Seattle Seahawks Draft Needs

By: Tanush Contractor

The Seattle Seahawks offense ranked 8th overall in 2019, with the only concern being their offensive line play. The Seahawks o-line allowed 48 sacks at 3.0 sacks per game which came out to 23rd place in the NFL. The Hawks have addressed the problem by signing Cedric Ogbuehi (a first-round pick in 2015), Brandon Shell, B.J. Finny, and Chance Warmack. However, these signings only look like band-aids, not long term solutions. A young tackle could solidify the line for years to come.

The defense, however, has been a whole other story, ranking mediocre in nearly every metric. The defense has been:

I believe the main cause for these abysmal defensive statistics have to do with the lack of pressure being applied on the quarterback. The Seattle secondary is just barely under average and with the lack of pressure, receivers can shake corners with ease to find easy yards.

- Yetur Gross-Matos is a defensive lineman out of Penn State. He racked up 111 tackles, 19 sacks and 2 forced fumbles in 3 seasons. He was awarded third-team All-Big Ten honors as a sophomore, as well as Penn State’s Defensive Lineman of the Year award. One of his best skill is that he can switch between types of attack extremely fluently and has an above-average inside counter.

- Ross Blacklock is a defensive lineman out of TCU. He accumulated 67 tackles along with 5.5 sacks in two seasons. He played an impressive freshman season garnering Freshman All-American and Big 12 Co-Defensive Freshman of the Year honors. An Achilles injury sidelined him for his sophomore season, but he stayed fit and returned in 2019 for an exceptional season winning first-team All-Big 12 honors. His best characteristics are his ability to work through gaps and split double teams, which would create a tough tandem to block with him and Jadeveon Clowney.

- Josh Jones is an offensive lineman out of Houston. His 6' 5" frame combined with 33 7/8" arms provide a big frame. His frame allows him to get bigger without risking his health. Some of his biggest strengths are his ability to execute reach blocks and climb up the field to set blocks on the second level linebackers. His weaknesses can be that he holds on for too long which restricts the effectiveness of his arms and his footwork technique in pass protection needs some work although all these are all coachable

- Austin Jackson is an offensive lineman out of USC. He also has a 6' 5" frame with 34 1/8" arms creating a massive wall. His best abilities are being able to bend and drive in the run game and can redirect defenders exceptionally well. He also has extremely nimble feet which shows in his kick slide. Some technique issues show up on tape and his footwork can be undisciplined sometimes however, the issues are coachable.

Related posts:

Networking is the exchange of information and ideas among people with a common profession or special interest, usually in an informal social setting. I recently felt like I had trouble remembering…

Philos means friend and anthropic means human. This is where we get terms such as philanthropic meaning literally be a friend to humankind. Prosopopoeia- putting words into the mouth of someone more…

Wally had a lot on his mind when he settled in the booth and motioned for his colleagues in equipment leasing to join him. “I admit,” he said, putting his coffee cup near the edge of the table, “I’m…