Despite an extreme offseason makeover, the Seattle Seahawks are still lacking on the offensive line.
With the No. 18 pick in the opening round of the NFL draft, along with a pair of second-round selections, the Seahawks should have some solid options to fill their needs. They have five total picks in the top 92 and 10 picks overall.
Then-quarterback Geno Smith was sacked 50 times last season, third most in the league, exposing Seattle's issues in pass protection. Smith has since moved on to Las Vegas, where he’s been reunited with former Seattle coach Pete Carroll.
Seattle in turn brought in quarterback Sam Darnold, after he revived his career last season playing for the Minnesota Vikings.
So far the Seahawks' only offseason addition on the offensive line was veteran Josh Jones, who signed a one-year deal after playing for the Ravens last season. The Seahawks let go of left guard Laken Tomlinson after one year.
Charles Cross is well-established at left tackle and at right guard, Sataoa Laumea played himself into a starting role last season as a rookie. At center, Olu Oluwatimi was pressed into duty after Connor Williams' midseason retirement after a knee injury.
Overall, however, the Seahawks could look markedly different next season under new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, who brought in offensive line coach John Benton. Both held the same roles with New Orleans last season.
Among the top linemen available are Texas' Kelvin Banks and Tyler Booker of Alabama, and Grey Zabel out of North Dakota State. Booker allowed just three sacks in three seasons with the Crimson Tide.
Some other possibilities include Georgia guards Tate Ratledge and Dylan Fairchild and center Jared Wilson. Fairchild and Wilson both had pre-draft visits with Seattle.
Wilson is likely to be the top center taken in the draft, especially after clocking a 4.84-second 40-yard dash at the NFL combine.
General manager John Schneider, speaking to reporters at the NFL annual meetings last month, didn't rule out using some of those five early picks to trade up in the draft.
“Initially, you’re like, `Yeah, we’re going to take five really good players,'" Schneider said. “But then you get in a situation where it’s like, ‘All right, that guy’s a starter, we should probably move to go get him,’ if you can. It depends on how other people see these guys. But yeah, it allows us the ability to just be more free throughout our draft process."
Full QB room?
The Seahawks won't necessarily need to add a QB to provide relief of Darnold after reportedly bringing back Drew Lock, who was with the team in 2022-23 after coming from Denver in the Russell Wilson trade. Lock was a free agent after spending last season with the Giants.
He joins Darnold, Sam Howell and Jaren Hall on Seattle's QB roster, which decreased the possibility that the Seahawks would look to the draft at the position.
Other moves
The Seahawks traded receiver DK Metcalf, a fixture on the team for six seasons, to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Receiver Tyler Lockett is also gone after 10 years in Seattle. The Seahawks signed former Los Angeles Rams receiver Cooper Kupp to a three-year deal.
The Seahawks also added four-time Pro Bowl defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence.
Anything else?
While the Seahawks have Kupp, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and another offseason signee, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, at receiver, the team could look to add depth there.
One option might be Washington State's Kyle Williams, who had 70 receptions for 1,198 yards and 14 touchdowns as a fifth-year senior. Seattle was among his planned pre-draft visits.
Other prospects include Tetairoa McMillan out of Arizona and Elic Ayomanor from Stanford.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Anne M. Peterson, The Associated Press
