Seahawks draft by position: Reviewing everything I've written about every role

The Seahawks have a draft in less than two weeks

There are still some people who believe that the Texans had a better defense than the Seahawks last season, so the draft is the perfect battleground for John Schneider and Mike Macdonald to win another race for proving they have the best defensive players. Plus, Seattle let one defensive starter and two contributors depart in free agency, so cornerback and edge are the focal points for most fans when it comes to what the Seahawks “need” to do on April 23rd.

This is a position-by-position review of everything I’ve written about the Seahawks 2026 draft so far and why and what’s new:

QB

Why Seahawks would draft Ty Simpson

Sam Darnold’s extension projection / next contract puts Seahawks in tough position

Eagles regret QB contract extension

The NFL’s 2027/2028 starting QBs

Seahawks don’t win Super Bowls because of 1st round QBs

The 2026 QB class is not interesting because of Fernando Mendoza or Ty Simpson. Those two are boilerplate archetypes of most draft classes: Mendoza is the guy who goes first and Simpson is the guy who goes somewhere after him. We just had that last year with Cam Ward and Jaxson Dart.

No, the interesting thing about this class is that THERE IS NO QB3. Nobody is even pretending that there’s an intriguing QB3 to get clicks. There’s been no hype for players like Carson Beck or Garrett Nussmeier, implying that after Simpson the class doesn’t fall off, it drops out.

And what’s more interesting is that quarterbacks like Arch Manning and Dante Moore went back to school in spite of the weakness of the class. That could be because of impressive self-awareness or they weren’t getting good feedback on their chances of going in the top-10 either.

Will Seahawks draft a QB? 0-5%

If not Simpson, who could be like Seattle’s “Mac Jones” behind Darnold, would it really benefit John Schneider to use a flier on a quarterback when the undrafted names don’t appear to be much worse than the drafted? The Seahawks could just sign Diego Pavia or someone like him if they just want to take a flier.

RB

10 draftable running backs

Why the Seahawks would NOT draft a RB

It’s implausible Seattle would trade for Achane

You can’t “lose” free agents you gave away (like Walker)

Who is Emmett Johnson? / pre-draft visits

After this article, it was reported that the Seahawks did have a visit with Johnson.

In addition, Seattle met with Virginia’s J’Mari Taylor, projected as a day three pick. After four years at North Carolina Central, Taylor transferred to Virginia and rushed for just over 1,000 yards.

Unrelated: Marshawn Lynch is in the third season of HBO’s Euphoria.

WR

Why I think Seahawks won’t draft a WR this year

Understanding “next year picks” vs “picks for next year”

I projected that JSN would sign a four-year, $150 million contract extension and he ended up getting $18 million more than that. Where else can a person be off by $18 million and call it “close”?

Having just paid JSN, Rashid Shaheed, and Jake Bobo this offseason, plus the guaranteed money kicking in for Cooper Kupp, it makes more sense for Seattle to draft a receiver in 2027. That’s a move to make next year.

TE

A.J. Barner can be the WR2

The Seahawks have one of the best tight ends rooms in the league already and there’s an opportunity for Nick Kallerup to make the team against as TE4, not to mention the versatility of Brady Russell. So tight end could be the position that would be the most shocking to draft.

OT

The scary OL retirement trend (Kadyn Proctor)

Dark horse need: OT (Offensive depth chart/needs)

Could Amari Kight be developed into a starter? Unless Seattle thinks they landed an undrafted steal last year (Kight ended on IR with a knee injury but I’m not sure how severe it is), why not mull over another tackle as insurance?

The Seahawks have no known visits with any tackles, sending out a signal that they’ve got bigger fish to fry.

iOL

One-upping Reuter’s mock draft picks with a G/C (Lew, Hecht)

Why Seahawks would draft another guard

The only offensive lineman I see on Seattle’s visit list is guard Micah Morris and he’s only projected as a priority free agent.

In fact, almost every visit with an offensive player has been with the running backs. I keep saying this: The Seahawks drafted 9 offensive players last year. Wouldn’t it stand to reason that it’s the defense’s turn?

Most people love pizza, but if you eat it five nights in a row then maybe next week “no pizza”.

That being said, I’m a guy who loves the offensive line so it would never turn my stomach to see the Seahawks draft a guard, tackle, or center.

Trade / General

Seahawks trade-down scenarios

Devon Witherspoon’s trade value

Draft for talent, not for need

Roster check-in

Seahawks have 2nd-least draft capital in league

The Seahawks have one pick in the second, one pick in the third, no picks in the fourth or fifth. So if they trade down from 32, it’s logical that Schneider would do so in order to turn “2 picks in rounds 2-5” into “at least 4 picks in rounds 2-5”.

The Eagles could be a taker for that. They have extra picks in that range and Philadelphia will probably need to replace A.J. Brown.

EDGE

Upping mock draft picks (Gabe Jacas)

Worrisome recent history of day 2 edge picks

If I’ve neglected writing about these prospects before the draft, it’s not for lack of my belief that Seattle needs an edge rusher. If anything, Seaside Joe has over-covered how badly the Seahawks need an edge rusher because it’s the drum I’ve been beating since before last year’s draft.

It’s possible that Schneider has been reluctant to draft an edge rusher because the veterans keep moving around the league (Parsons, Hendrickson, Hunter, Phillips, Burns, Sweat, etc.) and rumor has it that he attempted to acquire Maxx Crosby in 2025.

The Seahawks using their first pick on an edge rusher isn’t just possible. It’s the dream. Seattle’s DE/OLB visits so far:

• Malachi Lawrence

• Cashius Howell

• R Mason Thomas

• Keyron Crawford

• Keyshawn James-Newby

• Zion Young

LB

Anthony Hill models game after Bobby Wagner

Seahawks extend Drake Thomas

Just as I wrote about this “wacky idea” for Seattle to draft a linebacker like Anthony Hill in the second round, it was reported that the Seahawks had a visit with Josiah Trotter, a linebacker with practically the same ranking.

As you probably expect, Trotter is the son of Jeremiah. His brother Jeremiah Jr. is a backup linebacker on the Eagles.

If nothing else, it shows that Seattle hasn’t closed the door on adding linebackers. But actually drafting one before the sixth round could signal a change of locations for Tyrice Knight.

DL

2026 extension candidates (like Leonard Williams)

The one DT that the Seahawks are known to have met with is NC State’s Brandon Cleveland, a projected sixth round pick. My mind goes back to some of the big’uns that Macdonald had in Baltimore like Michael Pierce and Travis Jones. I could see a later pick of that position, but Seattle needs more late picks.

CB

Hood vs. Terrell vs. Chris Johnson: Who fits Seattle best?

Seahawks pick up Witherspoon 5th-year option

Same thing as edge, this position has been covered less maybe just because it’s that obvious.

I’ll grab another question from a Super Joes subscriber:

Grant: Let's compare the CBs most likely to go around pick #32. Cisse vs Hood vs Johnson. Who's the most Seahawky kinda guy that would play outside CB?

If you want to ask question in future Q and As, upgrade to Super!

Dane Brugler gave five cornerbacks a first round grade: Mansoor Delane, Jermod McCoy, Chris Johnson, Aveion Terrell, and Colton Hood. Well, I haven’t written about Delane and McCoy because they won’t make it to pick 32.

I briefly touched on all three of those corners in the post linked above.

Brandon Cisse and D’Angelo Ponds are the two cornerbacks who got a flat second round grade from Dane, while Treydan Stukes, Keith Abney, and Davison Igbinosun got 2nd-3rd round grades.

However, this is going to be one of those years when some players going 20th-32nd were expected to go much later and vice versa. It wouldn’t shock me if Ponds goes 26th and Hood goes 57th…not specifically those players, I’m making up an example, but generally I think team grades have a lot more variance in 2026.

So if Seattle drafts Brandon Cisse while Aveion Terrell is on the board, that’s gonna shock people but we can only infer Seattle likes the fit better.

Cisse is the second-ranked cornerback for Chris Simms, which sounds “crazy” if you’re reading the consensus, but Todd McShay was among those saying six months ago that Cisse could be CB1.

Did Cisse drop because he has the smallest hands of any cornerback ranked in Dane’s top-25 cornerbacks? (8.5”)

Dane also says Cisse likes to stop the run and is praised by coaches for “training with a pro mindset”, which could be called “Seahawk-y” for sure.

But he never quite grabbed a hold of a starting role for long in college (he “started” every game last year but was in a rotation) so Cisse might be a guy Seattle bets on for his athleticism if they take him that early.

S

2 weapons at safety is better than 1 (McNeil, Louis, Clark, Thieneman)

The idea of adding another safety like Nick Emmanwori is like pure, good daydreaming. But it could be similar to running back or receiver in that the path towards adding a starter at the position is so short that if it’s not an immediate need, it’s a luxury pick. And I believe that Seattle is high on Rodney Thomas II, the free agent they added last month.

If Dillon Thieneman then maybe it’s too good to be true and throw all “needs” out the window. But replacing Coby Bryant doesn’t need that much coverage.

Seaside Joe 2595