TNT’s Seahawks mock NFL draft: a QB, 7 defensive-front guys, trade down gains an 11th pick

The McClatchy/News Tribune’s annual Seahawks seven-round mock draft goes right to their needs.

Seven players we project Seattle to select in the 2023 NFL draft that begins Thursday evening are on defense.

And yes, we’ve got the Seahawks drafting a quarterback. It’s not Anthony Richardson.

It’s the 2022 player of the year in the best conference of college football.

We have the Seahawks trading down, not out of the fifth-overall pick they own but down three spots from 20 later in the first round. That nets them an additional pick, in the fourth round Saturday, for a total of 11 selections over the seven rounds. Why? Because that’s why general manager John Schneider and coach Pete Carroll do.

Two years after they drafted wide receiver Dee Eskridge instead of now-Pro Bowl and Super Bowl-winning center Creed Humphrey, the Seahawks finally address the center position. It’s been mostly a mess since they traded Max Unger to New Orleans for tight end Jimmy Graham eight years ago.

Schneider and Carroll have drafted 23 offensive linemen in their 13 drafts running the Seahawks — but just one true center. That was Joey Hunt from TCU, in the sixth round in 2016.

The News Tribune’s 2023 Seahawks mock draft

Round 1, pick 5: Jalen Carter, DT, Georgia. The best player for the biggest Seahawks need, interior defensive line.

Yes, there are red flags. Carroll, Schneider and the team have throughly vetted those. They’ve met in person with Carter three times in six weeks ending this month.

The Seahawks won’t even have a choice about Richardson. Florida’s quarterback goes to Indianapolis the spot just above Seattle, at four.

Round 1, pick 20: Projected trade down, with Minnesota: You know Schneider is going to trade at least once during this draft. The Seahawks receive the Vikings’ first-round pick (23), plus a fourth-round pick in this draft (119).

Round 1, pick 23: Myles Murphy, edge, Clemson: He is taller than 6 feet 5. He had 18 1/2 sacks, six forced fumbles in three college seasons.

It’s expensive to buy that size, speed, production from inside NFL in free agency. When you can get one on a rookie contract for four or five years, you do it.

They do it.

Round 2, pick 37: Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee: They get their quarterback project early on day 2. He’s the Southeastern Conference player of the year from last season.

Why is he still available? He’s 25. He’s coming off ACL tear.

The question is: Will he still be here early Friday?

Round 2, pick 52: Steve Avila, C, TCU: Pete Carroll says “we have to fix” the center position. That means no more one-year plug-ins.

It means drafting the best one, with Minnesota’s John Michael Schmitz likely already off the board by now.

The 6-foot-3 1/2, 332-pound Avila was a consensus All-American last season for the Horned Frogs’ march to the national championship game.

Now the only two centers Carroll and Schneider have drafted for Seattle are TCU guys.

Round 3, pick 83: Siaki Ika, DT, Baylor: Why another run-stopping defensive tackle? Did you not watch the Seahawks’ defense last season?

Ika was a monster inside against the run at Baylor, to where he transferred in 2019 after starting at LSU. He’s 6-3, 335 pounds.

He could be what Seattle lacked for much of the last two seasons: a problem — or at least a consideration — for the 49ers and the many other teams that seek to run inside on the Seahawks.

Round 4, pick 119 (from Minnesota): Tucker Kraft, TE, South Dakota State. Kraft is 6-5, 254 pounds. He can catch and, importantly for Seattle at tight end, block.

He was a star football and basketball player in high school in Timber Lake, South Dakota. Carroll loves guys who excelled in multiple sports.

The Seahawks have just one tight end under contract beyond 2023. That’s Will Dissly. He is coming off his latest major injury.

Round 4, pick 123: YaYa Diaby, DE, Louisville. Diaby’s speed off the ball and his length (he’s 6-3 with 33 7/8-inch arms) are what Carroll and the Seahawks value on the defensive line. Some scouts see Diaby as able to play as a five-technique end off the offensive tackle. He had 7 1/2 sacks for Louisville last season.

He may have develop strength and run-stopping to be able to play more downs in Seattle’s defensive line. But for now the Seahawks need this type of strength and athleticism anywhere, anytime on their defensive front.

Round 5, pick 151: Cam Jones, ILB, Indiana. Jones made plays all over Big Ten fields. His physicality and ability to stop the run is what makes him fit the Seahawks.

Inside linebackers Bobby Wagner and Devin Bush are signed only through 2023. Jordyn Brooks, last year’s starter at inside linebacker, is trying to come back from an anterior cruciate ligament injury he sustained in January.

An scouting report on the league’s official website says the 6-1, 226-pound Jones “lacks ideal size.” They said that about another inside linebacker Carroll and Schneider took a chance on in 2012.

Some guy named Bobby Wagner.

Round 5, pick 154: Andre Carter, OLB, Army. He’s also long, at 6-6 1/2, 256 pounds. The AP All-American had 14 1/2 sacks in the 2021 season.

He’s so good, as a West Point cadet this winter he got commanders’ permission to leave the Academy daily to train in northern New Jersey for this draft. That’s uncommon. He’s received Department of the Army permission to defer his service as an Army officer to play in the NFL.

Carter flies off the ball. He’s particularly suited for a 3-4 defense as a pass rusher. Seattle needs about five more of those.

He would be the first service academy player the Seahawks have drafted. You can bet West Point graduate Jon Rhattigan, the Seahawks’ special-teams mainstay and linebacker, has endorsed his former Army teammate as worth this pick.

Seattle could do worse than have two West Point guys on its team(!)

Round 6, pick 198: Andrei Iosivas, WR, Princeton: Pronounced yo-shee-vas, he has what the Seahawks need: size (6-3, 205), speed (4.43 40-yard dash) and skilled intermediate route running. Seattle’s been looking for a third wide receiver to stick behind Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf for years. Small Dee Eskridge, the team’s top pick in 2021, so far can’t stay healthy.

Schneider and Carroll have drafted 17 wide receivers in 13 years. They will draft another one this weekend.

Wait, drafting a wide receiver from...Princeton, you question? Last year the Seahawks drafted one from Division-II Lenoir-Rhyne: Dareke Young.

Round 7, pick 237: Nesta Jade Silvera, DT, Arizona State: At 6-2, 304, Silvera didn’t stand out at ASU as much as he did at the Senior Bowl in January. He reportedly was quick off the ball and into the line that week in front of NFL scouts.

The Seahawks have just four defensive tackles on their roster. Two didn’t play for them last year (Dre’Mont Jones, Jarran Reed). One is coming off a major injury (Bryan Mone).

Depth here is one of Seattle’s major draft needs, so the team bookends its draft with defensive tackles Carter and Silvera.