3 Questions: Mina Kimes on Seahawks Draft plans

Mina talks Pete's philosophy on QB, team policies on character concerns, and the top 2023 WR: Seaside Joe 1500

Will the Seahawks use a top-five pick on a quarterback? Is Jalen Carter on Seattle’s draft board? Is now the time to for Pete Carroll to invest an early pick on a receiver and who is the best among the 2023 draft class?

With their highest pick since 2009 and two first rounders for the first time since 2010, the Seattle Seahawks are loaded with draft capital. As exciting as that is for 12s, it also brings about more questions and debates among the fans than a typical draft season and those three topics are ones that I see often tossed back and forth as we get closer to the main event. We need perspective on how the Seahawks could approach pivotal decisions like these ones and I knew just who to ask with less than three weeks until day one.

Last week, I re-visited the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft by watching ESPN’s live reaction to all the day one picks and was reminded of how lucky Seahawks fans are to have Mina Kimes, one of their own, covering the league at the network since 2014. I’ve been fortunate to have Mina drop into various podcasts from time to time and we’re grateful that she gave us some of her insights again to celebrate Seaside Joe’s 1,500-day anniversary today!

I sent Mina 3 Questions about the Seahawks 2023 NFL Draft plans and here’s what she had to say.

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Now onto the questions!

Q: I struggle to connect these two concepts: Pete Carroll's "nobody's bigger than the team" core philosophy vs. the star power that follows a top-5 QB pick in the draft. We saw Russell Wilson become a star under Pete. However, we also saw that eventually there was a falling out after "Let Russ Cook" and two massive extensions. There could be geniune interest in a transcendent QB if he's available, but do you think there's anything incongruous between Pete's core philosophies and the attention that comes with investing a top-5 pick in a QB?

Mina: To be honest, I think we don't know a lot about Pete Carroll's attitude towards the QB position--which is undeniably different from every other position, for obvious reasons--because Russell Wilson was the entrenched starter for so much of his tenure in Seattle. We do know that he's willing to let guys compete, obviously...but Wilson's career (a 3rd rounder becoming a top QB, and for so many years) is such an aberration, I don't think it can be mapped onto any larger philosophy.

Q: There are those who believe that Seattle is steadfast in their commitment to stay far away from prospects who are under the microscope of "character concerns" and then there are those who cite Pete's history with such prospects as the basis for why the Seahawks are the most logical landing spot for someone like Jalen Carter. Do you believe that the Seahawks have genuinely made a change when it comes to prospects who have the "character concerns" label?

Mina: Candidly, I don't think NFL teams have strict policies when it comes to character concerns, Seattle included. Time and time again, we've seen teams break their stated "rules" for incredible talent.

Mina looks on point here, as it was reported on Sunday night that Jalen Carter is indeed having a visit with the Seahawks, per Peter King.

Q: This feels like a difficult year to assess the order and overall value of the wide receiver class, with vastly different reports on who is WR1 and some experts saying that this could be a year in which you'll find better value on day two than day one. I don't know who to believe yet! There isn't a WR being regularly projected in the top-10 but it is usually the case that 2-3 years down the line, there's always at least one receiver who we say, "He should have gone top-10". Who is your WR1, the player you think we'll be raving about in 2-3 years, and does he fit with the Seahawks?

Mina: This is a tricky class because, while there are a lot of good wide receivers, they all have flaws. My favorite wide receiver (and favorite option for Seattle, though I doubt he'll be there at pick 20) is Jaxon Smith-Njigba at Ohio State. I think he's an incredibly polished route runner with terrific hands. While he isn't a dazzling athlete, he would be an unreal fit with Metcalf and Lockett. He reminds me a little of Doug Baldwin.

Thanks Mina! For all new Seahawks fans today please check out the 2023 NFL Draft archives to browse Seaside Joe’s newsletter history—Anthony Richardson, Will Anderson, Jalen Carter, Bryce Young, Tyree Wilson, and dozens more prospects covered—and share us with other Seahawks fans to keep growing the fastest-growing Seattle fan community on the Internet!