Seahawks Draft: 2 position groups deep with unique high-end talent
Jan 17, 2023, 11:35 AM | Updated: 12:08 pm
Tyree Wilson of the Texas Tech Red Raiders hits Blake Shapen of the Baylor Bears on October 29, 2022. (Josh Hedges/Getty Images)
(Josh Hedges/Getty Images)
With the Seahawks’ 2022 season in the books, it’s time to look ahead to the offseason. And this year figures to be an even more eventful offseason for Seattle than usual.
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That’s because the Seahawks own the Denver Broncos’ first two picks in April’s draft, including the No. 5 overall pick. Seattle will pick twice in the first round (fifth and 20th), twice in the second round (38th and 53rd overall) and once in the third round (84th overall).
With the draft on the minds of so many, former NFL quarterback Brock Huard has started to really dive into some of the best prospects in this year’s class.
On Tuesday, Huard shared two position groups Tuesday that are deep in unique high-end talent during the daily Blue 88 segment on Seattle Sports 710 AM’s Brock and Salk.
“I started looking at some mock drafts and I started looking at some Pro Football Focus top-100 players (lists), and I started to salivate over some of these names, some of these players that I saw in person,” said Huard, who also calls college football games for FOX. “I think the two groups that are the deepest, kind of most unique and fit a little bit of the Seahawks’ eye – one of them is a need position and one of them is not, but both of them have a bunch of guys that if they ended up taking them in the first 50 picks, I’d be pretty excited. That would be cornerback and edge rusher.”
Let’s start at edge rusher, which would be considered the biggest position of need for the Seahawks.
“You’ve got an edge rusher from Army (Andre Carter II) that’s 6 foot 7 and 265 (pounds),” Huard said. “The kid out of Texas Tech, Tyree Wilson, (he’s) now mocked usually in the top six as kind of the next name after (Georgia defensive lineman) Jalen Carter and (Alabama edge rusher) Will Anderson. (Wilson is) 6 foot 6, 275 and twitchy (and can play) inside or outside.”
Andre Carter II’s 2022 numbers don’t jump off the page as he had 3.5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss, but the Army star had 14.5 sacks and 17 tackles for loss in 2021 to earn third-team All-American honors.
Andre Carter has the ability to lead the @ArmyWP_Football defense with a desire to keep improving.
But, he also has the ability to potentially be an NFL Draft pick. pic.twitter.com/EAmIXrkSZh
— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) October 1, 2022
Wilson had seven sacks in both 2021 and 2022, plus 13.5 tackles for loss in 2021 and 14 in 2022. He was a first-team All-American in 2022.
Huard compared Wilson’s play at Texas Tech to the play of an NFL edge rusher who has had at least nine sacks each of the last three seasons.
“Talking about 3-4 (defense) and setting an edge with an unbelievable amount of length and rush like (Los Angeles Rams edge rusher) Leonard Floyd, collapsing a pocket again and again and again,” Huard said. “(Wilson) had 50 pressures down in Lubbock on a horrible defense with nobody around him. Pretty darn intriguing.”
This defense is relentless!!! @tyreewilson77 | #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/gMRSykEY1M
— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) October 1, 2022
What about cornerback?
The Seahawks have a promising young cornerback trio with rookie Pro Bowler Tariq Woolen leading the charge, but Huard said there are a lot of intriguing cornerbacks who should be taken early in April’s draft, including the son of a five-time NFL All-Pro cornerback.
“Joey Porter’s son out there at Penn State is 6 foot 2,” Huard said of Joey Porter Jr. “(There are) physical corners, long corners, twitchy corners.”
Porter Jr. was first-team All-Big Ten in 2022 as he broke up 11 passes.
Come for @coachjfranklin spotlighting his star CB's play.
Stay for the Joey Porter Jr. Week 1 highlight reel. 👀@jjporter_1 x @PennStateFball pic.twitter.com/CUAJI1TpC1
— Penn State On BTN (@PennStateOnBTN) September 7, 2022
“I think those are the two positions in the draft that as I looked at the top 100 players I said, ‘Wow, there are some unique traits,'” Huard added. “And what coach (Pete) Carroll said about (San Francisco 49ers receiver) Deebo Samuel yesterday, he said, ‘He just does things other guys can’t do,’ and that’s how I kind of optically look at these position groups – edge rushers and corners. (There are) some guys in there that do things that others can’t.”
Listen to the conversation at this link or in the player below.
