Seahawks First Round Pick Will Be a Big Ugly – Or A Speedster
I’ll begin this assuming that Sherman guy doesn’t get traded. Makes the article easier to write, makes the 12s happy. That’s a win-win in any book. So looking at the Seahawks with the 26th pick overall, who do they take?
Seattle has two areas that need to be addressed before any others, for very different reasons. The offensive line has bodies, but needs drastic improvement. The defensive backfield has quality, but lacks depth.
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The offensive line, to be kind, underperformed last year. The Seahawks offensive linemen ranked 24th in rushing average at just 3.9 yards per carry, ranked 27th in sacks allowed with 42, and ranked 29th in quarterback hits allowed with 111. Compare that to the Oakland Raiders, generally considered the best pass-blocking unit. Oakland gave up just 18 sacks and allowed only 41 quarterback hits. That’s 94 more times some behemoth slammed into Russell Wilson, for the math-challenged among you.
I’ll second the argument put forth by Zach Peterson in his fine article in which he stated that the Seahawks could get by with a mediocre offensive line, due to Wilson’s pocket awareness. Mediocre simply means average, not bad. The median for sacks is about 35, for quarterback hits, about 85. So an average offensive line would give up about 33 fewer shots on the quarterback. Ask Number 3 if he’d be okay taking two fewer hits per game in 2017, and I think he’d sign off on that today.
That being said, the Seahawks have done a lot to address their line issues already through free agency. Signing Luke Joeckel and Oday Aboushi upgraded the line immediately, and the young veterans can be expected to continue to develop under Coach Tom Cable. So the the quality of the offensive line has already been addressed.
The issue in the defensive backfield is the opposite. Heading into 2016, to call the Legion of Boom an All-Pro unit would be underselling them. Injuries hampered their effectiveness, as Earl Thomas missed his first action ever in 2016, then broke his leg in Week 13. Richard Sherman, as we now know, played all season with an injured knee. To top it off, Deshaun Shead tore his ACL in the NFC Championship game, and is expected to miss at least half of 2017. So while the talent is there, it’s thin. The signing of free agent safety Bradley McDougald certainly bolsters the backfield, but the Hawks are still quite thin at the corners.
And that is why with the 26th pick overall, your Seattle Seahawks will select…
The speed guy. If Kevin King is still available at 26, I feel confident the Seahawks would be thrilled to take the local kid from the University of Washington. At 6’3″ and 200 pounds, he fits the Seahawks mold perfectly. He can play nickel and slot but truly stood out as an outside corner. Unfortunately for the Seahawks, he opened a lot of eyes at the NFL Draft Combine with the best three cone drill time of anyone. Quickness, agility – yep, that’s a corner. There’s a chance King may still be there at 26, as this draft is loaded with defensive backs.
An outside possibility: Jabrill Peppers. Until Monday, Peppers was projected by most to be gone by the time the Seahawks picked. After failing his drug test with a diluted sample, Peppers is expected to drop considerably. At 5’11”, he lacks the height that Seattle loves, but he does have the one thing the Seahawks value above almost anything: the flexibility to play multiple spots. Cornerback, safety, some linebacker, and a top return man, all in one hard-hitting package.
This is an exceptional year for defensive backs. Regardless of who the Seahawks call on Thursday night, the 12s will rejoice.
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