O’Neil: Three things (I think) I know about the Seahawks’ upcoming draft

Apr 14, 2020, 1:04 PM | Updated: 1:08 pm

Danny O'Neil thinks the Seahawks' first draft pick could be an offensive tackle. (Getty)

(Getty)

BY DANNY O'NEIL

Former Seattle Sports Host

Trying to pick out who the Seahawks will choose in the draft is an exercise in futility.

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In fact, you would almost certainly have a better chance at success by ruling out any player they’re connected to in any mock draft you see and picking someone else than you would if you actually tried to form an opinion through research.

Deciding where that player will line up, however, is significantly more predictable, so here are three things we know heading into next week’s draft:

If the Seahawks use a first-round pick, they’re probably going to pick an offensive tackle or defensive end.

Seattle has used seven first-round picks in the 10 years that John Schneider has run Seattle’s draft. Three of those first-round picks were used on offensive tackles: Russell Okung (No. 6 overall in 2010), James Carpenter (No. 25 in 2011) and Germain Ifedi (No. 31 in 2017). Of those other four first-round picks, two were used on defensive ends: Bruce Irvin (No. 15 in 2012) and L.J. Collier (No. 29 in 2019). This information doesn’t give you much of a hint in the way of who Seattle will draft, it does give you a pretty strong indication of where he’ll play: on the outside of either the offensive or defensive line.

The Seahawks will pick a wide receiver in the second round.

That’s considered one of the more loaded positions in this draft with draft analysts predicting as many as 12 receivers could be chosen among the first 64 picks of this draft. And the second round has been Seattle’s sweet spot for receivers whether it was Golden Tate at No. 60 in 2010, Paul Richardson at No. 45 in 2014 or DK Metcalf with the final pick of last year’s second round, No. 64.

The Seahawks will trade down in the first round.

It has been nine years since Seattle used its own first-round pick to choose a player. That was 2011 when the Seahawks picked James Carpenter No. 25 overall. Since then, the Seahawks have consistently traded down – and often out – of the first round entirely. Here’s what has happened with Seattle’s own first-round pick over the previous eight drafts:

2012: Seattle held the 12th overall selection. The Seahawks traded that pick to the Eagles who used it on Fletcher Cox. The Seahawks moved back three spots, picked Bruce Irvin at No. 15, and received the fourth-round pick used on defensive end Jaye Howard and the sixth-round choice used to select cornerback Jeremy Lane.

2013: Seattle held the 25th overall pick, traded it to Minnesota as part of the package for Percy Harvin. The Vikings used the selection to draft cornerback Xavier Rhodes.

2014: Seattle held the 32nd overall pick, traded it to Minnesota which drafted quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. The Seahawks moved back eight spots, getting the 40th overall pick as well as a fourth-round pick, No. 108 overall. The Seahawks moved back another five spots in the second round before selecting wide receiver Paul Richardson with the No. 45 selection, and using the fourth-round pick to choose defensive end Cassius Marsh.

2015: Seattle held the 31st overall pick, trading it to New Orleans for tight end Jimmy Graham. The Seahawks also gave up center Max Unger and acquired a fourth-round pick, No. 112 overall. The Saints used the first-round pick to choose linebacker Stephone Anthony. The fourth-round pick Seattle acquired is one of three draft choices the Seahawks traded to Washington to move up 26 spots in the third round and choose Tyler Lockett.

2016: Seattle held the 26th overall pick, which it traded to Denver for the 31st selection (which Seattle used on Germain Ifedi) and a third-round pick, No. 94 overall, which Seattle used to choose Nick Vannett.

2017: Seattle again held the 26th overall pick, which it traded to Atlanta for a first-round pick (No. 31), a third-round pick (No. 95) and a 7th-round choice, (No. 249). Seattle traded back again from No. 31, giving that pick to San Francisco, moving back three slots to the No. 34 pick and picking up a fourth-round pick, No. 111. Seattle slid back from No. 34 to No. 35, picking up a sixth-round pick, No. 187, from Jacksonville to switch spots. The final tally: Atlanta chose Tak McKinley at No. 26 with the first-round pick it acquired from the Seahawks; San Francisco picked Reuben Foster at No. 31 and the Jaguars picked offensive tackle Cam Robinson at No. 34. The Seahawks wound up with DT Malik McDowell (No. 35), S Delano Hill (No. 95), S Tedric Thompson (No. 111), S Michael Tyson (No. 187) and RB Chris Carson (No. 249).

2018: Seattle held the 18th overall pick, traded that and a seventh-round pick (No. 248) to Green Bay for the 27th pick of the first-round, a third-round pick (No. 76) and a sixth-round pick (No. 186). Seattle traded that third-round pick to Pittsburgh, moving back to No. 79 and picking up a seventh-round pick (No. 220). The Packers chose CB Jaire Alexander at No. 18, and some linebacker named Kendall Donnerson in the seventh round (No. 248). The Steelers chose QB Mason Rudolph with the third-round pick. Seattle chose Rashaad Penny in the first round (No. 27), Rasheem Green in the third round (No. 79), Jacob Martin in the sixth round (No. 186) and QB Alex McGough in the seventh (No. 220).

2019: Seattle held its own first-round pick at No. 21 and the Chiefs’ first-round pick at No. 29 by virtue of the Frank Clark trade. The Seahawks actually used the Chiefs’ first-round pick to select DE L.J. Collier. The Seahawks traded back four times from No. 21, picking up three fourth-round choices and a fourth-round selection, before choosing Marquise Blair in the second round (No. 47 overall). The Seahawks then used the third-round pick it acquired (No. 77 overall) and one of those three fourth-round picks (No. 118) to acquire the last pick of the second round and choose DK Metcalf. Finally, Seattle moved down six spots with one of their two remaining fourth-round picks and picked up a sixth-round pick. So an accounting of what Seattle turned that first-round pick into: S Marquise Blair (No. 47), WR DK Metcalf (No. 64), WR Gary Jennings (No. 120), CB Ugo Amadi (No. 132) and RB Travis Homer (No. 204).

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