Seahawks 2011 Draft

A couple of months ago, I wasn’t even out of the labor market yet when Kevin (KSwiss to the uniquesportsthemedname fan nation out there) reached out to me with a lucrative offer to write occasionally for this blog as a Seahawks correspondent. Other than the six figure salary, niche benefits in the offer included luxury box seating at all Seahawks games (home and away) and unlimited access to players & coaches at any time. After a long and arduous negotiating process, I have gracefully accepted. With that said, we can move onto what is literally the only relevant piece of news for the Seahawks this off-season: the2011 draft. Here’s what we came away with:

James Carpenter – Guard
John Moffitt – Guard
K.J. Wright – Linebacker
Kris Durham – Wide Receiver
Richard Sherman – Defensive Back
Mark LeGree – Free Safety
Byron Maxwell – Defensive Back
Lazarius Levingston – Defensive End
Malcolm Smith – Outside Linebacker

In summary, Carroll & Schneider are making good on their word to continue building the team from the bottom-up. The fact that they have a plan and are taking steps to execute it is itself somewhat positive. The Hawks used the draft looking to completely overhaul the offensive line and reinforce our secondary. By all accounts, both were terrible last season with problems in our offensive line having persistently worsened ever since the departures of Steve Hutchinson and Walter Jones. My general reaction could be described as apathetically pleased.
To be sure, these draft results and their lack of emphasis on entertaining skill positions weren’t going to buzz fans. They didn’t buzz pundits or elite sports commentators either. Figures such as Mel Kiper gave the Seahawks the lowest draft rating in the NFL with a grade of ‘D+’. It’s official now; the Seahawks are like the kid in your High School American History class who played with their finger skateboard incessantly and sniffed rubber cement during class.

Kiper’s main issue with the draft selections is that the Hawks left the quarterback situation unaddressed and that we reached on various picks (namely with Carpenter, Wright, and Durham) when higher-valued talent was available. With respect to the former, its true quarterback position remains in question. With the offensive line, quarterback was inarguably our area of greatest need, and it remains so currently. That said, chastising teams for leaving glaring needs or holes unaddressed in the draft does not strike me as a categorically valid criticism. If management was not impressed with this year’s lot of young QBs with respect to the new offense we want to run, then there’s no sense in trying to resolve the QB situation simply for the sake of resolving it. Indeed it appears there are similar attitudes in the NFC West as the Cardinals also did not address their QB position despite having the 5th overall pick. With the 25th pick in the first round there was no reason for the Hawks to have a risk-seeking strategy and addressing the immediate needs in the draft that the team is confident can be met is the logical course of action. Unlike a hypothetical QB selection, Carpenter and Moffitt should be immediate contributors as they are expected to start this season (if there is one). Even in the worst case scenario we’ll be able to find a utility QB through free agency that is at least better than Charlie Whitehurst (and if free agency never comes then there won’t be a season, in which case, Kiper’s criticism is rendered irrelevant) and allows us to properly allocate resources until the right franchise QB comes around.

Kiper’s other criticism insisting that the Hawks reached on various picks can’t be refuted at this point. Admittedly, I have little knowledge of college football players -much less offensive lineman- to debate about the relative value of every other player available at the time of our selections. However, with the way Russell Okung and Earl Thomas are developing, I am happy to give Pete & Schneider the benefit of the doubt when it comes to relative value. We have no reason to not trust their scouting at this point.

While much work remains to be done this off-season and I am specifically anxious to see how or if the QB situation is addressed, I definitely look forward to seeing an offensive line that doesn’t collapse faster than France’s Maginot Line did in 1940 –ZING! Unless Andy Dalton develops into an elite quarterback who would have been compatible with our offense, then I remain convinced that the Seahawks have sustained relatively low opportunity costs with this year’s draft selections.