Walker Little, Stanford Cardinal.
So far, we’ve brought you compilations of other mock drafts from across the internet. Here we give you our Seattle Seahawks mock drafts in two different varieties, with and without trades. For this set of mocks, we used the Pro Football Focus Mock Draft Simulator.
To recap, the Seahawks only have three draft picks this year. The select in the second (56th overall), fourth (129th), and sixth rounds (250). Seattle’s first and third picks went to the New York Jets for Jamal Adams. Guard Gabe Jackson came from Las Vegas for the Seahawks fifth-rounder. The sixth-round pick went for Quinton Dunbar. Finally, this year’s seventh-round pick was the price for Carlos Dunlap.
After free agency, the Seahawks still have holes to fill. Their most critical needs are:
Tackle – Right Tackle Brandon Shell couldn’t stay on the field in 2020. When he did play, he couldn’t handle outside pass rushers. Additionally, left tackle Duane Brown, the O-line anchor, turns 36. An ideal tackle could come in and start on the right side this season and move to LT when Brown retires.
Center – Seattle resigned last year’s starter Ethan Pocic. He was good but struggled with line calls and, at times, needed more help from the guards than he should have. Pocic’s best position is guard and will likely move there in 2022.
Defensive Tackle – Poona Ford, Bryan Mone, and Al Woods are all back with the team. Unfortunately, Jarran Reed was sacrificed to open cap space. Another defensive tackle would help in the long term.
Linebacker – K.J. Wright is still a free agent. There is still hope that the Seahawks find a way to bring him home. So until either he’s re-signed or Seattle GM John Schneider finds a replacement, the job is open.
Wide Receiver – 2020’s third receiver David Moore left as a free agent. While there are internal candidates, no one stood out enough last year to be called a favorite.
Cornerback – This is the NFL. A team can never have enough cover cornerbacks.
Before I post who and when this is how I make my pick decisions, I use a system weighted toward needs. As for as evaluations go, I wish I could watch tape on 630-plus prospects, but it’s almost impossible. When I’m in doubt, my five go-to places are NFL.com draft profiles, The Beast from The Athletic, writer Dane Brugler’s comprehensive draft guide, Mike Renner’s draft guide from Pro Football Focus, Profiles from The Draft Network, and the same from Walter Football.
This year the Seahawks pick 56, 129, and 250 overall. In this mock, I made no trades, so the Seahawks pick in their original spots.
If Walker Little lasts this long, it will be a minor miracle. Depending on who’s evaluating, the behemoth from Stanford is anywhere from a low-first to an early-third-round draft pick. Opting out of the 2020 season after an early exit due to a 2019 knee injury makes him somewhat of a question mark.
Little is a much better pass protector than run blocker, but he’s no slouch in that area. I see him as someone who fits the criteria of starting his career on the right side and can develop his game to the point where Little becomes Russell Wilson‘s blindside protector.
Generally, Little is very dependable at not allowing pressure. He has good hand placement and intelligently recognizes how defenses are attacking the edge. Little also flashes some nastiness as a pass blocker, commonly grabbing a rusher in the chest and throwing them to the ground with ferocity. Little is a physical presence and a real battler who makes it a long day for edge rushers to match up against. – Charlie Campbell, Walter Football.
At Notre Dame, Robert Hainsey played right tackle. If he were coming into this draft as a tackle, he’d have little to no shot at being selected. However, during Senior Bowl week, Hainsey played center, and he looked pretty darn good at it. It’s a position that maximizes his strengths and limits the weaknesses he showed at tackle.
Due to his limited athletic ability, Hainsey is a much better fit inside. He looks like a natural in the phone booth size operating area that is the interior offensive line. Additionally, Hainsey was a two-year captain at Notre Dame. That speaks volumes about the young man’s character and leadership. With Pocic already entrenched as the Seattle Seahawks starting center, Hainsey has time to develop.
Hainsey showed out at the Senior Bowl across multiple positions along the interior — most notably center. That’s likely where he ends up at the NFL level. His quick hands and ability to find shoulder pads at the snap should serve him well there. – Michael Renner, Pro Football Focus.
For the 250th overall selection, Quinton Bohanna could get himself into the defensive line rotation early in his career. At 6-4, 337-pounds with a big wingspan, he eats space along the defensive front. He won’t make many plays on his own. Instead, Bohanna will occupy enough space and tie up one or more offensive linemen so his teammates are free to make plays.
Two-gapping nose with good power who is much more likely to become a space-eater than a playmaker. Bohanna can man the nose in even or odd fronts and plays with decent knock-back explosiveness coming off the ball. He will play with average range, but can disrupt blocking schemes with his power penetration from time to time. – Lance Zierlein, NFL.com.
No small thinking here. The Pro Football Focus simulator, however, is the strictest when it comes to making trades.
With so few picks and not very well positioned, I knew I had to find a way to improve my position and pick up picks. So I traded down three times to add draft capital. Additionally, I didn’t want to deal away too many 2022 draft picks because it will be a strong class.
Picks are listed in their overall position, round numbers are in parenthesis.
When I saw Teven Jenkins was still on the board, I had to trade up for him. He’s a nasty blocker who wants to put his man in the dirt. That’s exactly the type of intensity the Seattle Seahawks could use on their O-line.
His game needs some refinement for Jenkins to excel long-term as an NFL tackle. It’s a good thing Seattle is in a position to give him time to develop. Jenkins could definitely take the right tackle job from Shell by the end of the season.
The 6-foot-6, 320-pound fifth-year senior offensive tackle is a top-heavy blocker that has experienced success in the team’s Air Raid offense. A quick setter that’s prone to take horizontal pass sets, he’s created a habit of establishing quick wins by striking his hands and controlling defenders.
As a run blocker, he’s able to create considerable amounts of movement when able to gain momentum prior to engagement points. A well above average finisher, Jenkins is the type of offensive lineman that attempts to humiliate players in the opposite color jersey. – Jordan Reid, The Draft Network.
An upward trending player from an upward trending program. Tay Gowan has all the tools to be a solid NFL cornerback. It’s a concern that he didn’t go against Power-5 competition. His learning curve will be a little longer. In the meantime expect him to be a solid special teams contributor.
Tay Gowan is a very intriguing cornerback who fits the size, athleticism, and speed profile that the NFL is looking for at the position. There are plays on his tape that will catch the attention of anybody looking for help at the position, but there are also several factors working against him. – Sam Monson, Pro Football Focus.
The same player in the same spot. See the No Trade draft on page two for details.
Despite his technique challenges, KhyirisTonga is a space-eater in the middle. In the NFL, he’ll play mostly on running downs as he doesn’t offer much in the way of pass-rushing skills. Overall, Tonga is worth a flyer at this spot.
(Tonga) is a player that would be described as “stronger than he is explosive” based on his movement skills. He uses a good bull rush to get home and uses his length to knock down passes when he cannot. – Drae Harris, The Draft Network.
Yes, the Seattle Seahawks recently added pass rusher Aldon Smith to go along with Carlos Dunlap, Benson Mayowa, Darrell Taylor, and Alton Robinson on the edge. At this spot in the draft, Patrick Jones II is the clear best player available. The fact that he’s an edge player makes no difference. Besides, if the Seahawks injury bug from last year strikes again, they’ll need him.
He has enough rush get-off to occasionally threaten the corner but will find the sack production much harder to come by if he doesn’t improve his hand skill and counters at the top of the rush. Lance Zierlein, NFL.com.
We’ll have at least one more Pacific Northwest Sports mock draft before the event occurs on April 29 – May 1.