Pete Carroll and John Schnieder have been running drafts for the Seattle Seahawks for the last 11 years. In that time, the two have certainly figured out what kind of players they like and which ones they don’t. They have hit some massive grand slams with draft picks like Russell Wilson, Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Bobby Wagner, well…anyone from the Legion of Boom. Even in recent years, they have killed it on the offensive side of the ball with skilled players like D.K. Metcalf and Kenneth Walker.
So what kind of player catches the eye of the two men running the front office? Well, thanks to Arjun Menon, we know. The three biggest needs for the Seahawks entering the 2023 Draft are EDGE, interior offensive line, and a steady wide receiver. Let’s see what the Hawks value in those areas and see if we can predict which players they could be looking at in the draft.
EDGE
According to all those statistics, the Hawks like their edge rushers to weigh around 256 pounds, run a 40-yard dash at around 4.63, and have a 33.3 arm length.
So who fits this mold, and who would we predict the Hawks would select with maybe their first-round selection at pick number five? I think most people would say that Tyree Wilson is the most talented EDGE rusher in this draft, and perhaps the Hawks listen to their gut on that. However, if we are looking at these stats, the guy they might like even more is Will Anderson Jr. They could trade down for him or easily snag him at number five.
Anderson Jr. is 6’3, 253 pounds which is right around what the Hawks love from an EDGE rusher. His arm length is 33, and he ran a 4.6 40-yard dash. There is no denying that these numbers align perfectly with what those stats say the Hawks love from a guy who can get after the quarterback in an athletic way.
Wide Receiver
How about a wideout? Well … the Hawks love their freak builds and athletes like D.K. Metcalf, but they seem to prioritize speed and quickness over height. The average wide receiver they draft is just over 6 feet and weighs 201 pounds. In contact, Metcalf is 6’4, 236 pounds. The guys they look at run a 40-time of 4.42 with a 10-yard split of 1.55.
Realistically, the Hawks could wait until the second round or Day 3 to draft a wide receiver. But they still have the 20th overall pick, and there are plenty of guys there that fit the mold.
My pick for Seattle would be Trey Palmer, who they can likely wait until Round 2 to snag. He comes in at 6’0, 192 pounds. He ran the fastest 40 time of anyone in the NFL Combine at 4.33. It was just .11 slower than the fastest time ever recorded by a wide receiver at the NFL Combine.
Center
When it comes to a center, the Hawks love big men. The centers that they have focused on in the past have come in at 6’4 and 320.4 pounds. That is a pretty massive dude whose responsibility is to get the ball into the quarterback’s hands and ensure he stays safe.
With the team investing in Geno Smith, they are going to want to make sure he stays out of the way of any sort of injury, so I can see them choosing at center with pick 20 or in the second round. The Hawks like tall guys who are very heavy and still fast for their size.
The player that sticks out to me is Joe Tippmann from Wisconsin. You want to talk about a big center? He is 6’6 and 313 pounds. What might work out even better for the Hawks is that many mock drafts have Tippmann available into the late second and early third rounds. They could wait to choose him and have a center that lines up with everything they like.
