Should the Seattle Seahawks draft a QB?
The million dollar question looming in Seattle is centered around Pete Carroll and what he wants to do at the quarterback position.
Carroll and Schneider are in a rough position because they have come in during the middle of a horrendous rebuilding process, which was created by former Seahawks general manager Tim Ruskell.
Matt Hasselbeck is entering into the final year of his contract and with the amount of injuries he’s had over the past two years his future, with the current offense is questionable. The Seahawks have Seneca Wallace and Mike Teel behind Hasselbeck and neither have the complete package to be a 16+ game starter in the NFL.
What makes the Seahawks quarterback situation even more intresting is the fact that Seattle holds two of the top 15 picks in the upcoming 2010 draft with really only two quarterbacks being worthy of a starting job in the NFL.
Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford and Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen. Other quarterback who need a lot of work, along with Clausen and Bradford would be Texas’ Colt McCoy, Florida’s Tim Tebow, Ole Miss’ Jevan Sneed as well as other late round possible.
Needless to say this is one of the weakest draft classes for quarterbacks in a while. So the question becomes, is Pete Carroll willing to make a bold decision and possibly take one of the two top quarterbacks in the draft and should the Seahawks even draft a quarterback this year having passed on Mark Sanchez last year.
The answer is no.
The Seahawks do need an answer long term at quarterback but with one year remaining on his contract and still having many more important needs on this football team, drafting a quarterback is not something the Seahawks can afford to do.
Pete Carroll said at his introductory press conference that Paul Allen along with the rest of the front office want to be a winner now and moving forward. The Seahawks and Carroll need to use free agency as well as the draft to build around Hasselbeck.
Building around Hasselbeck will setup short and long term success for the Seahawks organization, which will be crucial for Pete Carroll’s success in Seattle.
The Seahawks need to find an every down running back, possibly CJ Spiller in the draft. An explosive wide receiver, possibly Brandon Marshall. At least two or three offensive linemen (left tackle, left guard and right tackle) which most will come from the draft.
Matt Hasselbeck said recently that if given the help (offensive line and running game) that he can lead the Seahawks back to the Super Bowl and win in the Super Bowl.
Take his word for it, when the Seahawks have a running back gain over 1000 yards they are a 10+ win team as history has shown with Shaun Alexander and Ricky Williams as well as others before them.
So with all that being said the Seattle Seahawks should not entertain drafting a quarterback in this draft class.
NOTE: Jake Locker, the University of Washington quarterback will enter the draft
next year so look for Seattle to try as hard as possible to keep Locker in the state of Washington. Imagine Seattle’s fan base moving from the Dawg Pound to Qwest Field.
Lars: Thank you for writing this. I have been an advocate for Hasselbeck to be able to redeem himself and for Teel to get the chance to develop. If I had to pick one of the two (Bradford/Clausen), it would be Bradford. We need plenty of work on our O-line. It boggles my mind we need help at LT & LG. Unger can move to LG if we sign Mawae! Regardless of who the QB is, no help to the O-Line equals QB on their back!!!
We also need to beef up the DEF at DE & Secondary. Morgan or JPP could be a big help. Rolle has some upside but the reports about him scare me!
np patrick. Well matt needs an OL and RB like spiller to get back to the super bowl
Like i’ve been saying to this question all offseason. If swearing was allowed in this blog the answer do we need to draft a QB this year would be F*** NO! These QBs are to scared to throw in the combine for crying out loud. They are afraid of scrutiny. There is no way they will be able to handle the pressures of the NFL. As Lars says, the stats tell you everything, when we had that dominant trio of Jones,Hutch,Tobeck. We had a balanced offense and no one could stop us. If you remember we beat the Colts on our run to the superbowl. Ya they took manning out after the half, but that was because we were out playing them and they had nothing to lose by losing that game. But anyways Offensive Line is going to be looked at closely by Seattle this draft. With them specifically interviewing Charles Brown OT USC, Mike Iupati OG Idaho. It tells me they are targeting these two players. Thing i liked most was Brown has put on 20 lbs of bulk =D. Which is something i said would be required of him if he went to the pros. Now he is 6′5″ 305lbs. For all draft purposes i would say Seattle is eyeing at these possibilities for their picks in the first two rounds.
#6-Anthony Davis, Jason Pierre-Paul, Derrick Morgan, Eric Berry
#14-Mike Iupati, Derrick Morgan, Earl Thomas, Jason Pierre-Paul
#40-Charles Brown, Ryan Matthews, Mardy Gilyard
The truth is the darn line shuffling needs to fricken stop! Unger played center in college keep him there. Making guys play different positions is dumb. Its get people uncomfortable. Look at Iupati. They put him at LT in the Senior Bowl practices just to experiment and he didnt do nearly as well. People play the position they play for a reason. Its because they excel at the particular tasks associated with that position. But think of the prospects of landing a Anthony Davis/Iupati in the first round. Then all thats left is to replace Locklear’s worthlessness. If matt doesn’t have to worry about getting his teeth knocked out all the time then maybe him and TJ would have some chemistry on routes because hed have more than 3 secs to throw. There are many scenarios and many players i would be happy with our seahawks getting this draft. Trust me ill be the first to tell you we have more problems than just oline. For example babineaux needs to be replaced. Kerney, LJack, Leroy Hill. All i am saying is that Matt does have 2-3 years left if we dont draft one this year. Make a move next year. Give up a future first rounder and a couple future third rounders to get our guy whoever it may be. Whether its Locker or Mallet. Teams are so conservative in the draft. GMs that are aggressive and go after guys that are the real deal are the ones who make their teams successful. Anyways thanks for the article Lars. As always till the next debate =D
Kelly: Great analysis as well! I don’t want us to take a QB in the 1st either! The #6 pick I’m still iffy about… If the guy we want 100% isn’t there, I say we trade down a little in the 1st and grab a 3rd rd pick in the trade. Iupati looks great at #14 (I hope we take him over Spiller). I fear that Brown won’t be available @ #40, but if we traded down, we could grab him later in the first.
The only reason I say move Unger to LG is if we don’t grab Iupati. Bringing in Mawae (Yes I know he is older) will bring stability to the line. I saw we get rid of Locklear all together, but I just don’t see that happening.
I see a couple of options in FAs we can go to help our team. I know people will say “Julius Peppers”, but I’d rather go another route! Chester Taylor, Leigh Bodden and Aaron Kampman… All three could come in and make immediate impacts.
What do you guys think?
I agree with you Lars about not drafting a QB this year. But I really do believe that hasselback is not a good enough QB to take the seahawks past the first round of the playoffs. I just think that we need to get a decent o-line before we get a young QB.
About free agency chester taylor is a nice 3rd down back but not much more we already have justin forsett who i think can provide almost the same amount, also I have heard that Chester Taylor wants to be a starting running back.
I have a feeling that the Patriots will ether resign Leigh Bodden or he will want way to much money in which case the Seahawks should not sign him because he is fairly old if i remember correctly and is only an above average cb not a true difference maker.
Aaron Kampman I would definitively consider taking if the seahawks were able to cut kerney because he is an all around DE who provides pass rush and is good against the run. He is somewhat old though 30 years old which concerns me if they were going to give him anything long term.
I think the seahawks need to get younger and rebuild through the draft. They need to draft O-line this year and true difference makers at any position next year. I think in generally shy away from older free agents until they are a better team that has a young core of talented players.
Kelly/Patrick: This is gonna be a dule comment because it’s on the same topic. The Seahakws need OL help we all know that but with Alex Gibbs, John Schneider and pete Carroll all being the best of the best at finding late (3-4-5th round) talent in the draft I don’t see them taking an OT/OG in the first two picks. Now 40th overall would be a good spot to start.
After talking with a few people around the Seahawks organization, IF Jimmy Clausen is still there at No. 6 overall which he could be with St Louis taking Bradford, Lions and Bucs taking defense, D.C taking an OT and the Chiefs not needing a QB Jimmy Clausen is right there for the Seahawks and with PC and JC having a great connection already it’s hard to think Carroll wouldnt take Clausen and have him in the fold.
Eric Berry, JPP, Derrick Morgan, and a few others are OVERRRATED. Berry is the 3rd best safety in the draft. JPP is a one year wonder and Morgan isnt a premier pass rusher like the Seahakws need.
So the Seahawks can take Clausen, which even tho I said they should not take a QB, this would be the only time and player to say yes to.
Get either a RB like CJ Spiller or a S like Earl Thomas or maybe OG Mike Iupati at No. 14.
Then you can go OT with Charles Brown in the 2nd round.
Getting Clausen, Spiller/Thomas/Iupati and Brown with the first 3 picks no matter what is great.
Patrick yea I agree it’s shakey about Brown being there at 40, but he could be. And in free agency I’d rather see Duanta Robinson, Kampman, and Neal/Evans (Jahid Evans from the Saints didnt receive a contract tender and could be an UFA if they dont have a deal in place by March 5th).
Jack: Well it all depends on the OL and RB around him. I agree and stand by not drafting a QB unless Clausen is available because talking with the Seahawks it’s a perfect fit PC and JC in Seattle.
Well Taylor is good, I see CJ Spiller being the EDB that Seattle needs no matter the QB.
Bodden might make it to FA but they have more pressing issuse, the pats do so it’s down to Robinson (much like Joe Haden in the draft) and Bodden, both would be great.
Yea if Seattle can cut Kerney and get kampman on a low 1 year deal it’s a great fit.
Yea Seattle will build through the draft as Carroll said, not FA. They will for sure add talented players in FA but the core (QB,RB,OL) will come via the draft
I guess if the seahawks think clausen is the perfect fit than they should draft him but isn’t #6 a little high for a guy with that many questions surrounding him; Played on an underperforming team, had two great WR’s that nobody could match up with, soft schedule etc etc.
Jack: Yea well Clausen is a fit and everyone in the top 10 has questions every year. Well he played under Charlie Wise, pro style offense the good ofset the bad