, i don't get this pick. He's got a willingness to his play, happy to get stuck in, but lacks the actual skills to really stand out. I guess i see why he's picked but the drop off in this CB class for Day 3 was significant and there were still good LB's and Safeties on the board who'd be bigger upgrades and more likely to make an impact. He's also going to be comp'd to Woolen which won't help him in year 1. Hopefully the coaches can give him even a basic tackle technique, then we could see him find a role in year 2 after a few departures.
Laumea is a nice get. Reminds me a lot of Olu Olu last year, as a multi-year starter and leader, regarded highly across CFB and the media. Certainly means we have mariana trench like depth at Guard going into camp! Plus he could play Tackle, and i'm always a fan of versatility. Good pick for me.
James is basically the same as Pritchett. I really do not understand this pick having picked up Nemaiah a round earlier. For me it's a big whiff and wasted selection. I can't see what he brings that Pritchett doesn't, so how both make it out of camp idk. But he could go Practice Squad for a year you say. Except is CB, a position we had actually good depth at, and turns out a lot of reasonable talent every year. This pick should have gone elsewhere.
And finally, who?! I got no comment here as i have no idea on Jerrell. But he seems like a realtively athletic tackle/guard, and has the sport switch which often really helps (former Basketball player). Bit of a punt but this one i get as his athleticism does stand out as does his potential versitlity. He won't make the roster this year and go to the practice squad, maybe even for two years. But at 207 i do get this move.
Overall it's a good draft class. Only one bad pick for me in James, and that's only because he's exactly the same as Pritchett to me - one of the two is fine, both feels very odd. Two great picks at Guard. A great blocking TE. A truly standout DT. A good smart tackling LB. I'm happy and looking forwards to what'll be a highly competitive training camp!
Super happy with this draft! Building up the depth where it is needed and no chasing no name players a few rounds too early. Just playing the draft as it falls.
I am SO HAPPY with the Barner pick! “Best blocking TE in the draft” was evident in the games I watched for MICH combined with very good ability to leak out and catch the ball in traffic.
So far with UDFA Seattle has signed 2 offensive line, 2 D Line, 1 TE, 1 RB, 1 LB and #Seahawks signing San Jose State quarterback Chevan Cordeiro, probably a camp arm. We all wondered what McDonald-land would look like and now we know. Like Michigan and Baltimore the trenches are a priority. We've seen the other side of that coin for a number of years. I wasn't to concerned with them not drafting a number of skill players. Seattle attended to that the last 3 years. With their running back stable (add someone), their WR room and now TE's Seattle seems to be okay with addressing other areas. I get the feeling Bradford is going to get a run for his money along with everyone else on the O-Line. The D Line was much more put together with Reed, Jones (at least financial commitment), Williams contract, Hankins, Gotel, Young and Morris who didn't play last year really but is pretty well known by the coach. Add Murphy and that could be a pretty good group under Durde. No safeties added but corners were to add depth and start to build for 2025 I imagine. What skill players did Seattle lose. DJ Dallas, Parkinson, Disley and Lock. Other than Verse and a couple of other guys I didn't think edge was as strong this years draft. McDonald must feel that Seattle has something to work with with the group he has, especially with Nwosu back. Mcdonald wants to accomplish 4 things this year. Run the ball, keep his QB upright, stop the run and pressure the backfield (run or pass). I think he believes his people can start to create that culture missing in Seattle for awhile. I liked Pete, rarely did I like his choice for coordiators, especially defensively the last 6 years. Joe is right when he says most of these guy s drafted are trying to find a roster spot (Depth ST) and those draftees aren't going to be the major injection of success. Some of those teams with numerous draft pics that did get a number of lower round talent will expereince the same thing Seattle faced in 12-14. There's only so many roster spots avaialble and some of the talent may well be available during the second draft in September during the final cuts. Gene Hackman in Hoosiers "This is your Team"! Let the build begin. Go Hawks.
This is not a criticism. I'm far from qualified to criticize an NFL GM. But this seems a painfully safe draft class. Not a single skill position player (a run-blocking TE doesn't count). We're not in the same place, but it was hard to watch the Bears and the Commanders and the Cardinals pick all these potentially exciting players, some of whom will fail miserably. We just kinda plodded along, building strength in the middle (we hope). Time will tell. The subtext, to me, seemed to be, "patience, folks, we're rebuilding here." The other thing...in all the pre-draft coverage I absorbed, NOBODY much talked about the Seahawks. We're just not very interesting. It'll be fun to watch that change. Lastly, as a relative newcomer to SJ's content, a belated thanks for a well-done job. (It'll be fun not to watch THAT change!)
I'm really pleased with this draft. I followed it entirely, which I've never done before. These are new times. The emphasis was clearly to address the trenches and middle of the field, plus two CBs. Nothing flashy with offense. No WR's or RB's. Just a versatile blocking TE. It's pretty amazing that 14 offensive players got chosen first before any defenders. That gave us the choice of the cream of the crop defenders at 16, which was the best DL in the draft. Unreal.
Adding Sam Howell earlier negated the need to reach for a super long shot late round QB. I think a QB will be targeted next year for sure as Geno is the bridge for now. Howell may become that bridge after Geno or who knows, more than that.
The success of a good football team starts with the trenches. Good old fashioned football. Like Salk says it's not the WR or RB that wins Super Bowls. It's the defenders at the line and the OL that set the tone for everything. Everything feeds off of that. What good are safeties and corners if the middle can't hold it down. That's been the problem for years. This draft is a big philosophical shift. As much as I love Pete Carroll, I understand the change needed to be made. It wasn't just him per se, but it was his underling coaches that weren't getting the job done, which gets back to the head coach. Getting gashed up the middle continuously was just so demoralizing. Coach Mac declaring that a wall needs to be built up front is getting back to the basics.
We lucked out getting Byron Murphy. Hopefully, we'll get some luck landing the next franchise QB at some point. I like this draft and what we're constructing. Let's see how it plays out.
Definitely doesn't feel like the 2022 and 2023 draft classes. Time will tell. Seems like Les Snead is just a better GM than Schneider. It looked like they had a great draft after the fantastic results in last year's draft. Hate those Rams!
Thought this was a very good draft. Still would have liked to have seen a center chosen- Not so sure on the #5 Cb pick , we shall see. I do like the Utah Guard he is /or can be a very good player. Go Hawks!
On Knight, while a different position, love how he reads the play then attacks the ball carrier vs Taylor who is always on his heals. Do wish we got someone like Trotter but guess they are fine with 1 year rentals. What is interesting no RBs and the team needs 2 right now. Sounds like Penny has a good chance to be back.
Lots of good comments up and down this write up.
One thing I think can be addressed with an ever increasing certainty: Geno Smith was never on the trade block.
I think the Falcons have put the final nail in the coffin for the trade “rumors”.
If Geno was actually on the trade block especially at the combine - why did the Falcons not get him? The Falcons knew that Penix was in play at that point.
Much to the dismay of Rob Staton and others, who has been talking about drafting a QB since the RW trade and been wrong over and over again, the Hawks stuck with their QB1 and a young developing QB.
What JS and the brass thinks about Geno and some fans is like the Grand Canyon.
Looking forward to this year, great draft and offseason!
In the presser, MM said Jerrell is probably going to stay at T, for now. Seems likely considering all the G help we got in FA and draft
BTW, his name is pronounced juh-RELL. In case you care like me but couldn't find it anywhere or too lazy to do a deep internet dive, like me.
All things considered, I’m happy. Even though Murphy is not Aaron Donald, he’s a three-down DT and those don’t grow on trees. By all accounts, Haynes has starter-level talent. The rest seem like special teams players and depth filler, but who knows? Maybe one will emerge as something more than that. Overall, the draft haul from 2022-24 is encouraging, and it might turn out to be more than encouraging.
Guys are in full meltdown over at SDB. They can't understand why John took guys the Hawks wanted in day 3 instead of the guys who were their personal favorites.
Fire John! </sarc>
A few thoughts now that the draft is over, and a bunch of the UDFA's are known.
- The competition is ON in the trenches. There's a way Mike Mac wants to play, and only the players who will consistently play that way get to be on the team. He has lots of players and reps to go around now, and depth all around. So away we go.
- Loved the Barner pick, and they apparently signed Westover from the Huskies as a UDFA. Again, a signal in how Mike Mac wants to play. We're not going to try to be pretty. We're trying to be ugly.
- If you haven't watch any Hayden Hatton highlights, grab your coffee and check him out. Good athlete, and the ball just finds him. I don't think I've see a WR highlight reel before with so many hurdles of a defender. Really good UDFA pickup. Could turn out to be nothing, but Doug Baldwin.
- Really, really surprised how the league in general, and the Seahawks specifically evaluated the safety group this year. I was almost positive they would grab one of them in the 4th round when a group of good ones (my evaluation not theirs) was still on the board. Not sure why, but obviously something was missing.
Looking forward to reading more about some of the young'uns we now have.
I love the Knight pick. He's a tackle machine, and a smart LB who can really read plays - ideal for our new look defence. With a bit more up-coaching he could be a great solid piece. Of the LB's available at 118 he was probably the best and the best team fit.
AJ Barner. Went off to watch some highlights after his name was called and damn, the guy blocks as well as a lot of linemen that go on Day 3. This is a really interesting pick for heavy sets and special teams, whilst making clear Fant is the the receiving TE. For the 121 pick hard to knock it, but with Cade Stover and Jared Wiley on the boad (who both went very soon after) Barner has some work to do to impress me and convince me he was the right pick.
Pritchett, i don't get this pick. He's got a willingness to his play, happy to get stuck in, but lacks the actual skills to really stand out. I guess i see why he's picked but the drop off in this CB class for Day 3 was significant and there were still good LB's and Safeties on the board who'd be bigger upgrades and more likely to make an impact. He's also going to be comp'd to Woolen which won't help him in year 1. Hopefully the coaches can give him even a basic tackle technique, then we could see him find a role in year 2 after a few departures.
Laumea is a nice get. Reminds me a lot of Olu Olu last year, as a multi-year starter and leader, regarded highly across CFB and the media. Certainly means we have mariana trench like depth at Guard going into camp! Plus he could play Tackle, and i'm always a fan of versatility. Good pick for me.
James is basically the same as Pritchett. I really do not understand this pick having picked up Nemaiah a round earlier. For me it's a big whiff and wasted selection. I can't see what he brings that Pritchett doesn't, so how both make it out of camp idk. But he could go Practice Squad for a year you say. Except is CB, a position we had actually good depth at, and turns out a lot of reasonable talent every year. This pick should have gone elsewhere.
And finally, who?! I got no comment here as i have no idea on Jerrell. But he seems like a realtively athletic tackle/guard, and has the sport switch which often really helps (former Basketball player). Bit of a punt but this one i get as his athleticism does stand out as does his potential versitlity. He won't make the roster this year and go to the practice squad, maybe even for two years. But at 207 i do get this move.
Overall it's a good draft class. Only one bad pick for me in James, and that's only because he's exactly the same as Pritchett to me - one of the two is fine, both feels very odd. Two great picks at Guard. A great blocking TE. A truly standout DT. A good smart tackling LB. I'm happy and looking forwards to what'll be a highly competitive training camp!
Super happy with this draft! Building up the depth where it is needed and no chasing no name players a few rounds too early. Just playing the draft as it falls.
I am SO HAPPY with the Barner pick! “Best blocking TE in the draft” was evident in the games I watched for MICH combined with very good ability to leak out and catch the ball in traffic.
The Tyrese draft phone call video is . . . well, let’s hope they laugh about it years from now
So far with UDFA Seattle has signed 2 offensive line, 2 D Line, 1 TE, 1 RB, 1 LB and #Seahawks signing San Jose State quarterback Chevan Cordeiro, probably a camp arm. We all wondered what McDonald-land would look like and now we know. Like Michigan and Baltimore the trenches are a priority. We've seen the other side of that coin for a number of years. I wasn't to concerned with them not drafting a number of skill players. Seattle attended to that the last 3 years. With their running back stable (add someone), their WR room and now TE's Seattle seems to be okay with addressing other areas. I get the feeling Bradford is going to get a run for his money along with everyone else on the O-Line. The D Line was much more put together with Reed, Jones (at least financial commitment), Williams contract, Hankins, Gotel, Young and Morris who didn't play last year really but is pretty well known by the coach. Add Murphy and that could be a pretty good group under Durde. No safeties added but corners were to add depth and start to build for 2025 I imagine. What skill players did Seattle lose. DJ Dallas, Parkinson, Disley and Lock. Other than Verse and a couple of other guys I didn't think edge was as strong this years draft. McDonald must feel that Seattle has something to work with with the group he has, especially with Nwosu back. Mcdonald wants to accomplish 4 things this year. Run the ball, keep his QB upright, stop the run and pressure the backfield (run or pass). I think he believes his people can start to create that culture missing in Seattle for awhile. I liked Pete, rarely did I like his choice for coordiators, especially defensively the last 6 years. Joe is right when he says most of these guy s drafted are trying to find a roster spot (Depth ST) and those draftees aren't going to be the major injection of success. Some of those teams with numerous draft pics that did get a number of lower round talent will expereince the same thing Seattle faced in 12-14. There's only so many roster spots avaialble and some of the talent may well be available during the second draft in September during the final cuts. Gene Hackman in Hoosiers "This is your Team"! Let the build begin. Go Hawks.
This draft class, at least to me, looks just like what we’ve been lead to believe a Mike McDonald draft would look like. A focus on D and the O line.
I can’t wait for the deep dives from SSJ. so much good info.
This is not a criticism. I'm far from qualified to criticize an NFL GM. But this seems a painfully safe draft class. Not a single skill position player (a run-blocking TE doesn't count). We're not in the same place, but it was hard to watch the Bears and the Commanders and the Cardinals pick all these potentially exciting players, some of whom will fail miserably. We just kinda plodded along, building strength in the middle (we hope). Time will tell. The subtext, to me, seemed to be, "patience, folks, we're rebuilding here." The other thing...in all the pre-draft coverage I absorbed, NOBODY much talked about the Seahawks. We're just not very interesting. It'll be fun to watch that change. Lastly, as a relative newcomer to SJ's content, a belated thanks for a well-done job. (It'll be fun not to watch THAT change!)
I'm really pleased with this draft. I followed it entirely, which I've never done before. These are new times. The emphasis was clearly to address the trenches and middle of the field, plus two CBs. Nothing flashy with offense. No WR's or RB's. Just a versatile blocking TE. It's pretty amazing that 14 offensive players got chosen first before any defenders. That gave us the choice of the cream of the crop defenders at 16, which was the best DL in the draft. Unreal.
Adding Sam Howell earlier negated the need to reach for a super long shot late round QB. I think a QB will be targeted next year for sure as Geno is the bridge for now. Howell may become that bridge after Geno or who knows, more than that.
The success of a good football team starts with the trenches. Good old fashioned football. Like Salk says it's not the WR or RB that wins Super Bowls. It's the defenders at the line and the OL that set the tone for everything. Everything feeds off of that. What good are safeties and corners if the middle can't hold it down. That's been the problem for years. This draft is a big philosophical shift. As much as I love Pete Carroll, I understand the change needed to be made. It wasn't just him per se, but it was his underling coaches that weren't getting the job done, which gets back to the head coach. Getting gashed up the middle continuously was just so demoralizing. Coach Mac declaring that a wall needs to be built up front is getting back to the basics.
We lucked out getting Byron Murphy. Hopefully, we'll get some luck landing the next franchise QB at some point. I like this draft and what we're constructing. Let's see how it plays out.
Definitely doesn't feel like the 2022 and 2023 draft classes. Time will tell. Seems like Les Snead is just a better GM than Schneider. It looked like they had a great draft after the fantastic results in last year's draft. Hate those Rams!