John Schneider and company are never too secretive about the guys they are interested in drafting. Their visits and workouts typically telegraph many of their moves.
Last year, they met with Malik McDowell and Shaquill Griffin, who ended up as two of their top three picks. In 2016, they added a handful of their pre-draft visit/workout guys, including first-rounder Germain Ifedi. In 2015, they brought in/worked out at least four of their eventual picks, including Frank Clark. Keep going back and the same pattern emerges, with Paul Richardson, Christine Michael, et al.
So we obviously can glean a lot from reports of their pre-draft visits and workouts. Two weeks before the draft, here’s what we know:
This is the level of paranoia John Schneider has created with his surprisingly explosive offseason: Russell Wilson’s agent apparently is concerned Schneider is looking to replace the quarterback.
Richard Sherman is gone because John Schneider has drafted poorly and paid too many guys, not because Sherman can’t play anymore.
John Schneider is focused on moving younger players into the Seahawks’ lineup, which is why he is willing to move aging stars.
Even as John Schneider extends core players and fills roster gaps this preseason, it is clear he is already looking intently toward the 2018 offseason.
The Seahawks have not had much luck with their top draft picks under John Schneider, and their most recent three are continuing the tradition.
“(Ethan Pocic and Germain Ifedi) are going to compete and obviously what you hope is that they prove to us day in and day out that they are two of the best five. And then you’ve got to move one of them somewhere, and that’s a good problem to have.’’ — Tom Cable to KJR
