What the early rounds of the Seahawks’ draft could look like

RENTON, Wash. — Devon Witherspoon was not connected to the Seattle Seahawks in many, if any, mock drafts before they took the Illinois cornerback fifth overall last April.

Jalen Carter and Tyree Wilson were.

But the Seahawks deemed Carter to be a risk not worth taking that high in the draft, and their evaluation of Wilson differed even more compared to that of some analysts. While he went seventh overall to the Las Vegas Raiders, the Seahawks had not even given the Texas Tech edge rusher a first-round grade and wouldn’t have taken him with their second pick in Round 1, No. 20 overall.

There’s your latest reminder of how difficult the draft can be to predict, especially for a team like the Seahawks that often zigs when others zag.

But there are some hints to be derived from 14 drafts under general manager John Schneider, new coach Mike Macdonald’s history with the Baltimore Ravens and some recent comments from the organization.

This tidbit from last April might also be instructive when it comes to how the Seahawks view one of this year’s prospects, Texas defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat: Seattle wasn’t taking Carter fifth overall, but a source told ESPN that they would have considered him at 20.

Using all of that information as a guide, here’s a look at how the early and middle rounds could play out for the Seahawks, who currently own the 16th and 81st overall picks but no other selections over the first two days of the draft.

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A trade down from 16

Trent Kirchner, the Seahawks’ vice president of player personnel, struck a humorous note last week when he and three other high-ranking members of Schneider’s personnel department were asked what their roles look like during the draft.

Said Kirchner: “John yelling at us to find more trade partners.”

Not that he was joking.

During Schneider’s 14 drafts with Seattle, the Seahawks have entered Day 1 with a combined 14 first-round picks. They’ve moved back with six of those selections and did so multiple times with three of them — and that’s just in Round 1.

Their rationale has been that if a given draft has only roughly 15-20 players to whom they’ve assigned a first-round grade, then they’re usually left with second-round talents by the time they pick in the mid-20s. And, their thinking goes, if there isn’t much of a dropoff between a player they could take at 35 compared to 25, they may as well move back and pick up an additional selection along the way.

But they also traded back from No. 12 to No. 15 in 2012, when they took edge rusher Bruce Irvin. And in 2022, they discussed a trade with the New York Jets in which they would have moved one spot down to No. 10 overall, but they stayed put and took left tackle Charles Cross out of fear that the Jets would nab him with the No. 9 pick.

After taking Witherspoon last year, Schneider told reporters that he was one of two players that Seattle was pre-determined to stick with and pick if they were still available at No. 5. The other player was Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr. And yet, with Anderson off the board and only Witherspoon left, Schneider still took most of their allotted 10 minutes before selecting him.

Indeed, the Seahawks are so intrigued by trading down and acquiring more picks that they’ll consider it even when they’ve already decided not to. With no second-round selection because of their trade last October for Leonard Williams, there may be as much incentive as ever for Schneider, Kirchner & Co. to find a taker for No. 16 overall.

The Seahawks brought in Oregon’s Bo Nix and South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler on 30 visits (each team gets 30 slots to meet with prospects at their facilities) earlier this month. Taking a quarterback on Day 2 doesn’t seem out of the question even after the trade for Sam Howell, though that would be much more plausible if they add a second-round pick or another third.