Some Draft possibilities

[NorthHawk]

I was looking around at some of the Mock drafts and some players names came up that after checking out I think we might be interested in.

Stephen Nelson CB Oregon St.
He's smaller, but he's ultra competitive and could fill a role when we play against teams with the quick receiver types.

Tre McBride WR William & Mary
Has pretty good speed and is a KR, too. Some of the comments said he has quite a good catching radius and one said he saved at least 2 or 3 incompletions per game with his efforts.

Henry Anderson DE Stanford
He's pretty big at 6-6, 295 and according to NFL Draft Scout : "He is built like a tree with good length and powerful hands to extend and meet blockers, shredding bodies and disrupting the pocket."

Shaquille Mason OC Georgia Tech
He played Guard at Georgia Tech, but at the Sr Bowl they had him at C and he played very well at both. He's 6-2, 305 and is said to be both quick and powerful.

[HumanCockroach]

Little surprised that was not a list of offensive lineman, top to bottom. LOL.

[NorthHawk]

I wish it could be OL, but there are still other needs or areas that could be upgraded, too.

These guys seemed to stand out as being the types of players we tend to look for.
Nelson's ultra competitiveness might overcome his lack of height and the others seem to fit the profiles of players we have selected in prior years.

[c_hawkbob]

Cedric Ogbuehi Has got LT potential for a early/mid round pick (which is rare usually LT prospects go early). He not perfect but he's got the feet and the athleticism to slide out in front of even speedy edge rushers. He'll slide (for an LT) because he's coming off an ACL and his hands aren't near as good as his feet. It's easier to coach hand mechanics than it is foot speed though. Plus he's from Texas A&M which is a bit of an O-line factory.

I also think we could get Hroniss Grasu, the Ducks Center and John Miller, guard outa Louisville. Both are tough, nasty, love to play the game type interior linemen.

[NorthHawk]

An ACL can scare a lot of teams away but he might be able to rehab for most of the year if we select Ogbuehi.
If he ends up staying healthy, he could be a steal at 63 or later.

I read a lot of good things about Miller during the Senior Bowl. He held his own against the best DL in the draft and some of the writers were suggesting he could be a good pro.
Because we are drafting so late, we would have to select him in the 4th (if the rankings I read are near accurate).

[c_hawkbob]

I don't know about "having to" select Miller in the 4th ... it's not as though we've never drafted prospects in rounds others have felt were a round or two (or more) ahead of where they should have gone.

[NorthHawk]

It's just that we have 3 picks in the 4th and our 5th rounders are later so he will probably be gone by the time we select with every team wanting solid Offensive Linemen.
#134 is our last pick in the 4th and #167 is our first pick in the 5th.

[c_hawkbob]

Oh I understood what you meant, I'm just saying it wouldn't surprise me to see us take him earlier. Taking a guy many see as a 5th round prospect in the third is not unfamiliar territory to us.

Louisville is a team I watch play because they are televised here a lot and he's a guy that caught my eye. Since somebody had mentioned the lack of O-linemen in this thread, and you "wished it could be" O-line I thought I'd throw a couple out there that it actually could be.

And while we're on the subject of kids we've seen play that caught our eye, I know y'all might be tired of me throwing Utes names up but Jeremiah Poutasi is your typical Utah Polynesian monster that is versatile enough to have played LT for the Utes for the last two years (although he's better suited to play Guard in the NFL) that may well be had in the 3rd or so as well.

I agree there are other places we could go in this draft, but as usual I'll be wanting us to draft O-line early and often and think this is a year we actually just might.

[NorthHawk]

After re-reading your first post, it was obvious to probably everyone except me that you meant they might take him earlier.
They stick to their own ratings regardless of what others say so earlier is very possible. I just hope they improve their Offensive selections this year especially on the Line.

I've heard the name of Poutasi being mentioned as someone to look for in some Mocks, but I don't know that much about him.
That he played both Tackle positions is a bonus and at 6'5" and 330ish pounds, NFL Draft Scout says he is surprisingly light on his feet.
He had a 27" vertical leap according to them, so that shows some explosion for such a big guy.
Someone with that size would seem to fit the spot Carpenter left open. Maybe even improve the productivity there in time.

With 2 big holes in the Offensive Line, I think it's important to go after some of the players that fit there early in the draft.
I doubt we can find sufficient talent after the 4th and definitely not after the 5th to replace what we lost this off season.

[NorthHawk]

Almost every team wants to upgrade their teams and along the LoS is one of the most important areas to improve if a team wants success.
I think that means most teams are looking for OL improvements at at least one position and if you include the Schilling retirement we have 3 spots to fill up front. Since we are drafting late in the mid/later rounds (at the moment), we might have to pull the trigger in the earlier rounds if the talent level is determined to be roughly equal. As Bob said earlier, our FO hasn't been afraid to select players ahead of how the media has them ranked if they think he's the right fit.

[NorthHawk]

Here's a link to a Mock Draft from the PI that caught my eye.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/seahawksdraft ... 3rd-april/

The writer thinks our FO might move up in the 2nd to get one of the WRs.

Here are his picks - the justifications by the writer can be found by following the link.

Wide receiver (DGB, LOCKETT OR COATES)
Mike Davis RB
Terry Poole G/T
Ty Montgomery WR/KR
Shaquille Riddick DE
Mitch Morse C/G
Rakeem Nunez-Roches DT
Tray Walker CB
Rob Crisp LT
Quinton Spain G

[c_hawkbob]

4 O-linemen is a decent number.

[HumanCockroach]

The Hawks have 11 picks, and barring them either trading some for players, or packaging some to move back up ( hopefully to select a lineman that has slipped further than anyone expected) I would think that at least 4 picks will be used on the offensive line, some may be late, but I honestly expect that first pick to be an o-lineman, and several to follow as is typical of this front office.

[NorthHawk]

My suspicion is they will take OL with one of their 1st two picks, then not again until the 7th.
They seem to have this faith in Cable to make silk purses our of sow's ears. I don't think it's proven to be true, though.
I hope I'm wrong with my expectations.

[obiken]

We are going to have to get lucky again in this years draft. We going to have to find at least one diamond in the rough.

[HumanCockroach]

Not sure I would use the word "lucky" in discription of this FO at any level, on regards to any player acquisition via the draft at any spot, FA signings, or development. No way any person or team is that lucky over a long sustained period of time.

[NorthHawk]

The unknown and where luck comes in is how the other teams see the players, so if we are targeting one player in a particular round, then luck can play a role.
A lot depends on how close the plan B selection is.
An example is when we selected Wagner. It was said we were targeting Kendricks, but he went just before we picked so we went to plan B in Wagner.
Turns out, Wagner was a great pick and that's a testament to our scouting however if we selected Kendricks, he might not have worked out in our system as well as Wags has.

[HumanCockroach]

Based on that line of thinking, ALL selections in the history of the league would equate to luck, and everything that followed would as well. Meaning no team earned a title, they were just lucky to get to select Joe Montana, or Tom Brady, Jerry Rice etc. When a team consistently flys in the face of conventional wisdom year in and year out and selects and finds all pros in strange places, it isn't luck IMHO.

[Hawk Sista]

Time to get out my DRAFT FAT t-shirt!

[NorthHawk]

Based on that line of thinking, ALL selections in the history of the league would equate to luck, and everything that followed would as well. Meaning no team earned a title, they were just lucky to get to select Joe Montana, or Tom Brady, Jerry Rice etc. When a team consistently flys in the face of conventional wisdom year in and year out and selects and finds all pros in strange places, it isn't luck IMHO.

The Draft has been described as a bit of a Crap Shoot and teams take a leap of faith in their evaluations when they make their pick. Sometimes picks don't work out even after all the hard work of evaluation.
As such an element of luck exists, but I never said it is all luck.

Regarding your examples, yes the teams were lucky another team selecting earlier didn't see their potential or had other priorities. If the Pats knew how good Brady was going to turn out, do you seriously think they would wait until the 6th round? Consider how the NFL history books would look if another team who needed a QB took a flyer in the 5th or early 6th. They expected him to be there, but with 198 previous selections having passed on him, it would have been a monumental gamble if they were sure he was going to be the player he turned out to be.

[obiken]

Are any of you guys skipping the first day? For the first time in 40 years I know I am. I cant believe they made the draft 4 days???!!! The biggest NONE event in sports and they drag it out 4 days. Roger the Super Commish strikes again!

[NorthHawk]

Not having a first round pick means it's less interesting, but I'll keep a watch out for how it falls near the end of the first round.
I doubt we could get a guy with the impact of Graham at 31, but it's still interesting to see who might be left when we would have picked.
As well I find it interesting to see who our immediate competitors get.

It was much better when it was only 2 days so there could be a party the first day.
It's almost like drawing out Christmas for 4 days. By the time the end nears, I'm ready to move on.

[HumanCockroach]

Maybe it is a bit of a crap shoot, but as with a gambler, there are people that mitigate the luck and make educated gambles, at some point the choices become not luck, but skill. Carroll and co, passed lucky three years ago.

[c_hawkbob]

The skill is in the choices you make. The luck is in the choices others make just ahead of you. If Russ had been taken a slot or two ahead of us, that would have been our bad luck.

[RiverDog]

The skill is in how well you evaluate prospects. The luck involves whether or not they are available at the price you deemed they were worth.

[NorthHawk]

Seeing reports of visits to the Seahawks by DE (edge rusher) Christian Ringo (new to me), DL Mario Edwards, and DE Frank Clark. Clark has been charged with domestic violence, but no conviction that I know of.

An interesting comment from NFL Draft Scout:

IN OUR VIEW: Clark isn't the type of prospect who will receive much publicity, but he will prove to be a steal in the NFL if he is able to satisfy teams regarding his November arrest. Regardless of how scouts feel about Clark's on-field talents, however, they'll need reassurance that he won't make future mistakes off the field, as this was the second arrest of his collegiate career.

--Dane Brugler and Rob Rang (11/18/14)

It's no wonder they are checking him out if they like his skills.

Christian Ringo. 6-1 293 according to NFL Draft Scout DT from Louisiana-Lafayette.
He played well in the Sun Belt conference.

Edwards is another DE at 6-2.5 and 279lbs.
He's a Junior, but has played well against both the run and pass for 2 years and might be there when we pick.
It looks like we're looking for more DE help, but it might be a bit of a smokescreen.