What the early rounds of the Seahawks draft could look like

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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.

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.

Taking an interior O-linemen in Round 1

There's an obvious case against the trade route, centered around the possibility of either Washington's Troy Fautanu or Oregon State's Taliese Fuaga falling to them at 16.

Both are among the top 18 prospects in this year's draft, according to rankings from ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr., Field Yates, Matt Miller, Jordan Reid and Jeff Legwold. Both have local ties; Fautanu played for new Seahawks offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb and O-line coach Scott Huff at Washington while Fuaga attended high school in Tacoma, Washington, some 35 miles south of Seahawks headquarters. And while both played tackle in college, a popular thought among draft analysts is that either could move inside to guard, where they'd be plug-and-play starters.

The Seahawks signed veteran Laken Tomlinson earlier this month to fill one of their openings at guard (he's almost exclusively played left guard over his nine NFL seasons), but he's 32 years old and on a one-year deal. There's still an opening on the other side and a need for blue-chip talent to upgrade what was again an underperforming O-line in 2023.

It didn't help that both Cross (three games) and right tackle Abe Lucas (11 games) missed time. Lucas, arguably Seattle's best offensive lineman as a rookie in 2022, has dealt with what former coach Pete Carroll described as a "chronic" knee injury, wording that suggests it may continue to be an issue even after he had surgery earlier this offseason.

If so, then Fautanu's and Fuaga's background at tackle would add even more value.

Schneider has lamented countless times over the years what he sees as a dearth of quality offensive linemen being produced in the college ranks, saying recently that for that reason, they typically get over-drafted and over-paid in the NFL. If the Seahawks don't like the depth at interior O-line in this year's draft and a highly-rated player from their own back yard is available to them at 16, then that might be enough to resist their oft-felt temptation to move back.

Or maybe they could have their cake and eat it, too. Reid laid out that best-of-both-worlds scenario in his latest seven-round mock draft, predicting Seattle moves back four spots in a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers, picks up an extra third-rounder and takes Fautanu at 20.

Sweat in the middle rounds

A central question that could heavily influence Seattle's draft approach is this: how big does Macdonald want his defensive tackles?

As the Ravens' defensive coordinator, his D-line rotation included 355-pound Michael Pierce and 338-pound Travis Jones. Without a proven player on Seattle's roster with anything close to that kind of size, the Seahawks signed veteran Johnathan Hankins, listed at 325.

Hankins is 32 years old and on a one-year deal. Jarran Reed, 31, is also unsigned beyond 2024, which means it's potentially a position of short- and long-term need.

Macdonald has said that the goal is to "build a wall" in the middle of Seattle's defense. If the Seahawks are looking to do that by adding another massive body to the interior of their D-line, they may not feel great about their options aside from the 6-foot-4, 366-pound Sweat, who won the Outland Trophy last season as the nation's best interior lineman. Legwold's ranking of the 100 prospects has Sweat at No. 34, with none of the other nine defensive tackles who made the cut listed at over 310 pounds.

And if it is Sweat or bust for the Seahawks, how willing might they be to draft him despite his arrest earlier this month on suspicion of DUI? According to a police affidavit, Sweat's BAC was measured at .105; Texas' legal limit is .08.

Remember, the Seahawks did not take Carter off their board after he was arrested last March on charges of racing and reckless driving in connection with a car crash that killed two people. That approach makes it plausible that they could still take a chance on Sweat -- projected by Miller to be a second-round pick before his arrest -- if he falls to a spot in the draft where they'd deem the risk manageable.

A source confirmed to ESPN that the Seahawks did not bring in fellow Texas defensive tackle Byron Murphy II on a 30 visit. Perhaps they felt they didn't have any lingering questions with Murphy, a projected first-round pick. Or maybe the 297-pound Murphy doesn't have the size they're looking for at that position anyway.