Category Archives: NFL draft

NFL draft

Draft talk: Moving up in Round 2, adding corners and more

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At the NFL meetings this week, John Schneider and Mike Macdonald offered a few draft nuggets – some of which confirm conventional wisdom and others which create questions.

Macdonald said they would take the best player available – offense or defense – with their top pick (18). He also said they would be looking at drafting some cornerbacks, and he gave a lukewarm endorsement of Riq Woolen – a guy we think might be traded at some point this year.

Schneider, meanwhile, said (1) he was laying groundwork for trades with other NFL execs in Florida, (2) he might consider moving up in the draft and (3) the Hawks likely won’t be able to upgrade at center.

Here’s a look at the key draft-related comments from Seattle’s two chiefs and our take on them.

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NFL draft

NFL draft: Top needs, best strategy and what Schneider might do

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While the Seahawks continue to add role players to the bottom of their roster and still might sign a veteran guard later, they are pretty much done in free agency. So all eyes have turned to the draft, which is now a mere three weeks away.

We are not scouts, nor do we pretend to be draft experts. And we certainly have no idea what John Schneider is going to do in three weeks – who does?

But, after checking out consensus boards, seeing what top analysts think of this draft and running through a bunch of scenarios, we have thoughts on the strategy Schneider should/could use.

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Franchise history, NFL draft, The roster

Will Schneider deliver the dream: O-line consistency?

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Whether it has been draft misses, bad (or no) free-agent signings, poor coaching or injuries, Seattle just has not fielded a good offensive line during the majority of John Schneider’s tenure – that’s 15 seasons of mostly bottom-10 rankings.

Despite another whiff in free agency in 2025, Schneider has a chance to turn that around. But he needs to do something he has tried only a couple of times: Create continuity with top talent.

We’d call that living the dream.

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Free agency, NFL draft

OL: After free agency whiff, it is all on the draft now

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It is no big surprise that the Seahawks once again missed out on adding a
notable veteran lineman.

It has been apparent since Teven Jenkins — an injury risk — left the VMAC without a deal that the Hawks likely were going to end up settling on a middling one-year vet again – a la Laken Tomlinson in 2024.

But John Schneider needs to get serious about the offensive line in this draft.

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NFL draft, On the air, The roster

Draft and develop: Schneider wants to emulate Eagles’ O-line construction

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“We know exactly what our deficiencies are. We can all see it, right? And we have a plan to address everything.” – John Schneider, on fixing the offensive line

For fans thinking John Schneider is suddenly going to change his spots and start paying offensive linemen big money, the Seahawks’ GM once again made it clear he is going to stick to the draft-and-develop strategy.

In his first 2025 weekly show on Seattle Sports 710 AM, he said he wants to emulate the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive line construction that featured four draft picks developed by the team.

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NFL draft, The roster

Yes, the Hawks look more like a playoff team now

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A Seattle Times headline asked: With roster shuffling mostly done, are Seahawks closer to being a playoff team?

The answer to that question is “yes” – because John Schneider found an innovative new coach, improved the defensive line and secondary and seems to have made the offensive line and linebacker spots better, too.

Schneider hit what we consider to be home runs with the hiring of Mike Macdonald as coach, the re-signing of Leonard Williams and the drafting of Byron Murphy II in the first round. Macdonald wanted to “build a wall” — and those two guys should help do it.

In the draft, the Hawks also focused on adding blockers – three linemen and a tight end. And they added a much-needed linebacker and Auburn’s starting cornerbacks as well.

Here’s a positional rundown after the draft (RB not mentioned as nothing to note there).

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Franchise history, NFL draft, The roster

Is a new homegrown defense in the offing?

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Byron Murphy said he loved watching the Legion of Boom Seahawks when he was a kid. (For some of us a decade is not that long ago, but for a 21-year-old it was half his lifetime ago.)

The LOB was a dominant defense with a core that John Schneider put together mostly through the 2010-12 drafts: Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, K.J. Wright, Richard Sherman, Bobby Wagner, Bruce Irvin. Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett (Murphy’s favorite player on that defense) were the only core outside additions. And that group of stars dominated the NFL from 2012 to 2016.

Schneider has not been able to replicate that magic over the past decade. He had the perfect chance to do it again in 2016 and 2017, but he absolutely whiffed on most of his 11 picks on Days 1 and 2. Ever since those failures, he has been patching together his defense with trades for veterans.

But, thanks to three straight years with high picks in the draft, maybe he finally is building another core – this time for Mike Macdonald.

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NFL draft

Hawks stick and pick Byron Murphy II

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With almost every defensive player still available to them after 14 of the first 15 picks were offensive players, the Seahawks stayed at 16 and took the best interior defensive lineman, Byron Murphy II of Texas.

He was the Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year after notching five sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss. He also scored two TDs on offense.

Murphy is a 6-1, 297-pound D-tackle who should jump into the D-line rotation with the Seahawks, playing end in their 3-4 looks.

Here is what top analysts said about Murphy.

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NFL draft

Will Schneider make the right choice at 16?

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As John Schneider gets ready to run his first draft without Pete Carroll at his side, plenty of fans think everything is suddenly going to change – because of course Carroll was pulling all of the strings and was the reason the Seahawks were in the bottom third of the league in drafting success over the last decade.

Schneider debunked that idea earlier this month on his radio show, confirming Carroll had the power to “put his foot down” but he “rarely, rarely, rarely did that.”

“John was in control on draft day and will continue to be,” said Nolan Teasley, Seattle’s assistant GM. “The process stays consistent, so I don’t foresee a lot of change in that regard.”

That’s bad news for fans who thought Carroll was running the draft show all these years. Schneider has been pretty subpar at drafting ever since the historic 2010-12 run. According to a 2022 ESPN study, the Seahawks ranked first in the league in draft value since 2012.

But, if you take out that 2012 draft that netted Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner and start with 2013, the Hawks ranked just 21st in the league. The last 11 drafts have been middling or worse: The 2013 draft ranked in the bottom 11, the 2014 draft bottom eight, and the 2017 and 2019 drafts were not good either (DK Metcalf notwithstanding).

The last two draft classes have featured some high picks thanks to the Wilson trade, and now Schneider is picking 16th – which puts him in a prime spot to get a true first-round talent for a third straight year.

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Franchise history, NFL draft

Will Schneider draft a guard who can start as a rookie?

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John Schneider could have afforded a top free-agent guard, but it’s a position he thinks is overpaid – and now he absolutely has to draft a guy who is capable of pushing for a starting spot as a rookie.

Seemingly 90% of mock drafts have him doing exactly that with the 16th pick, taking Washington star Troy Fautanu. Mike Macdonald wants to be “a physical football team” and Fautanu certainly would help that happen.

But Schneider also thinks guards “get overdrafted,” and he recently signed former Jets starter Laken Tomlinson. So, unless Macdonald and Ryan Grubb (Fautanu’s OC at UW) really want Schneider to take Fautanu – and the lineman is there at 16 – it sure looks like Schneider will be angling to grab a guard later in the draft.

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