Seahawks 2024 NFL Draft takeaways: How did John Schneider, Mike Macdonald do?
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By Michael-Shawn Dugar
Apr 27, 2024
As general manager John Schneider exited his news conference Friday night, he promised to make more picks Saturday than he did through the first three rounds. True to his word, Schneider drafted six prospects on Day 3, bringing the total haul to eight new players.
The class sends a message about what coach Mike Macdonald wants the Seahawks to be under his leadership. Six of the eight picks were selected with the line of scrimmage in mind. That appeared to be the focus after the first two picks, and Schneider doubled down on that emphasis on the third day of the draft. The word “nasty” was used by a different prospect on each day of the draft. Every coach wants to be physical up front, but it’s noticeable that Schneider made sure to reflect that mindset with this draft class.
With an old-school approach, John Schneider and Mike Macdonald's plan is becoming clearer
Seattle’s draft class is made up mostly of older prospects, with the exception of first-round pick Byron Murphy II, who declared for the draft after three seasons at Texas. Everyone else was a senior, and three were six-year college players (the extra year of eligibility because of the pandemic is one reason for that).
The Senior Bowl has always been an important part of the evaluation process for Seattle, and that held true this year as well. (Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy was formerly a Seahawks scout.) Seven of Seattle’s eight draftees were invited to the event — Murphy pulled out — with the only one who didn’t get an invite being Division II offensive tackle Mike Jerrell, who played in the Hula Bowl. In addition to allowing for face-to-face meetings with the prospects, the Senior Bowl is valuable because it allows teams to evaluate prospects at a position other than the one they played in college. Sataoa Laumea, a right tackle at Utah, is moving to guard, and DJ James, an outside cornerback at Auburn, might move inside to nickel.
Seattle now has 74 players on its roster, with 16 open spots. Those are expected to be filled mostly with rookie free agents, but it’s possible Schneider will add a veteran or two. The Seahawks’ rookie minicamp will be held next weekend.
Best value pick
Laumea and James were technically the two biggest steals. Laumea was No. 130 on Dane Brugler of The Athletic’s big board and drafted with pick No. 179. James ranked 85th on Brugler’s board but didn’t get drafted until the sixth round. Haynes was No. 47 and ended up being selected with the 81st pick. That’s a slightly bigger steal than Seattle’s selection of Pritchett, who was No. 117 with a fourth-round grade on Brugler’s board but was drafted with the first pick in the fifth round (No. 136).
Independent of the rankings, though, Haynes is a plug-and-play guard, so grabbing him in the middle of the third round is the best value. In terms of playing with a mean streak and finishing blocks through the whistle, he’s among the best in this class.
Most surprising pick
Drafting Knight was a bit surprising just because of how raw he appears to be as a processor despite playing junior college ball before a four-year stint at UTEP. Macdonald also seemingly wants versatile linebackers, and the 6-foot, 233-pound Knight projects as a one-dimensional player. His speed and instincts have thus far translated only to dominating in the run game, which is why he had 140 total tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks last season.
But he was LB14 on Brugler’s board, behind the following players who were still available when Seattle was on the clock: Temple’s Jordan Magee, Ohio State’s Tommy Eichenberg and Clemson’s Jeremiah Trotter Jr.
Biggest question mark
Jerrell is facing a massive jump in quality of competition coming from Division II Findlay. At 6-4 and 309 pounds with 33 7/8-inch arms, he’s got decent size and tested well athletically when he participated in Ohio State’s pro day. But pass rushers are arguably the most physically gifted athletes on the field, and it’s likely going to take some time before Jerrell is ready to play meaningful regular-season snaps. All rookies deal with a learning curve of some kind, but it’s obviously going to be more of an adjustment for Jerrell, even though he spent six years in college.
Remaining needs
This draft haul signals a belief in the team’s safeties: Julian Love, Rayshawn Jenkins, Coby Bryant, K’Von Wallace, second-year undrafted defenders Ty Okada and Jonathan Sutherland, and 2023 sixth-round pick Jerrick Reed II, who is recovering from an ACL tear. Love, Jenkins and Wallace have starting experience in multiple schemes, so having faith in them is not a surprise, but because Jenkins is the only veteran under contract beyond this season and Bryant doesn’t have much experience at safety, this might be a position Seattle targets with its rookie free agent class.
Edge rusher Darrell Taylor is basically playing on a one-year prove-it deal because he’s been an inconsistent run defender and streaky pass rusher since making his on-field debut in the 2021 season. Taylor has 21.5 sacks in three years, so Seattle doesn’t need to be in a rush to replace him, but a succession plan in the event he walks as a free agent next spring wouldn’t hurt.
Seattle has only three running backs under contract: Ken Walker III, Zach Charbonnet and Kenny McIntosh, a seventh-round pick in 2023 who didn’t play any offensive snaps last season. This is not an urgent need because Walker and Charbonnet are dynamic early-down players who can also catch the ball. However, it’s nice to have depth at the position. It’s hard to keep multiple running backs healthy throughout the year.
Post-draft outlook
The Seahawks are better in the trenches after this draft. That alone could make this a successful weekend, considering the struggles on both sides of the line of scrimmage in recent years. Seattle came into this draft strong on the perimeter with young, talented players at offensive tackle, wide receiver, edge rusher and cornerback, so beefing up the middle was a smart path to take.
The Seahawks finished third in the division and were swept by the Rams and 49ers last season, so they had a sizable gap to bridge this offseason. It’s still unclear how much closer they got to either NFC West rival over the past couple of months, but they are coming out of this weekend a better team, which is a good start.
Michael-Shawn Dugar is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Seattle Seahawks. He previously covered the Seahawks for Seattlepi.com. He is also the co-host of the "Seahawks Man 2 Man" podcast. Follow Michael-Shawn on Twitter @MikeDugar
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