brimsalabim":zsl8slec said:
So when our pick comes up we just take the best available player between the remaining pass rushers, OL, or WR ? Or do we prioritize one possition need over the others?
It will come down to grades on the board.
Seattle is moving away from a 'need based' draft. In 2010/11/12 and 13 -- the draft has always been prefaced by Pete with a pretty candid admission for what the team needs going into the offseason. This year however we heard a completely new dictate: Need to get better everywhere.
I expect it will be a blend of top grade relative to what we have -- combined with grades expected to be available down the line. I can see us passing on the BPA grade at 32 in favor of a lesser grade if that BPA graded position has a lot of good grades left on the board.
We expect the OL grades to be high, because it's a position of perceived need. But that's not necessarily the case. Seattle has a unique skillset that they require to execute their ZBS scheme. So a lot of prospects that have a high outside grade could be very low on our own board. If there are 12 OL prospects graded in the top 75 -- maybe only 6 of them would even be on our board at all.
Similarly, the WR position is also considered a need position. The draft is unusually thick in WRs capable of being in the top 75. But not all of them are going to be ones on our board. We don't even really know if we're going to replace Tate via the draft. I expected Tate to walk and for us to replace him with a competition of Baldwin and Kearse. I wouldn't even concede that most of the day 2 WRs in this class will grade favorably relative to Kearse. We like him internally and he has developed exceedingly well. He's a very good #2 WR and is still improving.
We certainly have an opening at the X. Chris Matthews is currently the guy at that position. His grade is probably non existent. There are a lot of options that would address that position and some of them still in day 3 of the draft. I don't believe it's a given that we go big WR at 32.
It's an interesting draft. Made more so by the lack of real need on the team. Seattle could go virtually any direction. I could see us going in different directions entirely (TE/DB/LB) too.
The reason for that is pretty simple. We don't know what the basis for our grades on the existing roster will be. In particular -- we don't know if expected attrition in 2015 will factor into our 2014 grades. If it does, then our board expands tremendously.