FanPost

With the 32nd pick in the 2014 NFL Draft

It's official, the Seahawks are the proud owners of the final pick in the first round.

Now how the hell do we plan on using it? (Yes, I'm going to be using we. It's easier than saying "the Seahawks" every time)

In theory there are all but 31 players that we could draft with it. Some would be stars, some would be busts. We could also trade back to get more picks, trade for next year's draft (like we did with the Denver Broncos in 2009), trade for a player on another team like last year, or trade up for a player that we think we really need. There are probably some other things that I haven't thought of that could happen, but those are the big ones.

Now, knowing what we do about the Seahawks, the last two are unlikely, unless Sammy Watkins drops to the mid 20s (which would be a dream come true for the Seahawks, but he's a top 5 pick), or Jadeveon Clowney gives every other team the worst interview that they'd ever had. And trading for a player doesn't happen that often, at least, not players that would merit a first round draft pick like Percy Harvin.

So, there are three things we could do with the 32nd pick. But to know what we SHOULD do, we first need to outline our needs. First, we need offensive linemen, mostly along the right side, and not just the best O-line in the draft, but someone with some nasty to them, guys like Cyrus Kouandjo, Antonio Richardson, Xavier Su'a-Filo, and Gabe Jackson (he'll likely be there in the second round though). I see David Yankey and Zach Martin mocked to Seattle sometimes, but I don't see the nasty streak that we're losing in Giacomini in those two linemen, they're good pass blockers, but that's not what we want in O-linemen, we want big, strong, maulers in the run game, who have the athleticism to pass protect.

The second need, I think, is a WR. But not just any WR. We've got a slot guy (assuming we bring back Baldwin), we've got a YAC guy (assuming that Harvin stays healthy). I think that Tate is important on this team, but I will be operating under the assumption that he doesn't get resigned. We've kind of got a big guy in Kearse, and I know that he's a favorite here, but we could really use one of those guys that can just go up over a corner and pluck the ball out of the air when Russell unleashes his sexy deep ball, or throws a back-shoulder fade to the end-zone. That huge receiver that just overpowers corners at the line of scrimmage, doesn't have to be fast, but he has to be able to get down field, like Big Mike Williams could, or Sydney Rice when we traded for him. We went after Vincent Jackson and Brandon Marshall when they were on the market for the same reason. The receivers that really fit that description in this draft are Mike Evans (seriously, this guy would be a dream come true at the 32nd pick, but he's going in the top 10 or 15), Kelvin Benjamin (I don't really like his hands though, he drops a ton of passes), Brandon Coleman, Jordan Matthews, Davante Adams, Donte Moncreif, and, to a lesser extent, Allen Robinson (he's an odd case, big and fast, but not great at high-pointing the ball and making contested catches).

Those are the two big needs that I see in this coming offseason. The Right side of the O-line will need some help, and the WR corps will need some new talent. There could be a need for a run stuffing tackle, or an interior rusher, but run-stuffers can be found later and interior rushers are so hit and miss I'd prefer to wait on them a little.

Now, there are enough of these guys, especially the WRs, that it would be very easy to justify a move to trade back about 5-15 spots in the draft, and pick up an extra pick or two in the middle rounds. An extra third or fourth round pick could be instrumental for this team, and I look forward to seeing what happens with this draft.

Of course, there's always free agency, and we'll have to see how that turns out for the Seahawks, whether Bennett is resigned (we really need him), Tate, Baldwin, the McDTs (see what I did there?), and some of our more expensive tenants, Sydney Rice, Red Bryant, Zach Miller, Brandon Mebane.