This may be the worst draft class in the last 10 years. I think the Hawks did the best they could with the hand they were dealt. I agree with Danno that the first three picks were winners after that it was a crap shoot. The the UDF class may hold some gems.
As of 7pm Seattle time the Seahawks have signed 6 UDFAs to contracts bringing the number of signed players to 88 (90 are allowed to be under contract if you count all 8 drafted players). I don’t know anything about the UDFAs yet, and won’t comment on them at this time. Two additional players were invited to rookie mini camp but not offered contracts.
With so little draft capital going into Thursday I didn’t expect to be impressed by the outcome of the Seahawks draft. But I must say, comparing what the Hawks were able to do with the other teams in the division I am more than happy with the outcome. I’d even say that they had the best draft within the division, especially when you look at the areas of need that were addressed with the players chosen. They bolstered Safety, CB, RB and ST. The only loss not addressed was the Edge position, but I expect a free agent signing as soon as Monday to address the loss of Mafe.
1) Jadarian Price - Perhaps a bit of a reach at 32, but JS could not find a trade back partner in a range where he was sure to get Price. Given Price was the highest player left for them and no RB was even a day two graded player, Price was the decision, and although he has yet to be a full time starter, he does look like he can be a top RB in the league. Say “Danno you don’t know what you’re talking about,” but I see him as a big performer and a possible offensive rookie of the year player.
2) Bud Clark - Potential to be as good or better than Coby Bryant.
3) Julian Neal - Potential to be as good and much more consistent than Riq Woolen in the passing game, and far better as a run defender.
4) Beau Stephens - After listening to the day 3 press conference, the conference call with the press and the selection call with the coaches, it is quite apparent how highly the Seahawks coaching staff felt about Beau Stephens after his 30 visit a week ago. he had the third highest zone blocking grade amongst guards this past year. I believe he will be given every opportunity to compete for the RG position with Bradford, Cabeldue, and Richmond. I know people are rooting for Bradford, and I am not opposed to him winning the job, but his ceiling in zone blocking is limited by the lack of agility and quickness. If Cabeldue or Stephens beat him out, we’d be looking at a better zone blocking offensive line overall. They are simply much better getting out in space and to the second level.
5) Emmanuel Henderson Jr. - He is likely the Dereke Young replacement. I would say he has a decent shot of making the 70 man ready squad and a slight chance to make the 53, depending what he shows in camp.
6) Andre Fuller - Fuller will be given every opportunity to compete with Pritchett and Igbinoghene for CB4 He could make the 53 if he beats them out, or he’s likely going to be on the 70 man ready squad.
7&8) - Deven Eastern and Michael Dansby will likely be competing for a spot on the 70 man ready squad.
it may seem strange to have so many of these draft picks on day three fighting to a spot on the 70 man roster, but remember, we only lost 5 players off the 53 man roster and we signed almost the entire ready squad back from last year. We had 72 or 73 players under contract going into the draft. Two or three of them were assured to be cut before adding the draft picks and eight UDFAs. It’s unlikely that more than five of these draft picks make the 53.
Go ahead and let me have it. I’d love to hear what other SSJ readers have to say on my take.
Looking at the two EDGEs signed as UDFAs, both Deal and Hubbard seem to have had pretty decent production in run defense and pass rushing. However, both of them have apparent issues with missed tackles.
Overall, it seems of that JS would make trades for more picks in this draft. Feels like the Hawks decided to get a jump on the UDFA CB market with those late picks. Although I do like Eastern a bit, and like any prospect that comes with the tag "could really improve with patient coaching "
I think you make a good point. A 7th-round pick in a crappy draft gets paid less and is on a longer, team-friendly contract than a UDFA in a good draft.
Y'all, I don't know anything, and, today, I understand less. And I really don't yet understand the team's vision as represented by this draft.
(1) All through draft season I struggled to be excited by any of the many edge prospects. In this, at least, I seem to have been on the same page with the Seahawks. I presume Dante from Dallas is our fill-in for Boye in Cincinnati (and maybe I'll finally drive up for a game this year). They didn't even throw a dart at an edge. That's something.
(2) If the Hawks -- and the NFL -- all knew this year's RB class was one player deep, it does make the decision to let Walker go all the more curious (and Kupp, and Shaheed). I hope I'm badly wrong about Price, but I think he's a tick slow, that what he was able to do in college won't work in the pros. Best guess, he's a two-down back and then Holani comes in for short yardage and pass pro. Price can't have more than a rudimentary route tree. Obviously they know a hell of a lot more than I ever will, but I have a hard time believing they wouldn't have been better off drafting a good half-dozen of the players we passed on to take Price, and then taking a chance later in the draft. I suppose we may still see a cavalcade of RBs in UDFA.
(3) This was truly a choose your own adventure draft. The first three choices will get a chance to play. After that, they're depth pieces, special teams cogs, or...I don't even know. I did want them to pick up a bunch of day three choices to take chances, but they sure didn't take any of the chances I thought might pay off. Again, I know nothing.
(4) A word about Toledo. It is building a reputation as DB-University. So maybe that's why Andre Fuller's worth a chance. Dansby I know nothing about, but I'd have rather taken Red Murdock, the LB from Buffalo, who (from memory, which is dodgy) led the nation in tackling or some such. My guess is Eastern is simply a practice squad project, a big man for our OLine to work out against.
(5) Some interesting UDFA prospects out there. I won't be surprised if we find more difference makers there than we did on day three.
(6) I read some sentiment that Olu should be traded. He's a perfectly adequate backup. I think Haynes is in real trouble. He's been given opportunities to start, and the public expectation tha he would. Bradford, who people uncharitably make fun of, beat him out. We've drafted another guard, and there are a couple more candidates on the roster. I don't guess he has much trade value, so probably he gets cut. Tough business.
I dunno. Maybe the front office was doing the best it could.
Will Price be more impactful than Bisontis or the 3 or 4 edge guys drafted w/in the ~15 picks after him? Time will tell. If that happens or is at least a wash, and in two years Clark, Neal, and Stephens are starters, then it's a good draft.
Thanx from my end to Ken and SeasideJoe pals for the education that got me interested in all things Drafting entails for the first time in... a long time. Decades. Consider me all-in.
Kenneth I have a question for you about the Rams draft.
Saw some clips of their press conference after Day 1 and it felt like Simpson was a Les Snead pick not a Sean McVay pick. In fact McVay could barely disguise his disgust, only said a few words.
Was that just AI bullshit video, or is there some friction there, were they not aligned on that move?
And your opinion on the pick itself: they seemed to be making some big swings for the fences next year (while they still have Stafford?), so was really surprising to see the sudden investment mindset. Especially considering Simpson himself who may not have beaten out McCarthy if it were last year, like QB9 or something.
Someone called it the Christian Ponder draft pick which was hilarious, but that might just have been fan frustration
"Saw some clips of their press conference after Day 1 and it felt like Simpson was a Les Snead pick not a Sean McVay pick. In fact McVay could barely disguise his disgust, only said a few words."
I don't see anything negative on the call. McVay seems happy to welcome him to the team.
In some ways I bet the stuff we did today was fun for JS, certain assistant coaches and certain scouts. At least they got to make a few deals and probably get excited about going after some diamond in the rough prospects. Some one of these late rounders will have an impact, probably on Special Teams.
They must REALLY like Stephens to have given up a 4th next year for a 5th this year. I hate that we gave up draft capital in such a much better 2027 class, but, they must have seen something to invest in. In Schneider and Benton we trust!
Or, who knows if 2027 is all that good once the transfers and portal stuff settles down.
I think getting Price was the missing piece for next year, and having seen the salary implications vs Walker, it makes a ton of sense. Great pick, one of the best in the draft.
I’m less worried about our secondary than the media is with the departures, but I had been penciling in Bud Clark and Julian Neal (just deeper down) so I think those were also good picks and give us some bench strength.
All in all, a good draft and maybe one of the others surprises us.
Now let’s see what UDFA has in store for us!
And then the BIG day for me which is Monday: do we announce Cam Jordan and Keyvon Thibodeaux??
The first four will make the roster (Price, Clark, Neil, & Stephens); #7, (Denven Eastern), has a chance, the others have a summer job and will be selling insurance in Sept.
I trust what the front office did the last two years to hopefully get us some productive replacements or backups. We were drafting lower than we had in the last two years and we had traded away a few picks during the year, so we started with fewer picks. As in the past, hope going forward but maybe with lower expectations. Good coverage and preparation Joe. Onward to UDFA and whatever free agents are still unsigned. Is there any potential in the unsigned free agent market? Good chats over the last three days.
This may be the worst draft class in the last 10 years. I think the Hawks did the best they could with the hand they were dealt. I agree with Danno that the first three picks were winners after that it was a crap shoot. The the UDF class may hold some gems.
As of 7pm Seattle time the Seahawks have signed 6 UDFAs to contracts bringing the number of signed players to 88 (90 are allowed to be under contract if you count all 8 drafted players). I don’t know anything about the UDFAs yet, and won’t comment on them at this time. Two additional players were invited to rookie mini camp but not offered contracts.
With so little draft capital going into Thursday I didn’t expect to be impressed by the outcome of the Seahawks draft. But I must say, comparing what the Hawks were able to do with the other teams in the division I am more than happy with the outcome. I’d even say that they had the best draft within the division, especially when you look at the areas of need that were addressed with the players chosen. They bolstered Safety, CB, RB and ST. The only loss not addressed was the Edge position, but I expect a free agent signing as soon as Monday to address the loss of Mafe.
1) Jadarian Price - Perhaps a bit of a reach at 32, but JS could not find a trade back partner in a range where he was sure to get Price. Given Price was the highest player left for them and no RB was even a day two graded player, Price was the decision, and although he has yet to be a full time starter, he does look like he can be a top RB in the league. Say “Danno you don’t know what you’re talking about,” but I see him as a big performer and a possible offensive rookie of the year player.
2) Bud Clark - Potential to be as good or better than Coby Bryant.
3) Julian Neal - Potential to be as good and much more consistent than Riq Woolen in the passing game, and far better as a run defender.
4) Beau Stephens - After listening to the day 3 press conference, the conference call with the press and the selection call with the coaches, it is quite apparent how highly the Seahawks coaching staff felt about Beau Stephens after his 30 visit a week ago. he had the third highest zone blocking grade amongst guards this past year. I believe he will be given every opportunity to compete for the RG position with Bradford, Cabeldue, and Richmond. I know people are rooting for Bradford, and I am not opposed to him winning the job, but his ceiling in zone blocking is limited by the lack of agility and quickness. If Cabeldue or Stephens beat him out, we’d be looking at a better zone blocking offensive line overall. They are simply much better getting out in space and to the second level.
5) Emmanuel Henderson Jr. - He is likely the Dereke Young replacement. I would say he has a decent shot of making the 70 man ready squad and a slight chance to make the 53, depending what he shows in camp.
6) Andre Fuller - Fuller will be given every opportunity to compete with Pritchett and Igbinoghene for CB4 He could make the 53 if he beats them out, or he’s likely going to be on the 70 man ready squad.
7&8) - Deven Eastern and Michael Dansby will likely be competing for a spot on the 70 man ready squad.
it may seem strange to have so many of these draft picks on day three fighting to a spot on the 70 man roster, but remember, we only lost 5 players off the 53 man roster and we signed almost the entire ready squad back from last year. We had 72 or 73 players under contract going into the draft. Two or three of them were assured to be cut before adding the draft picks and eight UDFAs. It’s unlikely that more than five of these draft picks make the 53.
Go ahead and let me have it. I’d love to hear what other SSJ readers have to say on my take.
Looking at the two EDGEs signed as UDFAs, both Deal and Hubbard seem to have had pretty decent production in run defense and pass rushing. However, both of them have apparent issues with missed tackles.
Overall, it seems of that JS would make trades for more picks in this draft. Feels like the Hawks decided to get a jump on the UDFA CB market with those late picks. Although I do like Eastern a bit, and like any prospect that comes with the tag "could really improve with patient coaching "
I think you make a good point. A 7th-round pick in a crappy draft gets paid less and is on a longer, team-friendly contract than a UDFA in a good draft.
Y'all, I don't know anything, and, today, I understand less. And I really don't yet understand the team's vision as represented by this draft.
(1) All through draft season I struggled to be excited by any of the many edge prospects. In this, at least, I seem to have been on the same page with the Seahawks. I presume Dante from Dallas is our fill-in for Boye in Cincinnati (and maybe I'll finally drive up for a game this year). They didn't even throw a dart at an edge. That's something.
(2) If the Hawks -- and the NFL -- all knew this year's RB class was one player deep, it does make the decision to let Walker go all the more curious (and Kupp, and Shaheed). I hope I'm badly wrong about Price, but I think he's a tick slow, that what he was able to do in college won't work in the pros. Best guess, he's a two-down back and then Holani comes in for short yardage and pass pro. Price can't have more than a rudimentary route tree. Obviously they know a hell of a lot more than I ever will, but I have a hard time believing they wouldn't have been better off drafting a good half-dozen of the players we passed on to take Price, and then taking a chance later in the draft. I suppose we may still see a cavalcade of RBs in UDFA.
(3) This was truly a choose your own adventure draft. The first three choices will get a chance to play. After that, they're depth pieces, special teams cogs, or...I don't even know. I did want them to pick up a bunch of day three choices to take chances, but they sure didn't take any of the chances I thought might pay off. Again, I know nothing.
(4) A word about Toledo. It is building a reputation as DB-University. So maybe that's why Andre Fuller's worth a chance. Dansby I know nothing about, but I'd have rather taken Red Murdock, the LB from Buffalo, who (from memory, which is dodgy) led the nation in tackling or some such. My guess is Eastern is simply a practice squad project, a big man for our OLine to work out against.
(5) Some interesting UDFA prospects out there. I won't be surprised if we find more difference makers there than we did on day three.
(6) I read some sentiment that Olu should be traded. He's a perfectly adequate backup. I think Haynes is in real trouble. He's been given opportunities to start, and the public expectation tha he would. Bradford, who people uncharitably make fun of, beat him out. We've drafted another guard, and there are a couple more candidates on the roster. I don't guess he has much trade value, so probably he gets cut. Tough business.
I dunno. Maybe the front office was doing the best it could.
"I dunno. Maybe the front office was doing the best it could."
Well, yeah, I suppose they were. Let's give it a year and see how it turns out.
Lotta darts. Drunken darts that MAY hit the board, but would be a miracle if any hit the bullseye.
Will Price be more impactful than Bisontis or the 3 or 4 edge guys drafted w/in the ~15 picks after him? Time will tell. If that happens or is at least a wash, and in two years Clark, Neal, and Stephens are starters, then it's a good draft.
Influenced by nothing more than the SSJ article about what he wanted in the draft, I was disappointed in the Price pick.
I was OK that we didn't pick a fiesty 5'8" DB in the second round, but felt cheated when Minn. pocked Dom Orange at 3.82
Interesting that the Rams only drafted 5 players.
In every draft, when you look back after 2 or 3 years, you see really good players in pretty much every round. Maybe not many, but some.
Here’s to hoping JS found some of those gems.
Thanx from my end to Ken and SeasideJoe pals for the education that got me interested in all things Drafting entails for the first time in... a long time. Decades. Consider me all-in.
These glowing reviews are cracking me up! Big ole Deven Eastern looks interesting
Kenneth I have a question for you about the Rams draft.
Saw some clips of their press conference after Day 1 and it felt like Simpson was a Les Snead pick not a Sean McVay pick. In fact McVay could barely disguise his disgust, only said a few words.
Was that just AI bullshit video, or is there some friction there, were they not aligned on that move?
And your opinion on the pick itself: they seemed to be making some big swings for the fences next year (while they still have Stafford?), so was really surprising to see the sudden investment mindset. Especially considering Simpson himself who may not have beaten out McCarthy if it were last year, like QB9 or something.
Someone called it the Christian Ponder draft pick which was hilarious, but that might just have been fan frustration
What’s the real deal on that whole thing?
"Saw some clips of their press conference after Day 1 and it felt like Simpson was a Les Snead pick not a Sean McVay pick. In fact McVay could barely disguise his disgust, only said a few words."
I don't see anything negative on the call. McVay seems happy to welcome him to the team.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/S92uJcO9Q28
Sherm was shocked and mystified. Here's a short take on what he saw it as: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/C6nyAaDIrfI
In some ways I bet the stuff we did today was fun for JS, certain assistant coaches and certain scouts. At least they got to make a few deals and probably get excited about going after some diamond in the rough prospects. Some one of these late rounders will have an impact, probably on Special Teams.
They must REALLY like Stephens to have given up a 4th next year for a 5th this year. I hate that we gave up draft capital in such a much better 2027 class, but, they must have seen something to invest in. In Schneider and Benton we trust!
Or, who knows if 2027 is all that good once the transfers and portal stuff settles down.
I think getting Price was the missing piece for next year, and having seen the salary implications vs Walker, it makes a ton of sense. Great pick, one of the best in the draft.
I’m less worried about our secondary than the media is with the departures, but I had been penciling in Bud Clark and Julian Neal (just deeper down) so I think those were also good picks and give us some bench strength.
All in all, a good draft and maybe one of the others surprises us.
Now let’s see what UDFA has in store for us!
And then the BIG day for me which is Monday: do we announce Cam Jordan and Keyvon Thibodeaux??
The first four will make the roster (Price, Clark, Neil, & Stephens); #7, (Denven Eastern), has a chance, the others have a summer job and will be selling insurance in Sept.
I trust what the front office did the last two years to hopefully get us some productive replacements or backups. We were drafting lower than we had in the last two years and we had traded away a few picks during the year, so we started with fewer picks. As in the past, hope going forward but maybe with lower expectations. Good coverage and preparation Joe. Onward to UDFA and whatever free agents are still unsigned. Is there any potential in the unsigned free agent market? Good chats over the last three days.
>>Good coverage and preparation Joe.<< Hear! Hear! I found myself passing on professionals until I read what SSJ had to say. Truly astute and focused.