Salk: Even I’m saying Seahawks should draft RB in 1st round

This is a hard thing for me to do because it’s always difficult to say that your team should draft a running back in the first round, and we’ve learned our lesson and that’s not a position you want to consider at that level of value. But this year might be a little bit different for the Seattle Seahawks for a couple of reasons.

AP Mock NFL Draft 3.0: UW WR rises again; Seahawks go RB

First of all, it’s pick 32, not pick 16. So when you say it’s a first-round pick, it is, but man, is it really close to the second round – especially in what is generally considered to be a weak draft.

Secondly, this year, of the running backs that are available, there’s really only two that are starter quality, game-changer quality. And let’s face it, the Seahawks do need a running back after letting Ken Walker go, losing Zach Charbonnet to injury, and not having too many other folks on the roster that can carry the rock as often as someone like Notre Dame’s Jadarian Price could.

Jadarian Price to Seahawks at No. 32 seems obvious to draft analyst

So yes, I do think the Seahawks should draft Price at No. 32 if he’s available. That is hard for me to say. I generally want them to go along the defensive or even offensive line. I would still probably want them to do that at pick 64, and Brock’s mentioned this Gabe Jacas guy from Illinois. He sounds awfully intriguing as a really rugged dude outside on the edge.

The problem with running backs is always that you just don’t get enough value there, right? That the next best guy is almost as good, so why bother paying for, or in this case drafting, the guy who’s just a little bit better? The problem is this year, Price is a lot bit better, and they really don’t have a lot of other options to find an explosive running back who can help this offense.

Remember, this is a team that does want to run the ball. They ran the ball more than any other team in the NFL last year. So taking Jadarian Price at the No. 32 spot actually makes sense.

This post is a transcript of the video at the top of the post. It is edited for clarity. Catch Mike Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.

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