Tag: Seahawks mock draft

2024 NFL mock draft: Seahawks go best player available in 3-round projections

The Seahawks still have a lot of work to do if they’re going to catch up with the true contenders around the league.

The Seahawks still have a lot of work to do if they’re going to catch up with the true contenders around the league. Most of all, that will require a good haul of prospects in the 2024 NFL draft. If they can pull it off, that would make three-straight strong draft classes by Seattle for the first time since the formative Legion of Boom years in 2010-2012.

It’s easier said than done, but if the Seahawks can manage a true Best Player Available strategy in the draft, it would certainly help. Going into our latest mock, we aimed to trade down a couple times to improve the quality of our picks, if not necessarily the quantity. Once on the clock we stuck to a strict best player available approach – drafting the highest-ranked player on the board regardless of position with two small exceptions: no running backs and no double-dipping at any one position.

In the end, we dramatically improved both the offensive and defensive line units with two good prospects coming in for each. Here’s the full 100-pick mock.

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Seahawks supercharge edge rush in this 7-round mock draft

With that thought in mind, we went into our latest mock draft looking to boost the edge rush rotation as much as possible…

Under new Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald, the Ravens had the best defensive unit in the NFL this past season. The main reason they were so successful was a dominant pass rush, as Baltimore led the league in sacks. While Seattle didn’t have a bad pass rush by any means, there’s still a lot of room to improve to catch up with teams like the Ravens and 49ers. Upgrading in this department should be one of the top priorities for the front office this year.

There are a few different ways they can do that. For one, Macdonald’s schematic innovations will have to account for at least some of the improvement. Getting better pass rushers will also have to be part of the equation. In our 10-point blueprint for the offseason we wanted the Seahawks to target former Ravens edges Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy in free agency.

While we still like that idea – especially considering how much they cost Baltimore in 2023 – there’s also a case to continue the team’s ongoing youth movement at key positions rather than signing veterans.

With that thought in mind, we went into our latest seven-round Seahawks mock draft looking to boost the edge rush rotation as much as possible…

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Seahawks go EDGE, QB with first picks in this 2024 NFL mock draft

As it happens, the 2024 NFL draft is loaded with quality quarterback prospects.

Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith just had what we feel was the best game of his career. To perform the way he did under the circumstances shows that this franchise has a serious competitor starting for them who can occasionally elevate his game to an elite level, even under the worst conditions. Smith was so good last Thursday night that we’ve had to reevaluate which direction the front office should take this coming offseason. Rolling with Geno as QB1 when next season starts should still be the default, no matter how these next five games play out.

However, keeping Smith as the starter going into 2024 should not and cannot stop the Seahawks from searching for other potential future franchise QBs. The need to keep churning at the game’s most important position is one of the main reasons why this team has been one of the most consistently successful since the Matt Hasselbeck era began. If they’d been content to stick with Tarvaris Jackson they wouldn’t have drafted Russell Wilson, and if they’d stood pat then they wouldn’t have found Geno Smith, who’s the main reason the 2023 Seahawks are even remotely competitive despite some serious coaching issues on both sides of the ball.

As it happens, the 2024 NFL draft is loaded with quality quarterback prospects. Top prospects like Caleb Williams from USC and Drake Maye from North Carolina will be out of reach unless they trade up, but there are nearly a dozen other interesting QBs in this class who have the potential to develop into starters at the next level. It’s so loaded that Seattle has three in their own backyard – Washington’s Michael Penix, Oregon’s Bo Nix and Washington State’s Cam Ward are all worth a serious look. So are Jayden Daniels (LSU), Shedeur Sanders (Colorado), J.J. McCarthy (Michigan), Spencer Rattler (South Carolina), KJ Jefferson (Arkansas), and Tua Tagovailoa’s younger brother Taulia at Maryland.

In our latest seven-round mock for the Seahawks we decided to roll the dice on yet another highly-promising 2024 QB prospect…

Seahawks go all-defense in this 2024 NFL mock draft

Instead, we focused this mock draft entirely on defense.

The Seahawks may have lost a huge game on Thursday night, but we saw a whole lot to like on the field. The Cowboys are one of the most well-rounded teams in the NFL this season and a serious Super Bowl contender, and Seattle took them all the way down to the wire. Most encouraging was the performance by veteran quarterback Geno Smith, who had the best game of his career despite facing a near-constant onslaught by the Dallas pass rush. Some people believe Smith’s awesome outing secured himself the QB1 job, at least at the outset of next season.

We’re not quite there yet, but what this game does definitively prove is that these Seahawks can hang with the best teams in the league. However, they’re going to need to make some adjustments before they start actually beating opponents on that level. Most of those changes may need to be schematic in nature, because it’s hard to find places on this roster outside of the trenches that truly need to be upgraded. We can’t mock a new front office or coaching staff, so we have to do the best we can projecting how to get the right kind of help in next year’s draft.

Considering that they just dropped 35 points on a top-five defense that had their pass rush firing on all cylinders, we decided that their offensive personnel is perfectly fine where it is. Instead, we focused this mock draft entirely on defense. Here’s how it went down.

Seahawks 2023 NFL mock draft: The checking every box edition

After their stunning success in 2022, another quality draft would set Seattle up is a true contender in the NFC.

The Seahawks will go into the 2023 NFL draft with a top-five overall pick, 10 picks in all and the second-most capital in the league. That puts them in position to capitalize on the strengths of this class as well as filling their immediate roster needs. After their stunning success in 2022, another quality draft would set Seattle up is a true contender in the NFC.

With that in mind, in our latest seven-round mock draft, we tried our best to check every single box. Along the way we filled needs along the defensive line, as well as linebacker, center, wide receiver, running back and guard. We also made sure to get tight end and cornerback picks to take advantage of the depth at those positions. We also took a detour to roll the dice on one of the under-the-radar quarterback prospects in this class. Here’s how the full mock draft played out.

Seahawks 2023 NFL mock draft: The post-Scouting Combine edition

Now that the Scouting Combine is over we have a much better idea of what the top prospects in this class are all about.

Now that the Scouting Combine is over we have a much better idea of what the top prospects in this class are all about. Our latest Seattle Seahawks 2023 NFL mock draft paid extra attention to those prospects who stood out during combine drills, while addressing every major roster need and taking advantage of the deepest positions in this class.

The biggest question for Seattle this year – even after re-signing Geno Smith – is if they will select a quarterback with their No. 5 overall pick. For this round, that answer was a yes. Here’s how the entire seven-round mock draft played out.

Seahawks 2023 NFL mock draft: For the Love of Defense edition

This past season Seattle ranked No. 25 in scoring defense, No. 21 in defensive DVOA, and No. 26 in EPA per play.

The Seahawks have a potent offense going into 2023, presumably led by established starting QB Geno Smith. However, if they’re going to get back to the Super Bowl anytime soon they’ll need to radically improve on defense, because the numbers aren’t pretty. This past season Seattle placed poorly in both traditional and modern metrics, ranking No. 25 in scoring defense, No. 21 in defensive DVOA and No. 26 in EPA allowed per play.

While we have seen worse in recent years, it’s still a far cry from the team’s absolute peak exactly eight years ago and they haven’t fielded anything close to a top-five defense since 2016. That has to be driving Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll absolutely bananas and nuts. (Carroll admitted it’s “killing him” to reporters in his end-of-season press conference.)

Schematic tweaks will have to be made as part of the improvement. However, recapturing that special Legion of Boom feeling will require some major personnel upgrades.

With that in mind, our latest seven-round 2023 mock draft is made up exclusively of defensive picks. Here’s how it played out.