At a glance: Seattle had to make some last minute audibles to the draft plan after defensive end Frank Clark was traded to Kansas City and it got word of wide receiver Doug Baldwin's impending retirement. The two players were replaced inside the first two rounds but understandably there will be a drop off in production. Not so easy to comprehend is Seattle overlooking the cornerback position which becomes increasingly important with the NFC West quarterback depth.
As the Legion of Boom disappeared in the rear view with the departures of cornerback Justin Coleman and safety Earl Thomas in free agency, it became obvious Seattle had more holes on defense than it has become used to in the last few years. The team went about addressing Thomas' position along with the traded defensive end Frank Clark's pass rushing role. But never addressed cornerback.
In a competitive NFC West environment that has Arizona's air raid offense, LA's fifth-ranked passing game and San Francisco's competitive-when-healthy unit, it's a wonder the team didn't address cornerback in the first round. Seattle may have chosen LSU's Greedy Williams had he not gone a place ahead of them in the second round, but that doesn't excuse not picking anyone up. It could come back to haunt them unless all the safeties play remarkable in the Cover 3 scheme.
The Seahawks drafted the NFL Combine's freak athlete, wide receiver DK Metcalf, at the bottom of the second round. We correctly predicted Metcalf's fall in our NFL Draft predictions because of the wide receiver's physical attributes -- which don't necessarily translate to the NFL. Metcalf seems to be a boom or bust prospect, with the Seahawks clearly believing he could be a steal. The team needs either Metcalf or fourth round pick Gary Jennings to have an impact in 2019 after Doug Baldwin's retirement and David Moore's ineffectiveness down the stretch last year.
DRAFT PICKS (per ESPN)
1.29 L.J. Collier DE
2.15 Marquise Blair S
2.32 DK Metcalf WR
3.24 Cody Barton OLB
4.18 Gary Jennings Jr. WR
4.22 Phil Haynes OG
4.30 Ugochukwu Amadi S
5.04 Ben Burr-Kirven ILB
6.31 Travis Homer RB
6.36 Demarcus Christmas DT
7.22 John Ursua WR
ORIGINAL COVER PHOTO: The Seattle Times
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