Grade our draft round 1 - 7

[toffee]

So we have finished drafting round 1-7, John made just one trade this year.

Round 1: No. 9 (from DEN) – Charles Cross, OT, Mississippi State
Round 2: No. 40 (from DEN) – Boye Mafe, LB, Minnesota
Round 2: No. 41 – Ken Walker III, RB, Michigan State
Round 3: No. 72 – Abraham Lucas, OT, Washington State
Round 4: No. 109 (from NYJ) – Coby Bryant, CB, Cincinnati
Round 5: No. 153 – Tariq Woolen, CB, UTSA
Round 5: No. 158 (from MIA via NE via KC) – Tyreke Smith, DE, Ohio State
Round 7: No. 229 – Bo Melton, WR, Rutgers
Round 7: No. 233 (from KC via MIN) – Dareke Young, WR, Lenoir-Rhyne

I am giving our class '22 an A, what about you?

Quite intrigued by Tarig Woolen, our Sherm lookalike, and Ken Walker III felt he and Penny will make a good 1-2.

 

[Maelstrom787]

It's an A.

They extracted great value from the prospects they chose vs. their projections, and they hit the positions they needed to.

To come away from this draft with a legitimate top end left tackle, arguably the best running back, the best pure measurables guy in the class in Woolen, and then a solid couple of edges is insane.

Then you add a very good right tackle prospect who could've gone a round earlier, a feisty corner in Bryant, and two solid late round receivers... I just don't think they could've done much better.

If Cross alone pans out and ends up being an upper echelon starter, it's a success. The rest is gravy.

 

[AROS]

I never once felt like they were reaching. They simply took the best players they had on their board available to them at the positions of need.

It's quite simple. This looks like an A draft to me. F the media.

 

[rjdriver]

Bewildering to me that we would get a low grade from the pundits. Honestly. I'm pretty objective, even as a homer, and there are years "I get" why we didn't get a stellar grade by some people.

Even in 2012, I understood (although disagreed) why some rated us low. Bruce was taken before his grade, Bobby was from a small school, Russ was undersized etc...

I can see how some don't rate this draft A (no edge rusher and no run block OT with 9), but to hear some people call us one of the losers in the draft is absolutely asinine to me.

I'm going B+ at worst.

 

[AgentDib]

It did feel odd to have the Hawks picking a bunch of guys who were viewed highly by the mock draft community. I'm not going to put too much positive weight on that alone, but this does look like a very strong class.

What I particularly like is how varied yet well suited these picks are for our roster. OLB may be a little crowded with both Mafe and Smith joining the club but you can't exactly complain about having too many pass rushers.

 

[Throwdown]

Media trash.

You got two book end tackles, that’s always a win. A pass rusher who’s still got room for molding and growth, one of the top two running backs in a position that was pretty desperate (seahawk Twitter nerds be damned, you should always take one RB in drafts imo). Two corners, one a absolute freak and the other is a smart player. A pass rush specialist and two receivers who knows where they go but they’re not f it picks by any means, Dareke Young could be the second coming of David moore.

I love this draft.

 

[Scout]

One of the goals was to fix the offense so the offense could transition into a new era. And that was done well with two bookend tackles an a RB that can be a workhorse. Adding WR reinforcements only helps to ensure the offense has weapons for either Lock or Geno.

Defensively, the team added two edge rushers with the current crew on board to ensure they can make the 34 transition work. Then they added more reinforcements at the CB position to ensure they have competition and fortify the depth as well.

Overall a solid A.

There is still free agency post draft that can really help this team but the foundation is set.

 

[Ruminator]

Criticisms of recent drafts may have been warranted, but 2022 was just about perfect for us. As for draft grades from the media that are all over the board, it's not about what they grade Seattle hours after our selections, it's about what some of them will sheepishly admit 2 to 3 years later. Those are the articles I look forward to reading.

 

[sutz]

I like it.

 

[jammerhawk]

A solid A is my grade.

 

[TheLegendOfBoom]

Solid A all across the board!

Real excited for this upcoming year!

 

[sc85sis]

Bewildering to me that we would get a low grade from the pundits. Honestly. I'm pretty objective, even as a homer, and there are years "I get" why we didn't get a stellar grade by some people.

Even in 2012, I understood (although disagreed) why some rated us low. Bruce was taken before his grade, Bobby was from a small school, Russ was undersized etc...

I can see how some don't rate this draft A (no edge rusher and no run block OT with 9), but to hear some people call us one of the losers in the draft is absolutely asinine to me.

I'm going B+ at worst.

Too many assumptions that we’d draft a QB after trading Russ. The fact we didn’t is seen as a failure, despite literally everyone saying this year’s QB class was not great.

 

[massari]

The only thing my noob self would change is to pick Edge David Ojabo over Ken Walker. He'd redshirt this season like Taylor did, but was considered a possible top 10 pick before the injury. Might be a bit overkill taking him and Mafe, but the pass rush could be elite in 2023.

1(9) LT Charles Cross
2(40) Edge Boye Mafe
2(41) Edge David Ojabo
3(72) RT Abraham Lucas

Those would've been my top 4 preferences. Can't complain though, Walker is a beast and will help whatever QB they pick in the 1st round of the 2023 draft.

 

[toffee]

The only thing my noob self would change is to pick Edge David Ojabo over Ken Walker. He'd redshirt this season like Taylor did, but was considered a possible top 10 pick before the injury. Might be a bit overkill taking him and Mafe, but the pass rush could be elite in 2023.

1(9) LT Charles Cross
2(40) Edge Boye Mafe
2(41) Edge David Ojabo
3(72) RT Abraham Lucas

Those would've been my top 4 preferences. Can't complain though, Walker is a beast and will help whatever QB they pick in the 1st round of the 2023 draft.

I agree but I am also very intrigued by Walker, with questions of Penny's reliability, Walker is a nice addition. Besides, i truly watching our team play when Penny dominated the last few games.

 

[RunDownhill]

Overall, this was a great draft. I give it a A-. I think Boye Mafe is a potential bust. He looked great in one-on-one drills in the Senior Bowl and he had a great combine. But, watching his game tape is not as good as Ebiketie, or Sam Williams, or David Objabo. So Mafe is the only one I have some concerns about of our first four draft pics. Falcons traded ahead of us and selected Ebiketie because I'm sure they also thought we rated Ebiketie over Mafe.

I feel like we landed our LT and RT that can be Pro Bowl players for use for the next 10 years. Ken Walker for me was a much better prospect than Penny was coming out of college. So I think Walker will be an amazing player for us.

 

[jlwaters1]

I love this draft. I also give it an A.
It’s mind boggling that the best “pass blocking” LT in the draft can be viewed by some as a negative. Job 1 of a LT is pass blocking.
Then to follow that up with Lucas. I
Foresee both players starting tackles this year.
The 2020 draft is looking yo also be a home run, with these 2 drafts we are looking at 3 of our 5 starting OL (hopefully)
Love the Kenny Walker pick- many fans seem to be forgetting the heart of our team for 5+ years was a former 1st round pick. To get the best runner in the draft in the 2nd is awesome.
Love the 2 pass rushers and 2 CB’s.

Of the 9 selections I foresee 5-6 of these players being starters or key contributors this season.

 

[Maelstrom787]

I love this draft. I also give it an A.
It’s mind boggling that the best “pass blocking” LT in the draft can be viewed by some as a negative. Job 1 of a LT is pass blocking.
Then to follow that up with Lucas. I
Foresee both players starting tackles this year.
The 2020 draft is looking yo also be a home run, with these 2 drafts we are looking at 3 of our 5 starting OL (hopefully)
Love the Kenny Walker pick- many fans seem to be forgetting the heart of our team for 5+ years was a former 1st round pick. To get the best runner in the draft in the 2nd is awesome.
Love the 2 pass rushers and 2 CB’s.

Of the 9 selections I foresee 5-6 of these players being starters or key contributors this season.

I view the "pass blocker vs. run blocker" argument the same as I do the "offensive minded vs. defensive minded" head coach debate.

Does it matter? Sure. Does it matter as much as people think it does? Absolutely not, because good coaches (like good tackles) almost always are good at things that aren't specific to their speciality.

 

[toffee]

I view the "pass blocker vs. run blocker" argument the same as I do the "offensive minded vs. defensive minded" head coach debate.

Does it matter? Sure. Does it matter as much as people think it does? Absolutely not, because good coaches (like good tackles) almost always are good at things that aren't specific to their speciality.

Run blocking wise our OL did alright towards the end of last season, Penny certainly praised them for that. This year, we will have a new C, a new LT, and may be a new RT, and we will be more into zone blocking. Lots of changes, let's hope our run block won't take a step back.

 

[kf3339]

I'm giving it an A-.

There was only a few small issues with the picks for me. I wouldn't have made the trade in the 5th and taken Kinnard to move to guard. I seriously think that is what the Chiefs will end up doing and he will be really good. I also would have used our 7th on Carson Strong and red-shirted him for a year. He is going to be a steal for the Eagles as a UDFA. At least that's my opinion.

But those are minor points to what was a really good draft for the Hawks. And only one trade down. That has to be a record for PC and JS!