Boom! Seahawks make secondary primary focus

April 29, 2017 cc Leave a comment

The Legion of Boom officially has been refreshed — thanks to an explosion of draft picks in Rounds 3-6.

As founding members Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor and Richard Sherman approach the twilight of their Seattle careers and DeShawn Shead recovers from a major knee injury, one of the big goals of this draft was to add to the secondary.

The Hawks accomplished that in a big way with the selections of cornerback Shaq Griffin and safeties Delano Hill, Tedric Thompson and Mike Tyson. It is the most defensive backs John Schneider has drafted — coming after none in 10 picks last year.

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NFL draft, Trades

McDowell’s ‘unique,’ but is he committed?

April 29, 2017 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks got great value on their first-round trades down Thursday and ended up parlaying their top pick into five selections via three trades. But there’s a reason they moved down three times before drafting inside pass rusher Malik McDowell.

McDowell had an underwhelming 2016 season in which some think he mailed it in, and he did not impress some teams during the pre-draft process. But John Schneider and Pete Carroll really wanted him because of his size (6-6, 295), athleticism and versatility.

“He’s too unique,” Schneider said, comparing him to Calais Campbell, the 6-8 lineman who used to terrorize Russell Wilson as an Arizona Cardinal (and will again as a Jaguar next season). “We’ve been looking for a pass-rushing 3-technique since we’ve been here together.”

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NFL draft, The roster

Pocic more evidence of bad O-line strategy

April 29, 2017 cc Leave a comment

Ethan Pocic is the Seahawks’ league-high 16th offensive lineman drafted since Pete Carroll and John Schneider arrived in 2010. He also is a symptom of why Seattle has failed to put together a functional offensive line.

One scouting report calls Pocic a “five-for-one lineman offering roster flexibility.” The Seahawks love that so much they almost traded up for him — even though they have no idea where they are going to play him.

“He was the one guy that, quite frankly, we were really sweating out because we felt like you’re drafting maybe two and a half players with one guy,” Schneider said. “We debated whether to go up and get him or just wait and sweat it out.”

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NFL draft

Draft day 2 live

April 28, 2017 cc Leave a comment

9 p.m. — The Seahawks finished off the third round without making any trades, taking speedy Central Florida CB Shaq Griffin, thumping Michigan strong safety Delano Hill, run-stopping North Carolina DT Nazair Jones and big Michigan WR Amara Darboh.

Griffin is the highest-drafted corner in Seattle since Josh Wilson in 2007. The earlier John Schneider had drafted a corner was Walter Thurmond in the fourth round in 2010. Griffin, who runs a 4.38 40, should jump right into the cornerback mix.

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NFL draft, Trades

Do Hawks want a QB, or just baiting again?

April 28, 2017 cc Leave a comment

It sounds like the Seahawks are indeed in full QB dangle mode.

A couple of reports indicate (1) they were interested in Patrick Mahomes in the first round and (2) they are considering drafting a quarterback today.

The Mahomes report seems far-fetched. The Seahawks have used QBs as bait in two of the past three drafts, so this probably was more of that — just a way to create more interest in the 26th pick (the Chiefs ended up jumping from 27 to 10 to take Mahomes).

It is entirely possible that the Hawks want to take a QB today, but this scuttlebutt is surely a way to engender interest in the 34th overall pick and get some team to come up for Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer (if the Packers don’t pick or trade out for him) or perhaps Cal’s Davis Webb.

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NFL draft

Wheeling & dealing sets up ‘a fun weekend’

April 28, 2017 cc Leave a comment

As usual, the Seahawks’ draft will start on Day 2. If it seems like we say that every year, it’s because it has been that way in four of the past five drafts.

It’s not a bad way to do business at the bottom of the draft. Like last year, John Schneider & Co. did very well Thursday. Dropping just eight spots, they added another third-rounder, a high fourth and a seventh.

The Hawks have a league-high six picks today — the most Day 2 selections they have had under Schneider — and they have seven of the next 78 picks overall (counting the fourth pick in the fourth round).

As Schneider said, “It’s going to be a fun weekend.”

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NFL draft, Trades

Hawks could auction pick 34, too

April 28, 2017 cc Leave a comment

Green Bay holds the power to start Day 2 of the draft. Having moved down to pick 33, the Packers are now fielding calls from teams interested in moving up. The target for most probably is Notre Dame QB DeShone Kizer.

Seattle’s pick, the second in the round, should be popular, too — whether it’s for a QB or another player who dropped out of the first round.

The Seahawks have a league-high six picks today — two in the second round, four in the third — and they aren’t against adding more.

“We have some freedoms here that could come to us, and we’re in a great spot in a couple of these rounds right now,” Pete Carroll said Thursday, after the Hawks traded down twice to net an extra third, a fourth and a seventh. “I imagine we’re not going to turn down phone calls. John will be working it.”

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NFL draft

Draft day live: Hawks trade down twice, out of first round

April 27, 2017 cc 3 Comments

8:30 p.m. — The Seahawks will make their first pick on Friday.

After moving down five spots with Atlanta, the Seahawks then moved down three more in a deal with the 49ers, which netted them the second pick in round 2 and a fourth-rounder.

The Seahawks have now vacated the first round in four of the past five drafts.

Seattle has six picks on Friday and 10 overall.

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NFL draft

Draft day: Hawk eyes on Lamp & Bolles?

April 27, 2017 cc Leave a comment

The NFL’s Christmas Day has arrived. And it looks like the Seahawks are hoping to find one of two offensive linemen under their tree.

Some well-informed mock drafts are giving the Seahawks an offensive lineman at No. 26, either Western Kentucky’s Forrest Lamp or Utah’s Garett Bolles.

The first round figures to include four O-linemen, with as many as seven teams eyeing them. Seattle’s competition includes Baltimore (pick 16) and almost all of the teams in the 20s directly ahead of Seattle — Denver (20), Miami (22), New York Giants (23), Oakland (24), Houston (25).

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Franchise history, NFL draft

Hawks’ drafts went from historic to subpar

April 26, 2017 cc Leave a comment

John Schneider set such a high standard in his first three drafts, it would be nearly impossible to match. So it’s no surprise that he hasn’t.

According to an excellent study put together by The Washington Post using Pro Football Reference’s Approximate Value (AV) rating, Schneider’s 2012 draft was the best in 20 years — as measured against expected value (EV). And his 2011 draft was fourth on that list.

That clearly was an impossible level to sustain.

As Schneider joked Monday: “How come that doesn’t happen anymore? What’s your problem, dude?”

The problem was how far the Seahawks dipped for a couple of years. And the hope is the 2016 and 2017 draft classes will bring them out of the slump.

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