2013 draft needs: revisited

[kearly]

Seattle will identify a handful of players in round 1 that they love and target them regardless of position. By JS's own admission, this is what they did last year. After the 3rd round or so, I expect this draft to be like any other, Seattle will grab bag all the players they feel could be hidden gems in their system.

The term "needs" get thrown around too much. Don't fall into that trap. Drafting a DT is not do or die. Both Branch and Jones were above average this season in their respective roles. We can do better, but it's not make or break. And if we did want to do better, the draft isn't the place to do it. Having watched most of the DTs with 1st round potential this year, I strongly feel that this is a really bad year to take one early. Very over-rated class. Free Agency could have potential though, especially if Melton or Starks become available.

We don't "need" shit. KC has needs. KC would be insane to not draft a QB #1. AZ has needs. AZ would be insane to not draft a QB or OL in the 1st round. You can't say that about the Seahawks. Are there areas of opportunity? Sure. Identify players who will be future stars in your system and go get them.

Long story short, the focus of this draft should not be about filling position X. It should be about finding special players.

 

[HawkWow]

Seattle will identify a handful of players in round 1 that they love and target them regardless of position. By JS's own admission, this is what they did last year and that was a team that still had true draft needs. After the 3rd round or so, I expect this draft to be like any other, Seattle will grab bag all the players they feel could be hidden gems in their system.

This is what I expected the majority of the year. I felt like we were pretty solid across the board and would likely spend the weekend going BPA...inclusive of the 1st rd. DT, RT, LB, WR....? I had no idea where JS and PC would go. Now with this need at DE? The good news is I am trusting this FO like perhaps none before it. Additionally, the team is so relatively young or new, I think the development of rookies will be easier than if we had a bunch of grizzed vets on the team. These are good times.

 

[kearly]

I've always hated the term "BPA" and I try to avoid using it. The reason is because BPA is inevitably connected to the evils of conventional wisdom: Mel Kiper's big board, et al. For example, Aaron Curry was BPA in 2009 by conventional wisdom. Rob and I both personally gave Curry a 3rd round grade and argued that he had no chance of justifying a $60 million contract. Guess who was right? Drafting by conventional BPA is a great way to turn your franchise into the Arizona Cardinals.

So whenever I hear BPA I always cringe a little. People should inform themselves about players, not trust hacks to do it for them. In the end, you should always be looking for players who can be special for your team, coaching staff, and situation. The reason that PC/JS has been so phenomenally successful is because they live by this philosophy.

 

[kearly]

On topic:

I think Seattle only has one area that might require an investment in the early rounds: LB.

Now normally 4-3 LBs are easily acquired. Finding good LBs in the mid to late rounds or on the cheap in free agency is relatively easy to do. Here's the catch- Pete isn't interested in about 90% of the LBs out there. He wants FAST linebackers, and there are just a couple fast linebackers with good tape in any draft, and they only rarely hit FA in their primes. This is why Seattle panicked a little and took Wagner without trying to trade down again, because when Kendricks left the board, their options were running thin.

I look at this draft and there are only 3 obvious Pete Carroll candidates for LB: Alec Ogletree, Arthur Brown, and possibly Dion Jordan. All three of them will likely go in the 1st round, though I could see Brown sliding to the early to mid 2nd. Once those guys are gone, the next best fast linebacker is Jelani Jenkins, and Jenkins looks like a career backup in the NFL. This lack of options could force Seattle to go LB in round 1, trade up in round 2 or avoid LB altogether and target the position in what might be a deeper 2014 class.

This DT class sucks. I'm not expecting a DT pick early and I'm hopeful that Seattle addresses DT in free agency. Seattle could use depth at WR and this WR class looks terrific. This isn't a great TE class but I'm a big fan of Zach Ertz, and Ertz has a solid chance to reach our first pick. I don't really expect Seattle to draft offensive line early, that would be a surprise.

 

[SDHawk]

Thanks, Kearly. Your thinking is similar to mine and you expressed it much more elegantly than I could.

That said, I would still take Sheldon Richardson or Kawann Short if available, in the first round.

Jared Abbrederis is getting zero love. This is a deep receiver class but I don't want egos to spoil the chemistry of the team. Abbrederis is everything we need at WR without any of the baggage. He also has an established rapport with RW3 so I hope we lock in on him.

 

[HawkWow]

I've always hated the term "BPA" and I try to avoid using it. The reason is because BPA is inevitably connected to the evils of conventional wisdom: Mel Kiper's big board, et al. For example, Aaron Curry was BPA in 2009 by conventional wisdom. Rob and I both personally gave Curry a 3rd round grade and argued that he had no chance of justifying a $60 million contract. Guess who was right? Drafting by conventional BPA is a great way to turn your franchise into the Arizona Cardinals.

So whenever I hear BPA I always cringe a little. People should inform themselves about players, not trust hacks to do it for them. In the end, you should always be looking for players who can be special for your team, coaching staff, and situation. The reason that PC/JS has been so phenomenally successful is because they live by this philosophy.

You and I are of the same opinion on "BPA". I used the term because everybody identifies with it, and I've used it forever, but never in it's literal sense. I certainly wouldn't draft a QB or even a CB in the first (this year) because he was BPA. I should qualify the term by adding "....that fills a need or suits our system".

Great call on Curry. I hadn't seen enough of him at WF to challenge the pick. I just know it was ultimately a bad one...worse than Bosworth. Way worse.
I seldom if ever pay much stock in Kiper. I think he provides a decent guideline, as well as an element of entertainment, but until he's under contract with the Seattle Seahawks, his opinion on who we should take means little to me.

 

[kearly]

Thanks, Kearly. Your thinking is similar to mine and you expressed it much more elegantly than I could.

That said, I would still take Sheldon Richardson or Kawann Short if available, in the first round.

Jared Abbrederis is getting zero love. This is a deep receiver class but I don't want egos to spoil the chemistry of the team. Abbrederis is everything we need at WR without any of the baggage. He also has an established rapport with RW3 so I hope we lock in on him.

I had Abbrederis in my "What I expect to happen" mock draft from a few weeks ago. Reminds me of Charly Martin, hopefully with more staying power. He also has chemistry with Wilson from 2011.

Just watched some Kawann Short. He's actually not bad, but I'm not sure if he's a 3 tech. 315 pounds is on the high end, and he doesn't have much get-off or gap shooting ability. On the plus side he is very stout against the run, I could see him being Brandon Mebane 2.0: a guy that plays 1-tech while adding a little bit of pass rush. I like him, but I'm not sure he gives us something we don't already have.

 

[CANHawk]

We don't "need" shit. KC has needs. KC would be insane to not draft a QB #1. AZ has needs. AZ would be insane to not draft a QB or OL in the 1st round. You can't say that about the Seahawks. Are there areas of opportunity? Sure. Identify players who will be future stars in your system and go get them.

You are absolutely correct. We have the #1 defense in the league. The only thing we need to do is make more room in the trophy case (okay, we probably need to actually make a trophy case first).

No, my thought on saying we "need" a penetrating DT is because that is the most obviously missing piece and I think our continued inability to get off the field on third down speaks to that. I haven't been actively looking at who's coming up in the draft (got a playoff run to pay attention to here!) so if you say there's no good DT prospects coming up I'll believe you, but I don't think that changes the fact that we could definately stand to improve at that 3-tech spot going forward.

 

[BASF]

For everyone bringing up Branch in regards to the 2013 season, I actually see him not being retained since he is a free agent this offseason and I think he will want a bigger contract than we will be willing to give him. So, I do see DT as one of the most important positions we can address in the draft.

 

[Recon_Hawk]

I've always hated the term "BPA" and I try to avoid using it. The reason is because BPA is inevitably connected to the evils of conventional wisdom: Mel Kiper's big board, et al. For example, Aaron Curry was BPA in 2009 by conventional wisdom. Rob and I both personally gave Curry a 3rd round grade and argued that he had no chance of justifying a $60 million contract. Guess who was right? Drafting by conventional BPA is a great way to turn your franchise into the Arizona Cardinals.

So whenever I hear BPA I always cringe a little. People should inform themselves about players, not trust hacks to do it for them. In the end, you should always be looking for players who can be special for your team, coaching staff, and situation. The reason that PC/JS has been so phenomenally successful is because they live by this philosophy.

I don't see the term BPA as being cringe worthy as long as people are using it to suggest this team should draft BPA based on Schneider's big board (not Mel Kiper's). I'd rather people say that than, "We should draft Player X cause Walter Football blog says he's rated #10" or crap like that. IMO, people using the term BPA are, understandably, uninformed on who to draft and are just saying that they trust this front office to draft BPA (heck even unconventionally). They might also just be saying they don't see a player or need that must be addressed, leaving the option open for the front office to draft their guy.

 

[theENGLISHseahawk]

When you find a franchise quarterback in round three and a shutdown corner in round five, I'm pretty much ready to praise this front office if they draft a potato in round one.

 

[Hawkspur]

When you find a franchise quarterback in round three and a shutdown corner in round five, I'm pretty much ready to praise this front office if they draft a potato in round one.

Is the world ready for a first team all-pro potato?

 

[SDHawk]

Free Agency:

Henry Melton, DT or Desmond Bryant, DT or Richard Seymour, DT
Mike Wallace, WR or Greg Jennings, WR
Jared Cook, TE
Tavaris Jackson, QB

Trade:

Matt Flynn, QB
for 3rd Rounder

Draft:

1. Khaseem Greene, OLB
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1724998/khaseem-greene
[youtube]T1VePxDCLdU[/youtube]

2. Kawann Short, DT
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1631164/kawann-short
[youtube]tljz8vIcdkc[/youtube]

3. Jordan Hill, DT
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1703048/jordan-hill
[youtube]rWFZ2PKWJ8s[/youtube]

3. Jared Abbrederis, WR
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1785868
[youtube]zGWXphHFTaY[/youtube]

4. Ricky Wagner, OT/G
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1695592/rick-wagner

5. Nathan Williams, DE/OLB
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/play ... n-williams
[youtube]LnImG_6vyZE[/youtube]

6. Denard Robinson, KR/RB

==================
Depth Chart Offense
==================

QB: Russell Wilson | Tavaris Jackson**
WR1: Sidney Rice | Jared Abbrederis*
WR2: Mike Wallace** | Jared Abbrederis*
WR3: Golden Tate | Doug Baldwin
TE: Zach Miller | Jared Cook** | Anthony McCoy
FB: Michael Robinson
RB: Marshawn Lynch | Robert Turbin | Leon Washington

LT: Russell Okung
LG: Paul McQuistan | Ricky Wagner*
C: Max Unger | Lemuel Jeanpierre
RG: JR Sweezy | Ricky Wagner*
RT: Breno Giacomini

=================
Depth Chart Defense
=================

LDE: Red Bryant | Greg Scruggs
LDT: Henry Melton** | Jordan Hill*
RDT: Brandon Mebane | Kawann Short*
RDE: Chris Clemons | Bruce Irvin | Nathan Williams*

LOLB: Khaseem Greene* | Malcolm Smith
MLB: Bobby Wagner
ROLB: K.J. Wright | Mike Morgan

LCB: Richard Sherman | Byron Maxwell
SS: Kam Chancellor | Jeron Johnson
FS: Earl Thomas | Chris Maragos
RCB: Brandon Browner | Jeremy Lane
Nickel: Jeremy Lane | Byron Maxwell
Dime: Byron Maxwell

 

[MLOhawks]

Please god no Tjack trade. I have never liked him, he has no pocket awareness at all and holds on to the ball all damn day long.

 

[SDHawk]

Bumping this thread because I see a lot of people talking about the players I listed in my mock.