Seahawks Draft Recap

by acclerator3 | 8 years ago | 0 Comments

As promised, your favorite column - Seahawks LoB, is back to deliver the Seahawks in depth draft day grades and outlook. Lets dive right in:

1st round (29th overall): TE Mario Hurt - 78 overall - Draft Grade: B- - Hurt joins a solid TE group in free agent acquisition Zach Ertz and 2nd year Seahawk Nick Boyle. With Boyle set to see some time at FB this season Hurt will step right into the #2 TE spot. Considering how often the Seahawks use 2 TE formations Hurt could be in for a solid rookie campaign. At the very least, the Seahawks can groom Hurt for the #1 TE spot next year if Ertz is not resigned during the season. Coach Mo had this to say about the TE group, "Its an open competition. Ertz has the inside track right now but if Hurt impresses us early on we could see him slide into the #1 role. We love Hurts potential and he has really showed up in practices for us so far. If you ask me, we have the best group of 3 TEs in the leaague." Our final grade on Hurt is a B-. Hurt is average to above average in almost all aspects however nothing jumps off the page in his game. We see him as an average development type player who could turn into a low end #1or high end #2 option in the league.

1st round (31st overall): HB Frank Bethel - 79 overall - Draft Grade: A - As a player with superstar potential, Bether has been turning heads all training camp. He is not the quickest HB in the league but the guy can truck to go along with one of the best stiff arms in the game. He should be able to get those tough yards the Seahawks have found so hard to come by these last few seasons. To everybodys shock Coach Mo recently told the media Bethel is going to start week 1 ahead of Donald Grimes and Devonta Freeman. With Bethels training camp and clear sky high potential we could not give this pick anything less than an A

1st round(32nd overall): LE Lewis Gunter - 79 overall - Draft Grade B- - The Seahawks defensive line is jam packed with talent this year so this pick was clearly a look into the future. Gunter is a normal type development player who shows above average strength and power moves but below average finesse. A year sitting behind and learning from some great defensive linemen should have Gunter in a position to compete for playing time next year. We give this pick a B- for a player that with some coaching, could turn into a starter within a few years.

2nd round(61st overall): RG Tyler Nowak - 75 overall - Draft Grade A - While repping with the 2's during training camp Nowak has shown that he has superstar potential dominating the 2nd string defensive line in the run game. Nowak shows elite level strength to go along with very good run blocking, subpar pass blocking, and average ability in impact blocking. Nowak will not be a starter this year but the coaches have made it a point to focus training on this player and believe he will be an impact starter in year 2. Our draft grade of A is based on the fact that we believe this player can be moved over to LT and be an elite starter there within 3-4 years.

2nd round(64th overall): RE J.T. Pollard - 76 overall - Draft Grade B+ - As we mentioned when breaking down fellow rookie LE Gunter the Seahawks defensive line has no room for rookies this year. That being said, Pollard looks like a quick development player who will join Gunter within a few years at DT or DE. We came to the B+ grade as we think Pollard has more long term potential than Gunter while having similar attributes right out of college.

3rd round(93rd overall): FB Ivory Lynch - 73 overall - Draft Grade F- - In the first week of training camp Lynch showed the Seattle coaches that he really struggled run blocking. The Seahawks almost exclusively use their FB to block so Lynch was subsequently cut in short order. The Panthers picked Lynch up off the streets and Coach Mo said "We wish him the best of luck in Carolina. We are sorry it did not work out here but that is how it goes sometimes." Being cut so early no other grade can be given except F-.

4th round(127th overall): FS Connor Goff - 73 overall - Draft Grade B - Zone coverage and pure hit power are two things the Seahawks strive for with their safeties. Goff provides that with excellent traits in both coming right out of college. Whats holding Goff back is sub par speed. The coaches are hoping that they can squeeze just a bit more out of his speed than Goff was able to show in college and at the combine. If they are able to, Goff could be a very talented starting FS within short order.

4th round(128th overall) SS Lavary Thompkins - 71 overall - Draft Grade C+ - Thompkins brings elite level hit power to the table but little else at this stage of his career. Below average speed and poor zone coverage are the two biggest things holding him back. If the Seahawks can tap into those skills they may be able to get contributions out of Thompkins but until then he will be on the roster bubble and hopefully be able to give something on special teams.

5th round(157th overall) SS Banks Bean - 71 overall - Draft grade C+ - In a now deep but young position for the Seahawks Bean will have to fight for a roster spot this training camp. Like Goff he shows above average zone coverage and hit power but has big strides to make in all other areas of his game. Bean will certainly need to contribute with Thompkins on special teams to remain on the team at the moment.

Overall Draft Score: C+

The Seahawks only 3rd round pick and all the other 5th-7th round picks busted out early leaving us with a final score of C+. The Seahawks certainly got some players that will contribute down the road but TE Hurt and HB Bethel look like the only two that will be seeing the field on offense or defense this season. If Bethel is able to put together an amazing rookie year and be a huge contributor this grade could easily be bumped up. Coach Mo left us with this, "We knew going into this draft we did not have many positions where a rookie could conceivably win a starting job so we were very focused on taking the best player available and building for the future. I feel like we did a good job of that and most of these guys will compete for starting positions within a few years."

All previous Seahawks LoB articles can be found here