On Day 1 of the draft, John Schneider made the smart move and upgraded an offensive line that was in desperate need of it.
There was a gaping hole at left guard, and Grey Zabel is expected to fill it – the first guard Seattle has drafted in the first round since Steve Hutchinson in 2001 (he turned out to be pretty awesome).
Mike Macdonald declined to declare which side Zabel would play – the lineman said he didn’t care – but the coach did confirm he would play guard.
“Hopefully we’re not moving him around much and he sticks at guard for a long time here, but he does have that versatility.”
Also in the guard mix are recent draft picks Christian Haynes, Anthony Bradford and Sataoa Laumea. The new offensive staff – Klint Kubiak, Rick Dennison and John Benton – still need to determine the best sides for all of these guys.
“We’ll see how it shakes out,” Macdonald said. “We’re trying to find the best cohesive unit right now. There is a lot of competition along our line. To say he’s going to be slotted at (a specific) spot, probably too premature to give you that.”
Macdonald said they want to figure it out ASASP though.
“You want to make decisions in a timely manner so you can jell the group together,” he said. “We’re really excited about the guys we have as well. They’re going to have ample opportunity to show what they can do. Really confident that unit is going to be able to jell and really surprise people this year.”
We have pointed out that the best lines have the most talent – typically at least three guys drafted in Rounds 1-2. The Hawks now have, left to right, 1-1-5-3-3 – assuming Olu Oluwatimi (2023 fifth-rounder) remains the center and Haynes (2024 third) beats out Laumea (2024 sixth) and Bradford (2023 fourth). If the Hawks were to add Georgia center Jared Wilson in the second round, as a number of fans would love to see, the capital count would become 1-1-2-3-3.
Schneider stayed and played
As we pointed out last year, Schneider typically does well when he sticks and picks.
Schneider was talking trade with someone but said “things did not come to fruition.” The two teams that moved up were the Giants (from 34 to 25) and Falcons (from 47 to 26). Houston also tried to move up and ended up trading down with the Giants. So Houston or New York likely was the team he was talking to – Daniel Jeremiah had even projected a SEA-NYG trade.
Schneider said a trade “was going to have to be a cool deal for us” because Zabel was their No. 1 choice (and filled a huge need).
Day 2 options
Day 2 will be the meat of this draft for the Hawks, who have four picks.
Schneider has picks 50 and 52 and referenced a long wait until they pick. He repeated that he is open to trading, “if we can find people who want to move around.”
Schneider might want to move up for LSU tight end Mason Taylor (a VMAC visit), Boston College edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku or South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori (another VMACer).
The Hawks also could use a nose tackle, receiver, corner or center – so lots of ways they could go.
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