Brock’s Seahawks Draft Profile: A difference-making guard

Apr 4, 2024, 12:29 PM

Seattle Sports

As things currently stand for the Seattle Seahawks heading into the 2024 NFL Draft, they don’t have clear starters at either guard spot. That could change in a few weeks, and Brock Huard certainly hopes that’s the case.

Huard: ‘It is now or never’ for new Seattle Seahawks WR

“The position that is becoming the most difficult for (general manager) John Schneider and the Seahawks to put a valuation on either financially or in this draft is the interior of the offensive line. And there is no question that right now it is still the biggest need on this team,” Huard said.

That leads to Huard’s latest Seahawks draft profile, which he shared during Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk. The player is one of Huard’s favorite guard prospects in this year’s class.

Cooper Beebe a ‘difference-making’ blocker

Huard, through his work as a college football analyst for FOX Sports, gets to see and interact with many of the top college players and teams in the country on a weekly basis. That played a big part in his infatuation with Kansas State guard Cooper Beebe.

“He is a big old man who plays on the interior,” Huard said. “He’s 6 foot 3, he’s 322 pounds. He is a guard. He played left tackle (in 2021) and was an all-conference left tackle, which tells you a little something about his feet and his football acumen. In fact, he was a three-time All-Big 12 performer, and he was a two-time Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year … Cooper back-to-back years was the best road-grading, difference-making offensive lineman in that conference. That puts him in pretty rare air. The other two guys that were two-time winners of that award? They’ve been pretty darn good pros – Orlando Brown and Creed Humphrey … Cooper is just a stud. He falls into this list of many of these guys, for me, that are just tremendous football players.”

Beebe was a big-time starter for Kansas State, and when it came to pass protection, he rarely lost those matchups.

“The dude in his three-plus years as a starter – again (he started initially) at left tackle, but as a guard because he’s got 31-inch arms, so there’s no question he’s a guard at the NFL level – (he had) 1,488 career pass blocking snaps … and he gave up five sacks. He gave up four of those as a freshman, and over the final three years of his career, he gave up one sack,” Huard said..” Again, sometimes those can be a little jaded or a little biased when it comes (to stats) from their own team, but I watched him four or five or six times in person, the dude’s a great player. He’s going to be a very, very good starting guard in this league.”

Beebe’s testing stood out

Beebe will likely be a plug-and-play guard for whatever team drafts him, and that likely is aided by the athleticism he showed at this year’s NFL combine.

“He’s not just 6-3 and 322. He also ran a 5.03, nearly in the 4.9s, which is a really good time (for a guard in the 40-yard dash). In fact, that time that was mirrored by (standout UW offensive lineman) Troy Fautanu. So from a 40-yard standpoint, I like that. There’s some athleticism,” Huard said. “His 27.5-inch (vertical leap), not great, not earth-shattering. But it’s not in the low-20s where you get a little bit of concern that there’s no snap and explosiveness … Did I mention 51 games played and 48 starts? He’s a durable monster in the middle there for Kansas State … Durability, stability, longevity, all big parts of his career.”

What does Beebe’s draft stock look like?

“He’s probably a second-round pick, a late-second kind of pick. Maybe a third? But probably not,” Huard said. “Cooper Beebe, if that name is called as a Seattle Seahawk, big school, big-time performer, All-American, two-time lineman of the year … who tested with a little more athleticism than I think many thought. I’d like Cooper Beebe as a Seahawk.”

List to Brock Huard’s full Seattle Seahawks Draft Profile on Kansas State’s Cooper Beebe at this link or in the player near the top of this post. You can also watch the profile in the video player at the top of this story. Catch a new profile at 9 a.m. Monday through Thursday during Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk leading up to the NFL Draft.