The consensus is the C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young, Anthony Richardson, and Will Levis are the top QBs in this draft. When the season ended, of the 4 teams picking ahead of the Seahawks, only half of them seemed to be in the QB market, so things looked pretty good for us. We'll almost assuredly end up with either a generational defensive talent or a quarterback that could ostensibly be the face of this franchise for the better part of the next decade.
Then, the Carolina Panthers came a-callin'.
When the Panthers moved up to the #1 spot in a trade with the Chicago Bears, it was immediately clear they saw a quarterback that they could build their franchise around. The question is, which one?
Well, according to this mock draft, they wanted Alabama QB, Bryce Young.
With the next pick, the similarly QB-needy Texans decided that they simply could not pass on Jalen Carter, foregoing a quarterback and opting for the Georgia star instead. Following them, the Cardinals went with Will Anderson Jr. for the third pick, something I fully anticipate them doing if he's available.
Now, the Colts want a QB, and they took a QB here. Who they took was somewhat surprising to me. Rather than take the kid who has been shooting up the charts recently in Anthony Richardson, the Jim Irsay and his Colts instead select Will Levis from Kentucky.
I've heard a number of analysts say its a coin flip between Levis and Richardson, but those same analysts will all tell you that Stroud is head and shoulders better than both of them.
Once again, my decision was made for me. There wasn't any defensive player on the board that warranted that high of a selection and I decided that I wasn't going to perform any trades in this mock series. Honestly, Stroud is my top QB choice in this draft, so even though I'm happy and content with Geno for the next couple years, I was more than happy to take Stroud here.
Richardson went 3 picks later to the Atlanta Falcons.
Taking a QB with the 5 pick kind of threw me off my game, to be honest. When the 20th pick was on the clock, none of my previous targets for this choice were around. Calijah Kancey, who I had targeted at 20 in a number of previous mocks, didn't get past the Bears at #9. Tyree Wilson fell to the Texans at #12-- Jesus, imagine if they drafted both Wilson and Jalen Carter? Scary.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba went to the Steelers at #17 and Nolan Smith to the Buccaneers just the pick before us. I figured I had to go defense with this pick given the team's needs. I selected interior defensive lineman Bryan Bresee from Clemson.
In the second round, I went purely best need player available. I like the wazzu Cougar linebacker, Daiyan Henley, so I took him with our first pick in the second round. As far as I see it, the Seahawks aren't getting out of this draft without a center, so I took my favorite of the bunch with our last pick in the second round. Joe Tippmann out of Wisconsin could start week one next season.
Almost as exciting as the draft is the unsigned free agency period that immediately follows. Don't be surprised if the Seahawks take some chances knowing that they could potentially address some needs from that pool.
No comments:
Post a Comment