Daniel Jeremiah: The ‘sweet spot’ for Seahawks to draft a WR

In the slew of mock drafts circulating the internet, numerous prognosticators are predicting the Seattle Seahawks to take a wide receiver with the No. 18 overall pick in the NFL Draft.

On one hand, it makes sense.

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The Seahawks moved on from two of their top three receivers this offseason by trading away DK Metcalf and releasing veteran Tyler Lockett. And while they replaced them with Cooper Kupp and Marquez Valdes-Scantling, both have varying degrees of question marks. Kupp has missed at least five games due to injuries in each of the past three seasons, while Valdes-Scantling has reached 450 receiving yards only once in the past four years.

By drafting a wideout in the first round, Seattle could significantly improve the position group.

But would a wide receiver really be the best use of the Seahawks’ first-round pick – especially with their glaring issues along the interior offensive line and head coach Mike Macdonald’s desire to build a team that’s tough and physical in the trenches on both sides of the ball?

During his weekly appearance Wednesday on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk, NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah explained why it may be better for a team like the Seahawks to wait until the second or third round to take a receiver.

Jeremiah, a former NFL scout, thinks that Colorado two-way standout Travis Hunter is the only “6.7-level” receiver in this year’s class. That’s a reference to the NFL scout grading scale, which rates 6.7 as a “Year 1 starter.” Jeremiah thinks the next best wideouts in this class range from 6.1 (“good backup with eventual starter potential”) to 6.3 (“plus NFL starter”).

“I don’t think that there’s those those 6.7-level receivers (in this draft),” Jeremiah said. “… Travis Hunter is in his own category, but outside of that, I have a bunch of 6.3, 6.2, 6.1s, which are in that lower tier.

“That’s why I think if you want a wide receiver, I think Day 2 is a sweet spot for you. Even just waiting until the third round, I think you get a good (receiver) that can help you – and you can (focus on the trenches) early.”

As Jeremiah pointed out, there’s been an average of just over 5 1/2 receivers taken in the first round over the past five NFL drafts. That doesn’t seem likely to happen this year.

In NFL.com draft analyst Chad Reuter’s recent mock draft, he had four receivers going in the first round, four in the second round and five in the third round.

“I’m convinced second round we’re gonna see a run on these wideouts,” Jeremiah said. “We’re going to see a bunch of them.”

Seattle Sports’ Mike Salk made it clear that he doesn’t want the Seahawks to draft a receiver in the first round.

“If you say that you want to be a team that runs the ball and plays physically and all that… it feels like there’s no way you could justify drafting a wide receiver somewhere early in this draft,” Salk said.

Listen to the full conversation with NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah at this link or in the audio player near the middle of this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

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