So, a wee bit of a bomb was dropped last week when NFL draft insider Tony Pauline wrote an article that mentioned Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough was gaining first round buzz, and the teams showing the most interest in him have been the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Seattle Seahawks. Alrighty, then.

I will be the first to admit that the news left me with a bunch of conflicted thoughts.

I really liked what Shough had shown at the NFL scouting combine, and how he seemed to come across at the Senior Bowl in practices. He’s a likable personality. He’s tall, athletic, and mature. He has clear tools, and an arm talent that feels very translatable to the NFL. He has intangibles that make him an interesting match for Mike Macdonald, and he feels less of a project than many of the other quarterbacks in this draft, including Jaxson Dart, and Cam Ward. For Seattle, however, I just don’t know if I would like him taken any earlier than round three, and if he goes higher than that, let him be someone else’s prize.

It is funny how fluid the NFL offseason can be. Back in late February/early March, if some NFL insider had told me that Seattle was eyeing taking a quarterback early in this coming draft, I would have been excited about the notion. Having the college football playoffs and the national championship still fresh enough in my mind, I found myself becoming a big time Will Howard fan, and I have liked Jaxson Dart a lot, as well. Seeing Louisville QB Tyler Shough throw at the scouting combine had really turned my eye, as well.

Back then, Seattle still had 34 year old Geno Smith on their roster, and for me, 2025 felt like a good year to take a stab at one of these quarterbacks in the first, or second if they felt really strongly about one of them. The idea made sense. Sign Geno to a short extension to offer him more money up front, and take one of these guys to groom behind him for a couple years, essentially creating a Green Bay Packer Jordan Love scenario.

Two weeks later, this whole notion evaporated after Seattle traded Geno to Las Vegas for a third round pick, and pivoted towards signing Sam Darnold in free agency. With 27 year old Sam Darnold coming in on a three year contract, my entire view of the Seahawk QB situation had suddenly shifted. Seattle got seven years younger at the position in a lateral move that could prove to be an upgrade, given the new Klint Kubiak system, and the potential of Sam being a better fit for it.

For me, this move to Sam Darnold greatly diminishes the need for Seattle to draft QB of the future this year, and I still like a number of quarterbacks in this draft even if none of them appear to be top end prospects. I like Howard, Dart, and Shough quite a lot, actually. I also think Texas QB Quinn Ewers has a little something interesting about him, and could potentially be a good system fit here. I think Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard could honestly be a really interesting draft and slow develop prospect for Seattle if sat patient, and took him in rounds three, four, or five, and same thing with Syracuse QB Kyle McCord.

If Seattle were to draft any one of these guys in rounds three through five, I would be fine with it. These are the rounds that they should properly go in, I feel. The reality is that quarterbacks, in general, tend to get elevated higher up draft boards given the league’s constant need for them, and because of that, many of these guys will probably get drafted much higher in a few weeks time. I just don’t want to see Seattle join the needy lot of teams that will be looking to gobble them up earlier than necessary.

Seattle has seemingly committed to seeing if Sam Darnold can be a long term solution here, I feel like they can, and should be more patient than perhaps a large handful of other teams zeroing in on these prospects. Given the needs that still exist on the offensive line, perhaps the lack of depth at cornerback (and maybe safety), the injury concerns of Cooper Kupp, the lack of a long term solution at tight end, I just don’t want to see Seattle draft a QB any earlier than round three, and I prefer to see them wait it out until day three of the draft, if they can.

It would be cool to see them draft a guy at some point, and I get that lure of wanting to see a talented QB on a rookie contract slow cooking into potentially being an eventual starter. I also see the logic salary cap logic of taking a QB this year in the draft, as well, with Sam Howell being in the last year of his rookie contract, and therefore having a developmental QB2 on a rookie contract for the next four years.

I also appreciate that the inner workings of Darnold’s contract really makes it seem more like a two year “prove it” sorta deal with team friendly outs for Seattle. To me, it makes the deal all the more better for the team, and in a sense, the player, as well.

If Darnold struggles to match his breakout performance of 2024, Seattle has the ability to move on from him quickly over the next season, or two. If he plays really well in their Klint Kubiak scheme, he will be in position during the 2027 offseason to negotiate a bigger long term contract to stick around. Within the framework of his contract with Seattle, the Seahawks have protected themselves, and Sam Darnold has waged a good bet on himself working out here. Every Seahawk fan should like that.

Essentially, in two years time, Seattle will know if Sam Darnold is, or is not their long term franchise quarterback. This is why I am absolutely not down for Seattle burning their first round pick on a quarterback such as Tyler Shough, or even Jaxson Dart later this April. If they are both available at pick 18, let them become the prizes of other teams afterwards.

I think there are most likely going to be strong options for them in the first round to improve their offensive line (finally), or further strengthen their defensive line. I could also get down with Seattle taking a crack at a defensive back, or a tight end if one of Tyler Warren, Colston Loveland, or Mason Taylor is sitting there.

Many fans would hate this, but I could even be convinced that taking a receiver in round one makes sense, if my arm is twisted enough, and local kid Emeka Egbuka is there, who grew up in Tacoma being a huge Seahawks fan. Egkuka is a lot like Jaxon Smith Njigba, but I can be convinced that it isn’t a bad thing for Seattle to nab him up, and groom him behind veteran Cooper Kupp. Inject a guy like him onto this roster, and suddenly the narrative that Darnold won’t have as good of a receiving corp to throw to as he did in Minnie shrinks dramatically.

I likely wouldn’t love seeing Seattle take a receiver, tight end, or DB at 18 overall if a good offensive line prospect was available, but if the guy is really special, I could wrap my head around it. I would just have a much harder time wrapping my head around a quarterback, if that proved the case.

If that pick does become quarterback Tyler Shough, as NFL draft insider Tony Pauline has recently sorta suggested, it would be a tough pill for me to swallow. It would leave me with the feeling like Seattle would have way overcorrected at quarterback to an unnecessary degree, and I like Shough for reasons already mentioned. In round three, I would enjoy seeing Seattle taking a swing at him, if he was still there, but not round one, or even really, round two, and here is why.

Shough has a lot of college experience starting because he has been injured so many times that he has bounced around different programs looking for fresh starts. To a degree, it has been a blessing to him because he has played in numerous systems, has grown as a passer, and a person, and has created a pretty good floor as a quarterback draft prospect for himself. He will, however, turn 26 years old in the Fall, and is therefore, just about two years younger than Darnold, and that, matched with his injury history, makes him less appealing to me as a prospect.

He would be the perfect player to land with Pittsburgh with a chance to start right away, and get his clock going as a rookie. I think Cleveland would also be a great spot for him with a chance for the team to move off of the horrendous Deshaun Watson situation. The Jets certainly make similar sense with Justin Fields not being a certainty to succeed. Tennessee would be a very obvious landing spot with a chance for him to openly compete with Will Levis.

I could even argue that going to the Rams, where they probably have Stafford going year to year now, would make sense. Ditto with the Giants and Russell Wilson being on a one year deal, or even to the Raiders with Geno Smith.

For Shough, I think either a situation where he can immediately start as a rookie, or develop behind an older QB1 who probably only has a couple of years left makes a bunch of sense. If Seattle still had Geno Smith here, I could get behind taking Shough earlier, or any other of these quarterbacks getting hyped up a bit.

Shough going to Seattle at 18, though, after signing Darnold? Man, I wouldn’t get that.

If Seattle were to take Shough with their first round pick, they would almost certainly feel the pressure to move off of Darnold without seeing the experiment with him through. Due to his age, the clock for getting Shough in the driver’s seat as QB1 for Seattle would probably be pressured to be sped up, as he will be 30 years old by the time he would be negotiating his second contract.

And if they did decide to move off of Darnold early in favor of developing a 26 year old quarterback that they invested a first round pick on, and Shough struggles and or gets injured (as he often did in college).. Jeeze Louise.. when what does Seattle have potentially have at quarterback?

It would potentially be a bloody mess that would see the whole front office fired, and maybe the coaching staff, as well. Personally, I would like to avoid that scenario from happening because that sounds way too much like the New York Jets over the past 15 years.

Now, if he ends up playing like Josh Allen all of that is moot, but how likely is that going to be?

My guess is not that likely, and his ceiling will probably be, well.. Sam Darnold-esque with maybe a greater likelihood of getting injured a fair amount more. That doesn’t sound like someone I want to see Seattle spend a first round pick on when they already have Darnold on the roster for the next three years, or longer, if all goes well.

Now, if he is sitting at pick 82 or 92, and Seattle wanted to add him, then I would be way more warm to it. That would be much more palatable.

If he lasted that long, then it would signal that the league recognized his injury concerns and had questions about his true ceiling. Seattle could take advantage of an older college quarterback still being available who might have a decent floor, and enough ability to push Darnold early.

If he develops strongly, and quickly, Seattle would have flexibility to move away from Darnold. If Darnold plays well enough to not really make of a competition between the two, then Seattle has a decent and affordable backup option on their roster for the next four seasons. Either scenario would be win/win for Seattle, and Seattle will have bolstered their roster by taking players at other positions earlier.

Honestly, this might be the reason Seattle is taking a good long look at Shough. They might not be considering him in the first round, but should he last into round three, he might become an interesting option once offensive line, and a few other positions are addressed. Having him behind Darnold becomes additional security at the most important position at a more palatable cost.

But first round quarterback for Seattle this year?

Nah, I am not feeling that.

Not in an offseason when the biggest need on this team clearly has been improving the offensive line, and Seattle has done extremely little in free agency to add talent to it. I can accept this reality of lack of veteran infusion to the offensive line if Seattle sees numerous players in this draft that they are prepared to add early, starting in round one. Ideally, I would want to see an offensive lineman taken in round one, and another one taken in round two.

North Dakota State guard/center Grey Zabel is the guy I am all in on due to his physical profile and fit for their zone blocking system, but there are others who I equally could get behind at pick 18. I wouldn’t hate it if they selected Ohio State guard Donavan Jackson. I also wouldn’t be mad if it was Oregon tackle/guard Josh Conerly Junior, either (other local Seattle kid, FYI).

Honestly, I wouldn’t hate it if their first three picks of the draft (picks 18, 50, and 52) were all offensive linemen, given the needs of improvement to this area being that extreme. It likely won’t happen, but I wouldn’t be upset if it did.

So, while it is fun to think about seeing Seattle drafting a quarterback high because it would infuse fans with something daydream about, especially those skeptical about Darnold, I don’t think this is the draft to do it. I don’t think any of these quarterbacks are sure things be quality NFL starters.

I think it is all fingers crossed projection with Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders, Dart, Howard, and Shough will become quality NFL QBs. If any of these guys were in last year’s draft where six quarterbacks were drafted in the first twelve picks of the draft, they all would have likely been second or third round picks, at best. Let other teams needier at quarterback take swings on them.

Go get Grey Zabel, or someone else close enough to his talent level on the offensive line. Commit to saying what you want to be; a tough physical team that nobody wants to play. Do not pass over a player who will provide you this opportunity up front for a quarterback prospect who may not ever be able to beat out Sam Darnold at QB1 spot further down the line. Don’t do this.

Ride this through with Darnold over the next two years, and see what you have with him first. If it doesn’t work out, then consider taking a quarterback high. You might be better positioned for it in a future draft with a stronger quarterback class than this one.

Trust me on this. This is not the draft to take a quarterback high. At all. Not for the Seattle Seahawks, anyways.

Go get me Grey Zabel, instead.

Go Hawks!