Draft Review

[NorthHawk]

Since nobody has started a thread like this, I thought I would.
I wrote it in Notepad, so I hope the formatting stays intact.


I'm beginning to really warm up to this draft.
It reminds me a little of the 2011-2013 drafts when we got a haul of good players.
Time will tell if I'm right, but to me it looks like there is the potential for a real good team.
These are my grades which are purely subjective and nothing is a sure thing in the draft.

The picks:

Rashaad Penny, RB
He might be the next best RB behind Barkley. He's almost him in what he can do.
He runs well behind his blockers, has good pop through the hole, has good speed, can catch out of the backfield, and he breaks tackles.
He would have been compared to Barkley if he went to an SEC school, I'm sure, but how many Internet Evaluators would consistently stay up
past midnight to watch 2 MWC teams play? Many probably only saw him play against Stanford or Arizona if they stayed awake enough. It's worth
noting that these self defined experts panned our pick but are slobbering over Belichick's pick of Michel - a part time player at Georgia with
a history of fumbling just 4 spots later. That says a lot to me about their group think mind set.

I think our pick is a B+ with a possibility of an A

Rashaan Green, DE
He's a Mike Bennett type in the making. There is some thought that had he stayed for another year he would have been a 1st round pick.
If true, we got a 1st round talent in the 3rd round. He had the knee injury in High School, but the doctors cleared him and there was one
report that said his repaired knee is more structurally sound than his uninjured knee. Maybe it's all of the rehab he's done and was young enough
for it to grow back or at least have the muscles around it develop in support of it.
He can play both inside and outside, but expect him to stay outside early in his career and be a situational pass rusher.

A solid B

Will Dissly, TE
Great blocker on the line. Maybe one of the 2 best blockers at TE in the draft.
This should immediately help solidify both the run production and pass protection.
He has pretty good hands, too as he didn't drop a pass last year although the sample size is small considering Washington didn't throw
to him a lot.
He fits what Schottenheimer wants. A dominating run blocker who can at times sneak out for a completion. He might become a safety valve
for Wilson in time. He's not very fast, but that's not a big point of emphasis in helping the OL improve at this point.

Another B

Shaquem Griffin, OLB
He's an impact player. If you watch games of UCF, he's always in the middle of something good, whether it's a fumble recover, tackle for loss,
or QB sack, he always seemed to be either involved or provided pressure for someone else to make the play. We all know how fast he is, and we
needed an upgrade of speed on the team as a whole so he should really help. He will probably be a situational player at first, but I can see him
being the perfect "Spy" if we have to go that route and could be a surprisingly good attacker off the edge. I can even see him as an in the box
Safety or maybe at some point SS like Kam but with much better speed. His intangibles are what set him apart.

For a 5th round pick, I think he's an A, but overall a C+ with a possibility of an upgrade.

Tre Flowers, CB
A converted Safety. Big (6-3), physical, and fast for his size. He might take a while to learn the Seahawk way of playing CB, but he reminds me
a lot of Brandon Browner. He may be a contributor on ST along with Griffin the LB while he learns his trade, but the potential is there to be a
good CB in the future.

Grade: C

Michael Dickson, P
Considered the best punter in the draft. Dropped a huge amount of punts within the opposing 20 and had a 47+ yard punt average.
He can get a lot of hang time with his punts and was a Ray Guy winner for best punter in College.
He might be a surprisingly good pick.
They moved up a few spots to get him which might be a negative if he's only average.

Grade: B

Jamarco Jones, T
Played at Ohio State who has produced a lot of Tackles in the NFL in recent years including Taylor Decker and Alex Boone.
A big wing span of 85 1/2 inches, he played LT all of his career and PC said that's where he will stay in Seattle with Fant moving
to compete at RT. He may actually be the heir apparent to Brown in a few years as Jones learns the Pro game and develops. He is one of
those players that's just a solid Offensive Lineman with the potential to be the same at the professional level.

Grade: C But in the long term he may end up being a steal.

Jacob Martin, DE
Played OLB at Temple, but the Seahawks have him listed as a DE. He will have to put on weight to play DE as he's only 235 lbs as of his
Pro Day. He's quick and has good closing speed. He spent a lot of time pressuring the opponents backfield in College.
I wonder if they see him as purely a rush end, but he's going to have to develop further to get on the field on a regular basis.
One thing going for him is PC knows what type of player he wants and has shown to put players in the best situation to succeed on Defense.

Grade: C

Alex McGough, QB
Only the 2nd QB drafted since PC/JS signed on.
4 year starter at Florida International University in Conference USA.
4.5 40, so he can move and threw a lot of TD's at that level.
A surprising pick and considering we didn't draft a big WR, even more so.
He will take a while to develop, but just maybe he can be a backup at some time.

Grade: D

A few of the Undrafted Free Agents

Poona Ford, DT
At times dominated as a DT, but is very short and squat at 6-0 305 lbs. He has long arms and being short this gives him some good leverage.
Remember that Aaron Donald isn't very tall, either at 6-1 so it can work at DT. Ford was a captain for the Longhorns and played mostly Nose
Tackle in a 3-4. He was a disruptor at the College level on a Defense that held opponents to under 100 yards in 7 of 12 games.
He plays low and is quick off the ball and has a great motor.
He has a chance to stick here.

Khalid Hill, FB
He played at Michigan under Harbaugh so he knows a bit of what the Pro game wants.
Big blocker at 6-1 and 260 lbs and also played on ST.
He might be a find if on Offense we go back to regularly using a FB.

Skyler Phillips, OG Idaho State
Strictly a Guard, he played fairly well and may be one of those guys that ends up just grinding out a solid career.
Some think he's too short for a Guard at 6-3, so it may be why he wasn't drafted. With good coaching, he may end
up competing for a backup spot this year but probably will end up on the PS.

Marcus Martin, FB
He's also listed as a possible LB, DE, and ST on NFLDraftScout, but won the NCAA Division II Ron Lenz National Defensive Player
of the year in 2015, 2016, and 2017
I suspect he will be competing for FB and ST in Seattle, but who knows? He has a whole lot of Defensive awards to his credit and might
surprise us.
6-1, 240

[obiken]

Warm up to this draft?? GMAFBreak! I am happy for your fuzzy and warm feeling, its all fun and games till we have to block Suh and Donald with the crap we got. WE NEEDED OLineman and we don't have them. I think its Trump lite with Pete, he loves giving the finger to everyone then watching the Chinese fire drill, (RW running for his life trying to find someone open) till he gets his knee snapped. RW is 30 in Nov, he not getting any younger. Some of you are more delusional than a bad Trump supporter. Sorry, nothing against anyone in particular.

[mykc14]

its all fun and games till we have to block Suh and Donald with the crap we got. WE NEEDED OLineman and we don't have them.

THE HAWKS PICK OL EARLY IN ALMOST EVERY DRAFT AND OUR OL HAS BEEN BAD FOR YEARS!!!!!! Time to switch the strategy. Maybe it's not the guys we are picking but the system. Maybe our O worked best with Lynch because the running back has a lot to due with a successful run game.

Do you think the draft was loaded with offensive lineman who could have blocked Suh and Donald? Come on, there is no way we were going to get anybody that stands a better chance of blocking them from the interior than what we've got next year. Which offensive lineman would you currently want to replace?

LT- Brown. There is no way they are going to replace him this off-season. He is your starting LT barring injury
LG- Pocic. Last year's 2nd round draft pick. How hypocritical would it be for you to want to give up on an early draft pick last year for one this year. Whose to say a first year guy would be better than an early draft pick next year?
C- Britt. No way they are going to replace him. He's your starting C.
RG- Fluker. IMO he will be better next year than anybody we would have picked at #18. I would be willing to concede that he might not be the guy beyond 2018, but as far as next year and blocking Suh and Donald goes he's the best bet. He's better than Pocic.
RT- Ifedi/Fant. I think Fant has a chance to win this one, but even with Ifedi (who I think looks really bad at RT) there were NO legitimate options at Tackle at #18.

You could maybe argue that Wynn, Corbitt or Hernandez COULD BE better than Pocic, but they were all all late first early seconds. If you are the Hawks are you really willing to give up on last year's 2nd round pick for a 2nd rounder this year. What makes you think they are going to be any better? They like the athletic profile of these guys. Now lets see them with a new OL coach/Offensive system. Like many of us have said, it's easy to say picking OL will improve the run game, but the reality is it's way more complicated than that.

[NorthHawk]

I was on the not so good side, too until I started to research the players.
I think this draft is a throwback to those early drafts when we were building a team. And that's where we are except we have a good nucleus already in place.
According to some, Suh and Donald will kill all of the QBs they face, but no prospect would be able to handle them this year, either if you believe that - not Hernandez nor Wynn so
we are where we are with a possible run game improvement and a bunch of young guys wanting to prove themselves on Defense.

[c_hawkbob]

THE HAWKS PICK OL EARLY IN ALMOST EVERY DRAFT AND OUR OL HAS BEEN BAD FOR YEARS!!!!!!

Well you're half right.

[Aseahawkfan]

Warm up to this draft?? GMAFBreak! I am happy for your fuzzy and warm feeling, its all fun and games till we have to block Suh and Donald with the crap we got. WE NEEDED OLineman and we don't have them. I think its Trump lite with Pete, he loves giving the finger to everyone then watching the Chinese fire drill, (RW running for his life trying to find someone open) till he gets his knee snapped. RW is 30 in Nov, he not getting any younger. Some of you are more delusional than a bad Trump supporter. Sorry, nothing against anyone in particular.

You had to throw politics into a normal forum thread? You don't know how any draft is until a few years. I never understood why you make such statements when the draft happens. To use some of your thinking, you're like Trump making assumptions and statements about unknowns that rarely pan out. I've been reading your posts for years and you're rarely right. You "chicken little" the draft and seasons almost every year I've seen you posting and I rarely see you right. You "chicken little" with the sky is falling so often that I can't even take your assessments seriously. When are you not chicken little after the draft?

You literally watched the Seahawks win a Super Bowl, go to a second Super Bowl consecutively, and go to the playoffs for five years straight with a crap O-line, yet you continue to "chicken little" every year.

You talk about delusional Trump supporters? What about you, man? How about looking in the mirror at a delusional Seahawk fan who contrary to everything he has seen the past five or six years can't accept that O-line quality is not in anyway the best way to determine or build a Super Bowl team.

[mykc14]

Well you're half right.

Which half?

[c_hawkbob]

Our O-Line has certainly struggled.

[mykc14]

Our O-Line has certainly struggled.

Yeah, I would say the other part is also true (eh... maybe there’s some hyperbole in there). It just depends on what we define as ‘early’ and ‘almost every year.’ PC and JS have used draft picks, on the OL, in the first 3 rounds in 7 out of 10 drafts (this includes next years #2 for Brown) and used a total of 9 picks in the first 3 rounds over that time. Using this criteria I would say ‘almost every year’ fits. If you wanted to argue round 3 isn’t early then it would be 6 of 10, which isn’t almost every year. At any rate it is at least true to say ‘more often than not’ PC and JS have used early round picks on the OL and it has struggled so a change in strategy at least makes sense.

[RiverDog]

I think what C-bob is referring to is draft slotting. This season was the highest draft slotting we've had since the 2012 draft.

Couple that with the fact that prior to this years draft, 4 of the last 5 drafts we did not have a first round pick and one can see that we have had very little capital to work with in the drafts.

[mykc14]

I think what C-bob is referring to is draft slotting. This season was the highest draft slotting we've had since the 2012 draft.

Couple that with the fact that prior to this years draft, 4 of the last 5 drafts we did not have a first round pick and one can see that we have had very little capital to work with in the drafts.

That doesn’t change the fact that we have used early round picks on the OL more often than not. Every consistently good team has the same issue with their draft slotting. Draft slotting is a major reason we have traded away thise first rounders, IMO. You can’t get a unique athlete like this (Harvin, Graham, Richardson) drafting at the end of round one so you pull the trigger on a trade. In the end drafting players early is a draft strategy that hasn’t worked for us, for whatever reason, and the answer might not be to throw more early draft picks at the position. Maybe it’s more the RB (something PC has eluded to in the past) or the way we use our OL that is the problem.

[c_hawkbob]

3rd round is not early. If you're drafting at the end of the order 2nd round barely is.

[RiverDog]

That doesn’t change the fact that we have used early round picks on the OL more often than not. Every consistently good team has the same issue with their draft slotting. Draft slotting is a major reason we have traded away thise first rounders, IMO. You can’t get a unique athlete like this (Harvin, Graham, Richardson) drafting at the end of round one so you pull the trigger on a trade. In the end drafting players early is a draft strategy that hasn’t worked for us, for whatever reason, and the answer might not be to throw more early draft picks at the position. Maybe it’s more the RB (something PC has eluded to in the past) or the way we use our OL that is the problem.

You're looking at our past results with the draft, which is not necessarily indicative of the results our new OC and OL coach will achieve.

We'll see how it goes. Despite the fact that I'm not fully on board with the selection of Penny in the 1st and trading up to draft a punter in the 5th, I'm pleased with the players we drafted, at least on paper.

[mykc14]

3rd round is not early. If you're drafting at the end of the order 2nd round barely is.

That’s fine, like I said I’m not married to the idea of a 3rd being early. Most of their picks aren’t in their original slot so many of the 2nds weren’t late 2nds. In the end we have at least used an early pick in 6 of 10 drafts.

[mykc14]

You're looking at our past results with the draft, which is not necessarily indicative of the results our new OC and OL coach will achieve.

We'll see how it goes. Despite the fact that I'm not fully on board with the selection of Penny in the 1st and trading up to draft a punter in the 5th, I'm pleased with the players we drafted, at least on paper.

We still don’t know all of the ins and outs of who had say in drafting along the OL, there is an interesting piece at Field Gulls arguing that Cable has less say in the OL that we drafted than many people think. At the end of the day it is PC and JD who are clearly the main decision makers and they are still in place.

[Aseahawkfan]

We still don’t know all of the ins and outs of who had say in drafting along the OL, there is an interesting piece at Field Gulls arguing that Cable has less say in the OL that we drafted than many people think. At the end of the day it is PC and JD who are clearly the main decision makers and they are still in place.

I read his article. Pure speculation on his part after one draft, when they likely didn't have time to institute the new O-line coach and OC's philosophy on O-linemen. The writer of that article jumped the gun big time after one draft on his speculation. One draft with a newly hired O-line coach and OC coming in after the college season is over and the scouts have been scouting using the old model all year does not prove a thing about the decision making of the FO. That article has so many glaring holes, not even sure why he wrote it this early. We'll see next year what effect the new O-line brain trust has on drafting after they've had an entire season to talk with the GM, scouts, and work their system in.

The writer even took shots at people without having good enough sense to analyze the problems with his theory like the timing of the college season, when Solari and Schottenberg were hired, and who would have been talking with the scouts all year about who to draft during the college season. Or is he assuming Cable knew he was going to be fired all last season? And for the Raiders the same thing. He's coming into a new situation where he hasn't had the time to scout for the Raiders. Scouts and GM are working all year to draft people, coaches are not. So you won't see the new regimes mark until the draft the year after they are hired.

[mykc14]

I read his article. Pure speculation on his part after one draft, when they likely didn't have time to institute the new O-line coach and OC's philosophy on O-linemen. The writer of that article jumped the gun big time after one draft on his speculation. One draft with a newly hired O-line coach and OC coming in after the college season is over and the scouts have been scouting using the old model all year does not prove a thing about the decision making of the FO. That article has so many glaring holes, not even sure why he wrote it this early. We'll see next year what effect the new O-line brain trust has on drafting after they've had an entire season to talk with the GM, scouts, and work their system in.

I completely agree. It proves nothing, but I think the idea is interesting and maybe over time data with a trend will begin to develop. My point in referencing it wasn't that it was right or wrong, only that so many of people (myself included) felt like Cable was getting 'his guys' in the draft and that might not be the case. I thought the same thing about him jumping the gun. Not only is it only one years worth of data, but it doesn't take into account that Cable might not have full say on who the Raiders draft. In the end we probably will never know for sure.