After sitting through three full days of NFL draft, I had to take a breather to let it settle in. Seattle made early picks that made me jump through the metaphorical rooftop with excitement, and then they went decidedly less flashy on day three of the event. In order to avoid writing a knee jerk reaction to them taking a linebacker in round four that some experts were anticipating would go later, I needed to see Mike Macdonald talk about him in his post draft press conference. Frankly, I needed time to sit with all of their moves.
I am not one to overly question an NFL coach or general manager’s decision on a player taken in the draft, so pardon me if I am not going to be nearly as critical as some of the other super fans and bloggers might chose to be. If Sean Payton believes Bo Nix is his guy to lead Denver to a Super Bowl, more power to him.
So, in terms of Seattle, at the end of the day, I am more willing to defer to a bright young head coach who just coached the best defense in the league last year, and a dude who has been a general manager of a Super Bowl winning program than I am some other dude on Twitter X who “knows some ball” and has an exorbitant to amount to spare time to watch game tape on 250 draft eligible players. That is just me, however. You do you however you see fit.
That said, as the dust of this draft has settled upon the Seattle Seahawks, I see a clear vision for professional football in the Pacific Northwest moving forward. As I have sat back watching the first two days of this draft, anxiously anticipating what Seattle might do in year one of the Mike Macdonald regime, I kept being struck by thought after each of their two selections. It pretty much reads as follows.
“Holy shit, the Seattle Seahawks are finally drafting badass players in the trenches.”
I do not mean to use this piece as a means to trash the Pete Carroll era, but I cannot shake the undeniable feeling that the Seattle Seahawks are finally doing something fans have long been pining for. They are drafting for impact on the interior of the offensive and defensive lines. This is my biggest take away out of this draft class for Seattle.
In two days, Seattle drafted the best defensive tackle in the draft, a guy who somewhat compares to Aaron Donald, Geno Atkins, and Grady Jarrett, and then they took an All-American guard who Pro Football Focus rated as a top fifty player at Pick 81, and who many described as the best pure guard in the draft. Byron Murphy and Christian Haynes, alone, have made this draft a huge success, in my humblest opinion. These are talented, explosive big men with aggressive mindsets. When you factor in that Leonard Williams is essentially their second round pick, it becomes undeniably easy to see a sharp contrast to a Pete Carroll style draft.
This is just my take on the Pete Carroll era now looking at it in further hindsight in comparison with this new regime. It feels like perhaps the biggest difference between what the Macdonald Seahawks will prioritize to what Carroll preferred, is building a team from the inside out on the line of scrimmage.
It feels like Carroll always preferred to emphasis talent on the perimeters. If they were to go with a lineman early, Carroll preferred taking an offensive tackle, or a defensive end. Guards and defensive tackles were most often found in later rounds or bargain shopping through free agency. Carroll also seemed to place a high importance on collecting wide receivers with high picks, safeties, linebackers, and running backs while other organizations would value these players later on.
This is just year one for Macdonald, but it is clear he values top end talent at interior positions. Here is the stark contrast between Carroll’s first draft in 2010 and Macdonald’s in 2024. The first two picks for Carroll where offensive tackle Russell Okung and then free safety Earl Thomas. Macdonald’s are DT Byron Murphy, and guard Christian Haynes. Macdonald didn’t even bother with taking a safety even though it was considered by many fans as a position of need.
For many long suffering Seattle fans, this potential shift in philosophy will be seen as a gigantic blessing. After years of watching the Rams come up to Seattle and harass the Seahawks with Aaron Donald, Seattle now as a defensive tackle who loosely comps to him, and they added a guard who will take to defensive tackles instead of sitting back passively waiting for them to come to him.
Mike Macdonald doesn’t appear to be a coach willing to live with hubris up front, believing that his coaches can coach up marginal talent inside. He is looking for top end talent there. He wants punch you in the mouth football. We should all be elated.
This is the Baltimore Ravens way. This is the Harbaugh Brothers mentality. This, I believe, is going to be the biggest distinction between what a Mike Macdonald team will be to what a Pete Carroll one was. Fans, like myself, who loved Carroll’s quirky personality and Ted Lasso like demeanor might find themselves in a bit of a culture shock looking at Macdonald’s straight forward no-nonsense way, but I think most fans are going to love the results of what they will eventually see on the field on Sundays, if Macdonald’s vision is carried out. I think it will be.
The Seattle Seahawks are determined to become a bully team again. This is what Macdonald said in response to what they were looking for when taking Murphy and Haynes.
“A style of play that no one wants to play (against), that’s what we are aiming for. That’s our standard of how we play football, and if you want to play here, you’re going to have to play a certain way. Those are a type of guys we’re bringing in.”
That sure does sound a lot like those old 49er teams coached by Jim Harbaugh, and that Michigan team that just beat the crap out of the Huskies in the National Championship game. That sounds a lot like classic Baltimore Raven style football, too.
God bless all of this. In the blustery wet weather that November and December can bring into Lumen Field on Sundays, this is the style of football that I most want to see moving forward.
Collecting big men didn’t stop on Friday either. On Saturday, day three of the draft, the Seahawks took two other big offensive linemen. In the sixth round, they took massive Utah guard/tackle Sataoa Laumea (a guy I thought they might take in round four), and then they grabbed small school offensive tackle Michael Jerrell who has an athletic upside that is described as exciting by many.
Sign me up for both of these players. Give me a big mauling guard who played for the one PAC 12 program that was determined to play SEC style football for years. With their last pick, take a flyer on a guy who played at Findlay who has high athletic upside and dominated against small school programs.
I trust O line coach Scott Huff (formerly of the Washington Husky program and who coached the best offensive line in America last year) in having a good read on Laumea, who he saw play against UW on numerous occasions. Huff probably has a pretty good idea how to work with him. I also trust him in seeing some good clay to mold with Jerrell (a la George Fant), as well.
In a draft that was widely regarded as uniquely deep with offensive linemen, Seattle grabbed three of them. I had written a few times about my desire to see Seattle do something like this, and they did. In hindsight, I couldn’t be more happier. Seattle needs to build its depth here, and they appear focused on doing that.
I am not going to bother with grading this draft for them. I think draft grades are ridiculous, and in a few years, we will see how good this class actually is, but I would be willing to give them an A for effort going after the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. That effort alone means something to me. It shows me where their priorities lay.
Going after a high impact defensive tackle to pair with Leonard Williams is huge for this team. Getting a guard who is viewed as a day one starter in the third round is also an enormous success. Beyond that, you are free to nitpick it however you choose, if you had a favorite player in rounds four and five sitting there who they didn’t take.
In my view, rounds four through seven, teams are largely looking at depth players who could develop into starters. This is where they took Anthony Bradford and Olu Oluwatimi last year, and they just grabbed Laumea and Jerrell. If Seattle can unearth two quality starters out of these four offensive linemen, that’s going to be a big win for this program. They might, especially with Scott Huff now here to take over coaching up the offensive line.
This league is filled with quality guards and centers who were drafted in the later rounds. Of this group, I really like Oluwatimi’s chances a lot, and I am still really intrigued with the high upside of Bradford. I like Laumea as a player to perhaps push Bradford.
Schneider mentioned this the other day, and I think it holds true. Often times, the better offensive lines we see in the league are not loaded with high drafted players. They might have a couple high round picks, but they often filled with a bunch of guys who have been coached up well, and just have a really good want to in terms of smacking a dude in the mouth, and have a really strong chemistry with each other. This was the Seahawk offensive line in 2005 when they made their first Super Bowl. Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson were studs, and the other three were quality working class joes.
In their Saturday afternoon press conference, it is fitting that Mike Macdonald and John Schneider wore mechanic shirts with this draft haul. By wearing these shirts, I think they sent a unifying message. They aren’t into flashy. They’re into nasty.
Even in the fourth round, when they took two non offensive or defensive linemen, they grabbed a linebacker who was a tackling demon in FBS football last year, and they grabbed a Michigan tight end who is being compared to Will Dissly. Both of these dudes are tough guys looking to lay hits either as a run stopper or a run blocker.
Tyrice Knight was a player I mocked to Seattle in the later rounds, so I was not too terribly shocked to see them take him earlier. If you want to call that a reach, that is fine. I would just say that Macdonald’s forte is developing linebackers, and Knight was obviously the guy he wanted at Pick 118 over many other linebacker prospects rated higher by the draft media.
I think we should afford Macdonald the benefit of the doubt in seeing specific qualities in Knight that leads him to believe he will become a good player for him in time. He will sit behind two quality veterans in Jerome Baker and Tyrel Dobson learning how to play ‘backer in Macdonald’s scheme like Junior Colson did for Macdonald in Michigan when he was kinda raw. In a scheme that simplifies things for linebackers, I can get behind this pick.
Drafting AJ Barner after Knight shouldn’t be seen that much as a shocker, either. I felt all along Seattle might be looking to add a third tight end. Instead of grabbing more of a pass catching one as I thought maybe they would target, they chose to grab a inline blocking one from Michigan who Macdonald is familiar with, and so is special teams coach Jay Harbaugh over other flashier tight ends with better pass catching reputations.
Barner, however, is also described as an athletic enough guy to have a good feel on route trees and is a capable receiver when called upon. Like Knight, if you want to bemoan this as another reach pick, that is fine. Will Dissly was also taken in round four and was described as a reach. What this pick tells me more than anything else is that under Macdonald, Seattle’s full intention is to run the piss out of the ball. Get ready to order your Seahawk mechanic shirts.
One thing that caught me off guard, however, was seeing Seattle take two cornerbacks on day three. I did four mock draft articles leading up to this three day event, and in none of them did I envision them going cornerback. In fact, I figured they’d go safety.
There were rumors circulating days up to Thursday that Seattle was doing their homework on corners, and might be preparing to take one during round one, but I interpreted it all as smokescreen material. Seattle seemed loaded up at corner, and I did not feel any sort of strong need at the position.
So, I was fairly stunned when Seattle chose to draft Nehemiah Pritchett at the top of the fifth round, and then take his Auburn teammate DJ James in the sixth. I get it that James carried a day two grade with a few analysts, and Pritchett was sorta regarded as a potential third round pick, as well. I can definitely see the value at taking both of these guys where they fell. Pritchett is a long bodied speed demon with decent potential as a cover guy, and James feels like a player who could be a really good nickel player, but Seattle now feels over loaded at nickel. Devon Witherspoon seems to enjoy sliding inside at nickel, and Coby Bryant has also shown to be decent there.
As the dust has settled, I think I understand these selections more. I think Bryant is probably destined to convert fully to the safety position now, and with Michael Jackson Sr and Tre Brown set to become free agents after this coming season, Seattle may have seen opportunities to get out in front of these situations now.
The coaches might also be unsure how well Riq Woolen will convert to this new scheme after a sophomore slump in 2023. That’s also possible, if not altogether worrisome.
So, in our eyes, we might have viewed this as a deep area of the team, but from a coaching standpoint (and a front office one), they might have seen it as an area they specifically wanted to attack in this draft, especially when they saw two talented corners fall further down the pike, and just provided great value. From this perspective, I can get behind these selections.
If I were to critique this draft for Seattle more, I would say it’s a bummer that they didn’t take advantage at the depth of receiver this year with Tyler Lockett getting older. There were numerous talented receivers to be had out of this class, and Seattle didn’t invest.
Maybe this is the Pete Carroll era that I am still attached to, and I am conditioned into feeling the need to draft at this position, but I also like to say go where the strengths of the draft is. Receiver was really strong this year. I would have liked Seattle to have out of this with one.
One area that I am not going to fault this team on, however, is bypassing quarterback for yet another year. I super duper wanted them to draft Michael Penix Junior. I would have been completely comfortable for them trading up for him. I even had a slight interest in them drafting Bo Nix, as well. Spencer Rattler and Michael Pratt never really moved the needle for me, however, and neither did JJ McCarthy, if I am being perfectly honest.
The team already has Sam Howell, and with that trade, he can be included in this draft haul. I am good with seeing what Ryan Grubb might be able to get out of him with two years left on his rookie contract. I believe he has some interesting upside, and now we get to see if that’s the case.
Also, with all six of the projecting first round quarterbacks going in the top twelve, I think the Sam Howell trade, overall, looks really smart for Seattle now. Go get ’em, Sam.
Lastly, in terms of the undrafted rookie free agents that were signed after the conclusion of the draft, I really love that they brought in Washington tight end Jack Westover. I thought maybe he would have been a player they drafted. I think he’s got not only a strong chance at making this team, I think he can have an impact in his rookie year. Grubb knows him, he was productive for Grubb, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they carve out a playmaking H back role for him in this offense moving forward. Last year’s fan favorite of the undrafted rookies was Jake Bobo. This year, it feels destined to become Westover. I love this move.
On the whole, I do love this draft for Seattle. Out of eight picks, they took four linemen, and three of them are interior fellas. That’s outstanding, in my view. The trenches needed to be the main focus, and they were. Bravo.
Seattle has built up their skill position players enough. They have loaded up on talent at receiver, running back, and they have a good tight end. They have a pro bowl quarterback, and a talented enough young gun behind him. They have good offensive tackles and edge rushers. They have good corners.
It was time overdue to focus more inside, and they did that. In the end, I really cannot ask for more than that.
Now, go start beating the crap out of people.
Go Hawks.