Jim Moore: The Seahawks draft looks good to me, but ‘wait and see’ is the best analysis

Now that the NFL draft is over, it’s time to start with the analysis and over-analysis from those who closely monitor this stuff and some of us who don’t.

No one truly knows if the first-round selections will work out - even the top pick overall by Carolina, Bryce Young, could be a bust. On the other side of it, seventh rounders rarely make an impact, but Chris Carson did with the Seahawks, and maybe another running back, Kenny McIntosh, will too.

Yet everyone gives grades to the draft classes anyway. Pro Football Focus gave the Seahawks an A, yet I’m guessing someone else at some other site will give them a C-, questioning why they took a safety in the sixth round (Jerrick Reed of New Mexico) or didn’t do more to beef up the defensive line and inside linebacker position.

You’ll hear about individual grades too. Samuel Gold, the Seattle film analyst for The Athletic, gave the Seahawks’ second-round selection of Zach Charbonnet a D-, not because of his potential as an NFL running back, but because of where he was picked and other factors - there were greater needs to address in the second round, and running backs of comparable ability were available later in the draft.

We won’t know for a year or two if this class will be as sensational as last year’s or as dreadful as others. Maybe one of the Michigan players selected in the fifth round - defensive end Mike Morris or center Olu Oluwatimi - will pop like fifth-rounder Tariq Woolen did last year.

The Seahawks hope Derick Hall of Auburn will add significant oomph to the pass rush and become a fan favorite given his interesting storyline. Hall nearly died after being born four months premature and turned into a great college football player and person, donating his Name, Image and Likeness earnings to charitable causes.

Or perhaps the “Gee-I-want to pull for him” story will be forgotten when he doesn’t get to the quarterback as often as the Seahawks thought he would.

Sitting back and trying to take the big-picture view of things, I’ll give general manager John Schneider and coach Pete Carroll the benefit of every doubt because of what they’ve accomplished in their 13 years here. They’ve won a Super Bowl, been to another and last year was one of their best seasons, making the playoffs after trading Russell Wilson and replacing him with Geno Smith at quarterback.

Did Schneider and Carroll surprise us by not taking Jalen Carter with the fifth pick overall? Wasn’t he regarded as a generational defensive tackle who could be the next Aaron Donald? Wasn’t the middle of that defensive line the Seahawks’ biggest need? Weren’t they sick of watching that poor run defense week after week?

Yes, yes, yes and yes. But they must have had good reasons to pass on Carter, most likely chalking it up to character concerns that even the Seahawks’ culture couldn’t change.

As far as not picking a future franchise QB, the Seahawks must have felt like there wasn’t one who met their criteria at No. 5 or No. 20 or any other number for that matter. Or for all we know, maybe they think Geno’s good to go for several years and if he’s not, this year’s backup, Drew Lock, could be a possible long-term answer.

I like that they went with choosing the best players available regardless of position. You could argue that the Seahawks’ starting cornerbacks tandem of Mike Jackson and Woolen was elite as is. But they thought enough of Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon to select him fifth overall, likely moving Jackson to a backup role.

Getting a vastly better third receiver wouldn’t have been at the top of my priority list, but it was for the Seahawks. And it’s hard to fault them for that - Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba was the top-rated receiver in this year’s draft.

I’m guessing Geno loved that first-round pick, giving him another terrific target to go with D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. Same thing with Charbonnet, who averaged four yards after contact at UCLA. Presumably he’ll provide solid depth behind Kenny Walker, another second-rounder who flashed during his rookie season in 2022.

The Seahawks also added competition at guard with the selection of Anthony Bradford of LSU in the fourth round and competition at center with Oluwatimi in the fifth round.

Mississippi State’s Cameron Young was chosen in the fourth round, and as much as you’d hope for him to be an immediate force as a nose tackle, it remains a position of concern. But it’s not as if Schneider and Carroll goofed in the draft. It sounds like they wanted to select a defensive tackle in the second round, but the ones they wanted were already taken. No sense in reaching for another if they thought a player at another position had a higher upside.

Plus they’ve got a backup plan, looking to bring back one or two of their own free-agent defensive tackles, Al Woods and/or Poona Ford. Now that they’ve been on the market for awhile with no apparent takers, Woods and Ford could be had at a more affordable price for the salary-cap strapped Seahawks.

When I first got into sports radio 12 years ago, I learned quickly that you should voice strong opinions, whether they’re right or wrong. The same has always held true for columnists too.

But I’d rather say “I don’t know” than act like I do when I don’t. I’m not going to nitpick the Seahawks’ selections when they’re the ones who study the film and conduct the interviews. They picked the players they thought were the best fits, designed to improve their Super Bowl chances.

It’s a boring cliche but “wait and see” applies to the Seahawks’ draft, especially when it comes to Schneider and Carroll, consistent winners who have shown no signs of that changing anytime soon.

Jim Moore has covered Washington’s sports scene from every angle for multiple news outlets. You can find him on Twitter @cougsgo, and on 93.3 KJR-FM, where he co-hosts a sports talk show from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekdays.