Last week, I wrote a long thought out blog post that served as a passion plea for the Seattle Seahawks to focus on the trenches in this coming draft either by taking a quality guard at pick 32, or drafting or trading for a badass defensive lineman. This remains my big hope, although I am losing faith in the idea the Cleveland would actually be dumb enough to trade away Myles Garrett, and ditto with Vegas trading away Maxx Crosby.

The said, it feels like this draft potentially sets up very well for Seattle to land a quality long term solution at right guard, and perhaps have one of the very best offensive lines in football. That prospect appeals to me greatly.

I can see logic in Seattle drafting a cornerback with their first pick. There are some really good ones in this draft, and because they will have to pay Devon Witherspoon a massive contract soon, it makes sense to have a quality corner to pair with him on a rookie contract. They did just pay Josh Jobe an affordable extension, however, and in this scheme, Jobe has proven to be a reliable CB2. Therefore, I don’t know how pressing of a need this actually is for this team. I think they will want to add one, but I don’t know at what point in this draft. The position is a deep one for this draft class, after all.

This all said, this mock draft isn’t me trying to make my best prediction for what the Seahawks do this week. Instead, I am using it as an attempt to thread the needle between what they might try to do, and where I personally see the best value for the team being.

For example, I don’t personally see an edge rusher in this draft that would realistically be available at pick 32 who would be worthy of that pick, but I do see edge rushers who could be available later that make sense. I suspect that the team might see it this way, as well. This draft is also deep at edge, but it does not feel top heavy at the position. It feels like a draft where you wait the position out into day two, and early day three to find some value.

Likewise, I am not convinced that they will draft a running back in the first round. This runs very counter to the popular view that Seattle is targeting Notre Dame’s Jadarian Price at pick 32, who is regarded as the second best running back in the draft. I just don’t see Price being a guy you take in round one.

He is naturally a very talented runner who would fit a zone blocking scheme very well, but he’s not regarded as a great third down player, and he has had issues of ball security in college. Even though he has a personality that is quite likable, and he has traits that suggest he would be an explosive runner, it is too much of a projection for my comfort level to take him with a high pick. At the end of round two, I would be more comfortable with drafting him, but not at the end of round one with other quality players available.

What I do feel like they will try to do is trade out of pick 32 to add at least one more pick to work with. In this mock draft, I have them doing exactly that with the Cleveland Browns, acquiring picks 39 and 107 for pick 32. Cleveland feels like the team that might try to jump the Jets and Cardinals at the top of round two to get back into the end of the first round in order to draft Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson. If they know that Seattle is a very willing trade partner, there is little reason for them to use the 24th pick of the draft on him. So, this is the scenario that I am working with.

With the 39th pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks select Keylon Rutledge, Guard, Georgia Tech

There have been some rumblings in recent weeks that Seattle might take a guard with their first pick, and I feel like this makes tons of sense. Anthony Bradford is in a contract year, and I don’t think anyone suspects that Seattle will shell out big dollars to retain his services on an extension. The team took Christian Haynes in round three two years ago, and Haynes hasn’t developed enough behind him to take his spot.

There are five guards in this draft projected to go late first into the second round who all appear promising. I have a feeling like we will see a run of them in the late first into the early second round, and I can see Seattle being a player.

Here, I have them take Rutledge who is a big athletic brawler that played right guard all four years in college, has proven to be an excellent run blocker in a zone blocking scheme, and is regarded as a reliable pass blocker, as well. He is Guard 3 for me in this draft class, and if the Seahawks do not see Anthony Bradford as a long term solution at right guard, it would make sense to draft his replacement now, if they can.

Rutledge is described as tough, strong, smart, and reliable. That sounds like a Mike Macdonald Seattle Seahawk, and he feels like the ideal candidate to pair with Grey Zabel, giving Seattle a legitimate chance at having a top five offensive line in the league for years to come. He would be a home run selection for me out of this class, if they landed him here.

With the 64th pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks select R Mason Thomas, Edge Rusher, Oklahoma.

Thomas is regarded as an undersized speed rush specialist who can beat taller offensive tackles with unique speed and bend around the edge. I think this is the type of edge rusher Seattle is probably looking to add with the loss of Boye Mafe. At 6-2 248 pounds, I can see him being a bit like what Dee Ford once was for the Kansas City Chiefs, and what linebacker Chad Brown was with Seahawks in the 1990’s and early 2000’s.

There is a chance that he could be used as sort of an off ball SAM linebacker, if Seattle wanted to shift to more 4-3 under fronts on occasion, as well, and then used as the primary speed rusher on obvious pass downs. At this point in the late second round, even if all he is at this level is a quality pass rush specialist, that probably isn’t terrible. This would be fair value for Seattle at this stage of the draft.

With the 96th pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks select Jonah Coleman, Running Back, Washington

I do feel like Seattle has an intent desire to come out of this draft with a starting caliber running back. Again, I am just not convinced that it will involve taking Jaradian Price at the end of round one as it is popularly being projected.

Instead, I like them waiting out the position on day two. Here, I have them going with UW’s Jonah Coleman who I believe that they probably like a lot. Coleman is a bowling ball style of one cut runner who is hard to tackle, and can offer a bit of a Marshawn like physicality to their running attack. He is also a very good pass blocker. Being a local prospect, he knows players inside Seattle’s locker room, and would be an immediate culture fit. I can see them taking him in the second round, to be honest, but here I have them taking him late in round three.

With the 107th pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks select Daylen Everette, Cornerback, Georgia

Seattle has retained Josh Jobe as their number two receiver opposite or Devon Witherspoon, and I am not totally convinced they will look to draft another number two corner type high just for the sake of it. This draft is deep enough at the corner that I have them waiting out the position for a guy they brought in for an official visit with the team.

Everette is a well sized, fast cornerback who has played the position as a boundary player and inside. He started a lot of game for the Bulldogs and went against top competition. He is not a perfect player and that is why he lasts into this range, but he can offer press skills, and can make plays on the ball. I think he’s a guy that can come in and compete right away to be the third cornerback on the team, and he has an athletic profile feels like decent clay to mold further down the line.

With the 188th pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks select Skyler Thomas, Safety, Oregon State

With the last pick of their draft, Seattle simply goes best player available, and they take an long athletic college safety who they think fits Macdonald’s scheme in terms of being able to play split safety and be reliable as a run defender. They have met recently with Thomas twice, and that tells me that they are perhaps zeroing in on him as a late round pick because they might go different directions on the first couple days of the draft.

Final Thoughts

I have written this mock draft article out three different times over the past few days before I settled on this version. Finally, I landed on a mock that fully makes sense for this team based on their needs and where value lies in this particular draft class.

In the first version, I went along with the popular consensus, and I had them taking running back Jadarian Price at 32. I also had them take a safety at 64 to replace Coby Bryant, and it had them take an edge rusher at 96th to add more depth in that group. I then had them take a linebacker with their last pick because he felt like best player available who would add special teams value.

I will be honest. I hated that mock draft after I sat with it for a day. It felt too by the numbers to fill needs as opposed to seizing quality talents at each spot.

Jadarian Price feels like a very talented running back who would remind older Seahawk fans of Shaun Alexander. Like Shaun, he’s a smooth runner who isn’t much in pass protection, and isn’t a great receiver, as well. I just don’t think Mike Macdonald is the sorta coach who wants to spend a first round pick on a back who isn’t regarded as a complete every down player right now.

The next version of this mock draft, I had them staying at 32, but taking edge rusher Malachi Lawrence who probably has the best combination of length and speed to possibly develop as an every down defensive end who will generate sacks in this league. The problem with this idea was that it felt like too much of a projection. Lawrence wasn’t a great run defender in college. He has the arm length to potentially develop into one, if he were to vastly improve his lower body strength, but it is hard for me to trust he will. Therefore, this idea of taking him that high felt like the next coming or Darrell Taylor or Bruce Irvin, who were speed rushers that Seattle drafted high in the past, and then they moved on from after their rookie deals were up.

The rest of that mock had them taking the same safety at 64, and then taking Jonah Coleman at 96, and I think the same linebacker in the sixth round. I sat with it for a bit, and it still felt like another projection that did not feel like a Mike Macdonald style draft. I think Macdonald’s ideal starting edge rusher is stout against the run, and can beat offensive tackles to the quarterback by converting speed to power. Maxx Crosby would be this ideal edge. This draft does not have a Maxx Crosby player who would be at pick 32, so why force a projection here?

I then did a version the felt like a mock draft I wanted to do for the Seahawks. I took Keylan Rutledge at 32, R Mason Thomas at 64, and Coleman at 96, and safety Skyler Thomas at 188th. This felt more like a Mike Macdonald draft. Take another badass guard, take a speed rusher in a better range to grab one, add a dependable every down sorta running back (even if he’s not the flashiest), and take a safety who has traits that could fit the scheme. This version I really liked. It just left me wanting one other thing.

I wanted to trade down a bit from 32 to add an early fourth round pick to add one more player to fill out the roster a bit more. Then the John Schneider news conference happened yesterday, and the biggest thing to note out of it was his very outward desire to move down, and add more picks. It feels like a very understandable desire. Even in a draft that isn’t regarded as good as other ones in recent years, you’d like to have more than four picks.

By trading back seven spots with Cleveland, it can leave you thinking you don’t need to be so desperate to fill a need with the first selection. You can just take a really good player at 39, regardless of position, and feel like you acquired another pick spend at a more needier spot on your team later on.

Personally, I believe a player like Keylan Rutledge would be an ideal fit for what Seattle wants to do on offense. He’s a really good physical athlete for a guard, and he plays with an attitude that 49er players, and Ram players would absolutely find annoying. He won’t back down from a Fred Warner, or a Jared Verse. He’d look to punish as a run blocker, and he takes pass protecting very seriously. If you want to continue seeing Sam Darnold throw pretty passes downfield to JSN, adding a guy like Rutledge up front makes sense. If Seattle can muster a slight trade back to add this guy and still fill out needs at other spots, I think that would make this draft highly successful, in my opinion.

Anyhow, this mock draft feels right to me for the Seattle Seahawks as they sit right now. In each of the past two off-seasons under Mike Macdonald, the Seahawks have prioritized the trenches either by taking a defensive tackle or a guard with their first selection, and it has massively paid off, thus far. Why break away from this trend now?

I see no reason not to do so with the quality guards who could be available. Whether it plays out this way or not, we shall soon see, but this is a scenario that feels really good. Hope it works out something like this.

Go Hawks.