ESPN draft analyst gives 2 prospects who seem like Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks don’t have a head coach, but they do still have their general manager.

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Pete Carroll was let go as head coach earlier this month and John Schneider, who has been Seattle’s general manager since 2010, is now looking for Carroll’s replacement.

Schneider and his front office are also monitoring the NFL Draft, which is in late-April. College games are all done, and the draft cycle kicks into high gear next week at the Senior Bowl, which is operated by former Seahawks scout Jim Nagy.

So even though the Seahawks don’t have a head coach – yet – who are some players who seem like John Schneider guys? ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller shared two defenders with Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Thursday.

The Seahawks need help on the defensive line after finishing the last two years as one of the NFL’s worst run defenses, and the first player Miller brought up would help in that regard.

“Darius Robinson from Missouri,” Miller said. “… He’s 6 foot 5, 290 pounds, but he played standing up in Missouri, but he can bump down.”

Robinson earned first-team All-SEC honors for his play in 2023, recording 8.5 sacks and 14 tackles for loss while also forcing and recovering a fumble.

“Again, we don’t know the scheme, but knowing what John likes, size up front, versatility up front, I think Darius Robinson with one of those round three picks could potentially be there and be the guy,” Miller said.

The Seahawks also enter the offseason with questions at linebacker as starters Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks are pending free agents, as is backup Devin Bush.

There’s a linebacker who Miller thinks has what the Seahawks typically desire at that position, it’s just unclear whether they’ll have the chance to get him since Seattle doesn’t have a second-round pick.

“If (the Seahawks had) a round two pick, I would jump on my desk and say Edgerrin Cooper, the linebacker from Texas A&M, because I remember watching Jordyn Brooks and thinking, ‘This is a Seattle Seahawks player.’ Edgerrin Cooper is the same way,” Miller said. “But he’s going to be off the board before (Seattle) gets a chance to draft him in the second round.”

Cooper, a first-team All-American, had 83 tackles, eight sacks, 17 tackles for loss and 10 quarterback hits for the Aggies in 2023.

Reflecting on Seattle Seahawks’ 2023 draft class

The Seahawks got major contributions from their 2022 draft class that same season, with Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas becoming bookend tackles, cornerbacks Riq Woolen and Coby Bryant playing big parts in Seattle’s defense and running back Kenneth Walker III rushing for over 1,000 yards as a rookie.

The 2023 class also entered this past season with a ton of hype, and while No. 5 overall pick Devon Witherspoon may be the Defensive Rookie of the Year, the other results were mixed.

But Miller still thinks that group has a lot going for it moving forward.

“I still like this class a lot. And I loved it at the time … because (Jaxon Smith-Njigba) was my No. 1 receiver. So I was like, ‘Hey, look at this class. This is great,'” Miller said. “And (second-round edge rusher) Derick Hall had some late first-round buzz, especially this time of year.”

Miller thinks that regardless of who Seattle’s next head coach is, Witherspoon and “JSN” will “fit no matter what you’re doing.”

“With Derick Hall, it’s OK, you draft this guy who was a defensive end at Auburn and now he’s kind of playing as an outside pass rusher. You just don’t want to see a whole lot of scheme changes for a guy early in their career,” Miller said. “I think that’s where players can get lost a little bit.”

There’s also a stigma around drafting running backs early, and the Seahawks did that back-to-back years with Walker in 2022 and Zach Charbonnet in 2023. Miller doesn’t think that was a poor pick, though.

“It was their fourth pick. So it’s like, ‘Oh, it was round two,’ but it was their fourth pick,” he said. “So I’m not gonna freak out about that, especially the way this roster was built. I still think that was a good pick.”

Miller also said fifth-round defensive lineman Mike Morris, who missed nearly all of his rookie season with injury, is a developmental guy he’s a fan of. Morris’ college teammate, center Olu Oluwatimi, is also someone Miller is high on, and he thinks Oluwatimi could start for the Seahawks next season.

“It was a good draft class,” Miller said. “I think an important part of the job is understanding sometimes teams think they’re really close, so they draft to close that gap. Like Buffalo, they’ve been drafted to close that gap as opposed to maybe drafting to build the best team. I think last year’s draft for Seattle was a good mix of that of, ‘Hey, we’re trying to close the gap with San Francisco, but we’re also trying to build a team here.’ And I think to get Witherspoon and JSN with those two first-rounders, those are core players for a long time.”

Listen to the full Brock and Salk conversation with ESPN NFL Draft analyst Matt Miller in the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post.

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