If you are a close follower of the Seattle Seahawks, you know this is a franchise that has done a phenomenal job adding talent to its roster under general manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll. And they have managed to do it without a lot of high draft choices. It’s been about the number of college prospects they have brought in, not the overall number of the selection. And who’s to argue with a philosophy that has produced five consecutive playoff appearances and counting? This year, the team traded out of the first round once again.
Dating back to 2013, the ‘Hawks have made one first-round pick – Texas A&M offensive lineman Germain Ifedi in 2016. Last month, Schneider and Carroll entered the three-day proceedings in the City of Brotherly Love with seven choices. They left the 2017 NFL Draft with 11 players. And the club managed to address nearly every area of the club.
Busy trading down
Off a 10-5-1 season and a Nfc West title, the Seattle Seahawks first defeated the Detroit Lions in the NFC Wild Card Playoffs before losing to the Atlanta Falcons in the divisional round. Sitting with the 26th overall pick on the night of April 27, the Seahawks orchestrated a deal with Atlanta and moved down. They would also trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars and San Francisco 49ers.
When the dust cleared, the team would make two picks in the second round, four in the third and a pair in both the sixth and the seventh. Meanwhile, there was no first and no fifth (forfeited) – hence a total of 11 players. Seattle added a half-dozen defensive prospects (4 in the secondary) along with wide receivers Amara Darboh (Michigan) and David Moore (East Central) in the third and seventh rounds, respectively.
They also chose tackles Ethan Pocic (LSU) and Justin Senior in the second and sixth rounds, respectively. Their top choice was Michigan State defensive tackle Malik McDowell with the 35th overall pick.
Prospect or project?
Arguably the most intriguing of the Seattle Seahawks is Pocic, a collegiate center who has the ability to play any position on the offensive line.
But he was lined up elsewhere late last week. “Yeah, he’ll work to show us about his snapping ability too, because he has the potential to be a snapper, which is good,” said Carroll to Liz Matthews of SeahawksWire.com. “We want him to play tackle right now and see how that works out, knowing that he can play all three spots. Tackle is the one we’ve seen him the least at, so the first few days we want to get a gauge for that and see how that’s going to work out.” Of course, this is a Seattle team that has had its share of issues along the offensive front for a number of years. If they can secure this unit, it’s an attack that could re-establish itself as one of the most efficient in the NFL.
