2011 NFL Draft Needs: Seattle Seahawks

by GarrettFalk on Mar 30, 2011 6:06 PM EDT in Mocking the NFC West

The Seattle Seahawks were the talk of the NFL heading into the playoffs this past season, but not for the right reasons. Seattle was the center for scrutiny after winning arguably the weakest division in football (NFC West) with a 7-9 record. The Seahawks earned the right to host the defending Super Bowl Champions in the Wild Card round of the playoffs in what many predicted would be a one-sided game. So how did Seattle face the criticism? The Seahawks went out and defeated the New Orleans Saints 41-36 in an exciting game.

Even though first-year head coach Pete Carroll made strides with Seattle in 2010, he still has a long way to go to earn respect from the NFL elite. Matt Hasselbeck showed his age this past season and it didn’t help that he battled injuries. His back-up, Charlie Whitehurst, led Seattle into the playoffs with a week 17 win over the St. Louis Rams, but there are still plenty of questions on whether he’s the quarterback of the future. Perhaps the best story in the NFL this past season, was the emergence of cast-off wide receiver Mike Williams. The former USC star finished the season with 65 catches and 751 yards. The Seahawks made a bold trade during the season to acquire running back Marshawn Lynch from the Buffalo Bills. With Lynch in the fold, Seattle now has a three-headed monster at running back along with Justin Forsett and Leon Washington. The Seahawks ranked 28th in yards per game last season so Carroll will have plenty of interesting decisions to make on offense.

Defensively, Seattle didn’t fare any better as it allowed 386.6 yards per game which was sixth highest total in the league. The main root for the problem once again came from the secondary, where the Seahawks’ had the sixth worst pass defense. Despite a stellar rookie season from safety Earl Thomas (five interceptions), Seattle needs to add a player or two at cornerback. Brandon Mebane and Raheem Brock are both free agents so the Seahawks will need to address defensive line at some point. I expect Mebane to return at defensive tackle, but Seattle needs to add a consistent pass rusher to its fold.

1. Cornerback: Kelly Jennings is a free agent and Seattle desperately needs to add a young corner to improve one of its weakest areas. The Seahawks have been in the bottom 10 of pass defense the past three seasons. With the 25th overall pick, Seattle is going to miss out on Patrick Peterson and Prince Amukamara, but it should have a good chance at the next group of players. Both Brandon Harris and Jimmy Smith should be available late in the first round.

2. Quarterback: I fully expect Seattle to re-sign the 35-year-old Hasselbeck to either start for another season or mentor a young prospect. The Seahawks need to address quarterback with one of their first two picks and I could even see them trading up to the top of the second round to do it. It’s said time and time again, a team’s success is driven by the signal caller and Seattle is due for an upgrade. If Jake Locker is available early in the second round, Carroll might push hard to move up and take the Washington product, who he is very familiar with. Other prospects that Seattle should look at include: Andy Dalton, Christian Ponder and Colin Kaepernick.

3. Defensive end: Seattle hasn’t had a legitimate pass rushing defensive end since the days of Patrick Kearney. Even then you could argue that Kearney only had one solid productive season (2007, 14 sacks). Chris Clemons is coming off a nice season, but the Seahawks could benefit greatly from adding a compliment player. Some second or third prospects that would be good fits for Seattle are: Jabaal Sheard, Sam Acho, Jeremy Beal and Ricky Elmore.

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No "arguably" about it. NFC West is the weakest.

Good writeup.

by jacobstevens on Mar 30, 2011 7:18 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

Like Jacob Stevens said, no arguably about it

It upsets me as a Seahawks fan when people say this, but not because it is arguably so. The situations a few years back, when the AFC West was undershooting the NFC West by some margin, was much more comfortable, as I could kinda chuckle of the haters. The reason it is so aggravating now is exactly because it’s true.

But I digress…

Pretty much spot-on. Cornerback and Quarterback are kinda balanced as needs but man, would I love us coming away with the like of Jimmy Smith at #25.

Some would argue O-line trumps D-line. The two are close, but I too would argue O-line is bigger, mostly because D-line does have viable starters at every position (Clemons, Mebane, Cole and Bryant) and PC has shown himself being able to juggle some depth on the defensive line. O-line…well, we don’t have a starter at RT. At least, not a viable one. And with it being unknown if we can get Gallery or another FA OG, the OG position is troublesome too.

Still, the two are close, so nothing wrong with arguing DE, especially since it is a much higher value position than OG or RT. All these positions need to be addressed though, and high in the draft too.

by Thomas Beekers on Mar 30, 2011 8:43 PM EDT reply actions

Offensive line

I had a major debate whether to put offensive or defensive line as the third need. With Unger coming back healthy and after taking Okung last year I decided defensive line is a more immediate need. This is where the lockout hurt teams like the Seahawks because they could sign a few stop-gap veterans o-line players and address other needs in the draft. I do agree with you that offensive line is another need.

by GarrettFalk on Mar 31, 2011 11:13 AM EDT up reply actions

Agreed. Offensive Line is a major concern.

Pitts is a FA at OG. Locklear, Polumbus, and Willis are FAs at OT and Spencer is a FA at C. None of the above are that great and its likely they only try to resign Polumbus. That means currently under contract only Okung OT, Gibson OG, Unger C/OG, and Andrews OG/OT have had any significant playing time as Seahawks.

by bp42810 on Mar 30, 2011 9:24 PM EDT reply actions

I don't think the Seahawks have the luxury of letting talent walk

I think they try to resign Willis, Polumbus and Spencer. Whether or not they succeed is another matter, and depends on the price obviously, but the Hawks are not the kind of team that should feel comfortable letting even that middling level of talent walk.

by Thomas Beekers on Mar 30, 2011 9:35 PM EDT up reply actions

Good enough

Three things:

1) Seahawks have a good backfield, it needs to be given room to work. With extra line talent, lynch, forsett, tate and Washington can be a deladly force. Too many times we watched lynch turn negative yards into no gains, and forsett get stymied to not justify a OL in the first 2 rounds. Assuming gallery(and FA) co-operate, we can bring defenders back to the line, rather than have them stack the box.

2) Seahawks will not take Jake Locker. He is not used to a pro-style system, rather, one where he basically ran whenever his first or 2nd read didn’t pan out. Mike Sando has a good article about his pro day, and it seems consensus to all those that know anything about the west coast offense the Seahawks are most likely running that Jake Locker simply does not it into this system. He needs to be mentored behind a starting veteran, and the seahakws do not have that luxury.

3) The seahawks are not a good team and one draft will not fix all their woes. Its going to be disappointing in comparison to last year because of our two first round picks, and we won’t get as many of the same stud impact players we now have with thomas and Okung. That being said, John Shnieder seems to be draft day wizard, and I therefore have high hopes.

by gimpycb on Mar 31, 2011 2:51 AM EDT reply actions

Ravens fan here

and was just wondering if CB is a pressing need why did you guys give up Wilson? We are not complaining because we love him here. Did they just think there was no way he would re-sign with you guys?

by AV23 on Apr 1, 2011 5:29 AM EDT reply actions

Wilson

was a great nickelback for us, but never stuck as a starter due to his size being exploited by big receivers. The Carroll/Schneider regime prefers bigger CBs and felt Wilson was expendable. Jennings gave us similar results as a starter as Wilson, though he has worse ball skills. Most fans want Jennings gone too, as he is not a good nickelback either. Walter Thurmond seems ready for a larger role, but there is a lack of depth at the position and Trufant is starting to show some age.

by bp42810 on Apr 2, 2011 12:29 AM EDT up reply actions