Kids across the PNW are likely not going to rush to the Seahawks team store to have their parents purchase for them a Grey Zabel jersey. Nor are they likely going to pretend to be him on the playgrounds during a tag football game.

The average fan won’t watch an explosive run play on their television set, and think to themselves “man, Grey Zabel really took it to that linebacker.”

If Sam Darnold hits Jaxson Smith Njigba for a long touchdown pass, your eyes will not be on Zabel pass blocking, I guarantee it. You won’t be watching him at all.

But Grey Zabel might be the most important draft pick that the Seattle Seahawks have made in years, and a pick most universally loved for Seahawk fans, in general. They had to take him.

For years, Seattle Seahawk fans have been tortured by watching bad offensive line play, and I won’t bore you by going over the rankings of Seattle’s offensive line over the past decade of football, it’s not good. Ever since Seattle traded pro bowl center Max Unger and a first round pick to New Orleans for tight end Jimmy Graham, the interior of their offensive line has been cursed, and matters had not been helped that the team seemed to be resistant to the notion of spending high draft capital on guards, or a center. They would draft running backs high, edge rushers, receivers, left tackles, defensive tackles, and defensive backs, as well, but never guard or center.

Late the second round, they once went after a center in Ethan Pocic, but he didn’t pan out enough to stick around. In recent years, they would try their hands at taking guards in the third round. It is a fine strategy to wait later in the draft on the very unsexy position of offensive guard if it works out, and they become good enough to be mainstays, but it has not worked out.. at all.

This year it was imperative that Seattle stopped its long pattern of avoiding the position in the early portion of the draft, and just bloody well commit to it. Grey Zabel was the best offensive guard available at pick 18, a perfect fit to their outside zone system, and they took him over some pretty good receivers, and defensive backs. Thank God they did that.

After Zabel was taken, other really good offensive linemen started coming off of boards. There is a very strong chance that had Seattle elected to go receiver, or pass rusher, or anything else other than offensive line, we would be watching day two of the draft tonight, and Seattle possibly being left with scraps by the time pick 50 came about.

Thankfully, John Schneider didn’t get cute with this pick. He stayed and picked the one offensive linemen that most experts believed best fit what they needed at guard to play the style of offensive football that they wish to play. In short, Zabel’s talent perfectly fits Seattle’s biggest need.

Seahawk fans needed Schneider to make this pick, and he did. We needed this Red Ryder bee bee gun Christmas present. I would love to see Schneider take one more offensive lineman on tonight, preferably in round two.

But outstanding job sticking and picking Zabel at 18. Seriously, bravo. I didn’t think Zabel would be available, but he was, and they bloody well gobbled him up.

So, what did Seattle get with this Grey Zabel kid from North Dakota State?

They got a long athletic, powerful offensive lineman who was the star offensive lineman during Senior Bowl week. A couple weeks later, he was one of the most explosive testers at the NFL scouting combine. In short, he is a highly powerful, athletic, quick player, who can charge to the second level of a defense on run plays and lay lumber linebackers, and defensive backs in a thorough manner.

He’s also a very nimble, and talented pass blocker. Imagine that.

This guy is a finisher, though, through and through, and John Schneider talked about that. He does not let up on his opponent. You can trust Grey Zabel to not give up on a play. He is great at pulling and combo blocking. He’s sticky as a pass protector. He can play tackle, guard, and center.

He’s a solid personality, and a natural leader. He can be the alpha that this offensive line desperately needs to have inside.

He can be a regular pro bowler for the next decade of Seahawk football. How freaking awesome does that sound to your ears?

This is the type of offensive lineman that you spend a first round pick on, especially if you are going to run a zone blocking system that requires an athletic offensive line. This is the prospect that you absolutely want, and Seattle got him.

I have not been this happy about a Seattle draft pick since I don’t even remember how long. I loved the Byron Murphy selection last year at defensive tackle, but this one feels significantly more exciting, and it is probably just based on fulfilling a more desperate need.

If you go look at highlights of Zabel in college, you will get excited about how special he is as a blocker on the move. At 6-6, 305 pounds, he looks different, feels different in all the right ways you want to stand out as a football player playing guard.

Yeah, I am really excited about this pick. In my mock draft, I wanted to mock him to Seattle, but I wasn’t convinced he would make it to them, and I also sorta didn’t want to jinx it. He was the guy I really wanted at pick 18, and it has been a really, really long time since Seattle has taken a guy that I really wanted them to take.

And there are some really interesting names for them to look at in rounds two and three. Here are a few that I really dig.

I would love to see Seattle land Georgia center Jared Wilson. If they took him tonight, I would have similar feeling to them taking Zabel and the pick would make all the sense in the word. Wilson is a superb athlete for this zone blocking scheme, and Seattle could have left guard and center answered for the next decade, if they snagged him. That is a more exciting thought than any other scenario that we can walk away with after this draft is concluded.

I want to see a big nose tackle taken. Alfred Collins from Texas is the guy for me. He’s 6-5 332 pounds, long armed, and plays against the run with a nasty streak. If Seattle can come out of round two with him and Jared Wilson, I think that would be an enormous haul to go along with Grey Zabel, and it would show a clear intent to win the NFC West through the trenches. How freaking amazing does that sound right now?

I think Seattle will draft a receiver, and I would love to see them find a way to add TCU receiver Jack Bech to this offense. His stature and playing style is eerily similar to Cooper Kupp, and I think he would be the perfect receiver to develop behind Kupp. He’s a personality that will easily make you want to root for him, too, and Seattle could use that after moving on from Tyler Lockett.

I would also love to see Seattle grab on of these top tight end prospects still available. LSU tight end Mason Taylor is someone they have looked at in the draft process and would be an exciting addition. Oregon’s Terrance Ferguson is also very appealing to me, and Miami tight end Elijah Arroyo is really interesting. This is a very deep draft at tight end, and there will be other options available to them, as well. Please take one of them.

There is some speculation out there that Seattle might draft a quarterback in rounds two or three, but I remain skeptical. If this is a thing that has legs to it, of the remaining quarterbacks of this draft, the only two I would have any real interest in are Will Howard of Ohio State, and Alabama’s Jalen Milroe.

Howard isn’t a top end athlete, doesn’t have a big arm, but he kinda has that air about him that makes me think he could develop into a Matt Hasselbeck type of starter in the league, and I like Hass. Milroe, however, is a freak athlete, a dynamic runner, and could be used in a Taysom Hill capacity until he learns to be a proper quarterback, which will most likely take a few seasons. I wouldn’t draft either guy until round three, though, but if Seattle were to take a QB higher than that, let it be one of these two. We shall see if drafting a QB is a thing for Seattle this year, but these guys are my preferences.

If I had it all my way, and I can say this because I feel like drafting Zabel has given me some house money, I would have things shake out for Seattle this way in day two; Jared Wilson at 50, Alfred Collins at 52, Jack Bech at 82, and Terrance Ferguson at 92. Then, in day three, I would look at what options are left at quarterback, cornerback, safety, and probably running back, and linebacker.

We shall see how it goes, but for now, let us all bask in the delight of Grey Zabel coming into Seattle, and bringing a big jolt of talent to the interior of this offensive line. This was the pick that needed to happen, and I am very glad that it did.

Today is a very good day.

Go Hawks!