NFL
By: Greg Rector
No one who follows the NFL was giving the Seattle Seahawks the proverbial “Snowballs Chance in Hell,” of doing anything in the 2022 season, including myself. They were supposed to be in the hunt for a top 3 2023 draft pick with the Texans and Panthers. Pete Carroll and the Seahawks (6-3) are currently having the last laugh at everyone’s expense. How in the world is Geno Smith a journeyman quarterback if there ever was one, the offensive player of the month for October? Many of those answers can be found in last April’s NFL Draft. Here’s a message to teams like the Rams who are paying for their years of trading away their picks, and the Raiders who have completely missed three straight draft classes. Remember how I kept on harping on how the 2022 draft class was very deep with talented players who may not be the “generational,” types, but could contribute?
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Nailing The Draft
Seattle had the 9th pick in the first round and selected OT Charles Cross from Mississippi State. Some questioned taking Cross that high. Some folks even felt Cross would make a better guard than a tackle. Well, the rookie has been fantastic at one of the toughest positions in football left tackle. As much as I am not a fan of PFF, they have him ranked as the 5th top LT in the league. That means he’s not only protecting Geno Smith, but he’s also making blocks for another guy we will get to in a while in the ground game.
Talking heads loved the potential of second-round pick edge Boye Mafe with the 40th pick from the University of Minnesota. While he hasn’t been a complete menace, there’s been enough flashes of his abilities to justify selecting him. 19 tackles along with two sacks and he has not been out of control as he often was in college. The coaching staff has to be ecstatic.
Now the Seahawks also had the 41st pick and if you know Pete Carroll he loves running the football. So the Seahawks selected Kenneth Walker III who was supposed to come in and get his carries behind Rashard Penny and give Seattle a one-two punch. Well, Penny was lost for the season and all Walker has done is run for 570 yards (5.1 per carry) and scored 7 TDs including in 5 straight games, and put himself into the conversation for OROY. He was the rookie of the month in October.
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Their fourth pick was RT Abraham Lucas from Washington State. Lucas was being slept on by many in the draft community. However, when you look at the technical aspects of playing tackle Lucas leaped off the charts compared to his measurables which weren’t too shabby either. The Seahawks had plenty of opportunities to scout Lucas as he played in-state. While he ranks 36th that still puts the rookie in the middle of the pack for the tackle position. Folks You aren’t supposed to survive let alone thrive playing two rookie tackles. Yet here we are.
In the 4th round, the Seahawks took another guy who was an absolute steal with cornerback Coby Bryant from the University of Cinncinatti. If you have ever seen me on NBS Draft Central with Jeff Barnes and Bill Carroll, you would know my favorite corners to scout are the guys known as the “Other Guy.” Sauce Gardner garnered all the attention deservedly so for the Bearcats and has been phenomenal with the Jets. Those players are easy to scout. I look at what the “other guy,” does however because that’s the cornerback opponents will attack. Bryant held up very nicely for the Bearcats just another “other guy,” Kyler Gordon did at Washington and now for the Bears. This is where so many “draft experts,” fall down. He may not have any interceptions but Bryant is a physical corner and in keeping with his “ball hawk,” mentality has forced 4 fumbles which could have been 5 had it not been for a bad penalty against Arizona.
Just as you aren’t supposed to win with two rookie tackles, there’s no way you are supposed to succeed with two rookie cornerbacks the most volatile position in football. The Seahawks might have when all is said and done the biggest steal in the entire draft with Tariq Woolen from the University of Texas San Antonio. 6’4″ 210 lbs corners aren’t supposed to be able to the things Woolen is. All he’s done is get 25 tackles, four interceptions, and defended another 8 passes. That led to the first-ever time that one team had both the offensive and defensive rookies of the month.
The Lesson
In the last couple of seasons, there was a lot of talk surrounding the direction of the Seahawks and the future of Pete Carroll. The focus was so much on their former QB and his issues. Well, many of those issues arose because the Seahawks were not drafting as well as other teams. So far if you would have to rank the NFL team with the best draft class, the Seahawks would be the first team on that list. Now indeed it’s only 9 weeks into the season and they have to get through another 8 games, but no team in the NFL has exceeded expectations the way the Seattle Seahawks have and it’s directly related to the NFL draft. Considering the number of changes in Seattle on the field, this is easily Coach of the Year territory for Pete Carroll (All you youngins saying he was too old, the game has passed him by, need to apologize) and GM John Schneider could easily be the Executive the Year as well. That’s why scouting and the draft matter.
As always find me on Twitter @GregCowboys
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