When the NFL Combine really starts to get underway this weekend with tests and results, we'll have our eyes focused on two things: the eye-popping numbers and the players we think we want Seattle to draft. That's pretty much it. I mean, you might also be focused on players from your alma mater, or guys who share the same first name as you, but mostly we want to see how players like Robert Griffin III do and what records may be broken.

At the end of the day though, what does it matter? That's the real question we have to ask yourself.

Pop Quiz Hot Shot: You're on a bus. There's a Rondel Melendez on the bus. What do you do? Who is Rondel Melendez? What does he have in common with Chris Johnson?

For any list that tries to be as official as possible, Melendez was a WR from Eastern Kentucky that ran a 4.24 40-yard dash in 1999, which is tied with Johnson as the fastest 40-yard dash since '99. Most lists will only go back that far, it's as comfortable as they can get.

More unofficially, Bo Jackson ran a 4.12 in 1986. Unofficially, there have been 13 faster times clocked. You will never get hard evidence that any 40-yard time is real. Different people use different systems of measurement. Some use averages. Some use different stopwatches. Some might even use an hourglass. These are the days of the NFL Combine.

If it's called the Combine, then why don't they all just combine their results and give us an official time so there is no discrepancy? Either way, we'll never be able to confirm Jackson's 4.12 or Deion Sanders 4.21 or Joey Galloways 4.18. Those are left in the past with fuzzy television screens and football jerseys that go just below the nipples.

However, in more recent years, we can have a better idea of who did what and what it meant to Pete Carroll and John Schneider. I would say that results don't mean nothing and they don't mean anything at the same time. You can't just be fast. You can't just be strong. You have to possess other tangibles and intangibles. It didn't help Rondel Melendez have an NFL career (7th round pick of the Falcons, doesn't have a Wiki or Pro-Football-Reference page) but it did jump Chris Johnson's stock.

What I'm most interested in today is finding out how recent Seattle draft picks fared at the NFL Combine. What did it mean for them and what did it mean to our front office? A reminder of what happened in recent years will help us focus on this year. Let's start with 2011.

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"Touchdown makers."

This two-word phrase is now engrained in the Seahawks fanhood lexicon after Pete Carroll mentioned that getting more 'touchdown makers' was one of his top priorities in this year's Draft and offseason. Now - most believe, well, some believe that in this draft, it will be DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE, SOME MORE DEFENSE, then maybe a QB and RB somewhere. I personally would put money on the fact the Seahawks will take a defensive end or linebacker with their #1 pick, but barring some situation where everyone is gone by the time they pick, you might see an offensive player. That's what this post is for.

Let's lay out a scenario: Suppose that by the 11th/12th pick, LB Courtney Upshaw, DE Quinton Coples, DE Melvin Ingram, or DT Devon Still and Michael Brockers are all gone. Trent Richardson is off the board. If this is the case, I can see the Seahawks looking at WR, potentially. It may be a luxury pick, but assuming the Hawks can't trade back and don't want to take a guy like Ryan Tannehill or Brock Osweiler so damn early, there are some nigh-elite receivers out there to look at.

Here are Mike Mayock's top-5 at the position, as it stands pre-Combine.

Wide Receiver
1. Justin Blackmon, Oklahoma State
2. Kendall Wright, Baylor
3. Michael Floyd, Notre Dame
4. Rueben Randle, LSU
5. Alshon Jeffery, South Carolina

Rise: Wright
Fall: Floyd, Jeffery
New entry: Randle
Out: Wake Forest's Chris Givens

Blackmon is the consensus number one receiver but Kendall Wright is right on his heels. Either player would be a huge addition for the Seahawks and I honestly wouldn't be disappointed to see one of them in Seahawks' blue next season. They're different in style a bit - Wright is more of a vertical outside/seam threat and a little bit smaller, and Blackmon is the 'catch everything' type of playmaker that can do a lot of different things for your offense, particularly in the red-zone (touchdown maker).

Michael Floyd is a physical freak of nature and his size/speed combination is likely to intrigue a lot of teams. At 6'3, 223, he caught 100 passes this season and 9 touchdowns to cap a 271 catch, 37 touchdown career. Floyd is one guy to watch very closely at the Combine because if he runs in the 4.3s or 4.4s, his stock could soar, a la Jonathan Baldwin of Pitt from last season.

Rueben Randle has quietly risen up the charts and is now in the first-round discussion by some. He's got size - 6'4, 208, and caught 53 passes and 8 touchdowns for the Tigers this year, even with a rather deficient passing offense. Doug Farrar profiled him at Shutdown Corner and noted that Randle is a "tremendous after-catch receiver who seems stronger on the run than his body type would reveal. Perfectly willing to go over the middle and make the tough catch in traffic, and he's a load to take down on slants and posts. Always looking to turn upfield and make that extra gain."

Farrar adds, "Perhaps at his best on sideline routes -- he gets the ball quickly, turns aggressively, and starts juking for extra space right away. Also great with fade routes, where he can use the boundary to gain an advantage."\

Anyway - that sounds like the type of player any team would want, but in terms of the Seahawks, at first blush he seems like the type of guy you could put opposite Sidney Rice to make both sides dangerous, or could fill in if/when Rice gets hurt.

Alshon Jeffrey is slipping down boards - there were some rumors that he ballooned up to 245 pounds at one point and running the 40 in 4.88 seconds, then the other day I saw someone write that he was down to 215. The Combine will be huge for the South Carolina product - at a listed 6'4, 230 - if he runs slow or comes in out of shape, he could really hurt his stock. He's a red-zone beast though and has been compared to the USC version of Mike Williams coming out. Someone to keep an eye on, regardless, especially if he falls into round two.

Falling off Mayock's list is Wake Forest's Chris Givens. I don't know a ton about Givens so I won't fake it. NFLDraftScout.com says this about him:

As an NFL Draft prospect, Chris Givens offers a lot of production and agility. Givens relies on quickness and change of direction to achieve separation, and can make the spectacular catch. While most of his production came off short throws with plenty of YAC, Givens is a legit deep threat. Despite injuries in high school, Givens was healthy for the duration of his career at Wake. Givens could fit as a #2 WR or slot in most schemes, and likely is best suited for a West Coast offense.

Not making the list is Rutgers' Mohamed Sanu. I know that Rob Staton is high on Sanu and I've seen him in several analysts' first-round mock drafts, so he bears mentioning. An all-around receiver at 6'2, 215 - he's got great hands, is excellent after the catch, and is a playmaker over the middle. He had a ludicrous 115 receptions in 2011, setting a Rutgers school record. I like Sanu - he's got the potential to surprise a lot of people and so far is a bit under the radar.

Also not making Mayock's list is UNC's Dwight Jones. Jones has been profiled a lot by Rob Staton as well over at Seahawks Draft Blog and is the type of all-around, big, fast, playmaking receiver that I could see the Seahawks lusting after. He's a guy to keep on your radar as well.

Now, the good news is that this receiver class seems pretty deep so the Seahawks may not go receiver this high. Likely, they won't, actually. So, who else do you watch? Here are a few- Ryan Broyles, Nick Toon, Jermaine Kearse, Juron Criner, Stephen Hill, Brian Quick, Marvin McNutt Jr., Jeff Fuller, Gerell Robinson, B.J. Cunningham - the list goes on and that's really just a smattering, and considering the Hawks found a guy like Doug Baldwin in rookie free agency last year, it wouldn't surprise me to see them pillage this group some in the later rounds.

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The NFL Scouting Combine begins today with the day one arrivals, and kicks off in earnest tomorrow with the first phase of testing and interviewing. From the schedule the NFL has provided (after the jump), it looks like we won't be getting workout timing drills and all that until Saturday, but some of the things to keep an eye on before that are the media interviews and player measurement segments. The press interviews can actually provide some entertainment - last year everyone was all over Ryan Mallett for 'storming off the stage' (he actually just said "thanks guys" and walked away, but such is the media).

Key to the Seahawks is Friday afternoon at 4:00pm, where the NFL will flip a coin to determine whether the Hawks pick 11th or 12th. They're currently tied with Kansas City. So, that's potentially pretty big. Keep your fingers crossed that luck is on our side on that one.

Also, importantly - from what I understand, Dan Kadar and the Mocking the Draft crew are going to be in Indianapolis this week/weekend so make sure to check up on things over there as frequently as you can. I know that SB Nation has a few other representatives in attendance as well so that's something to keep you eye on. I'm hoping in the near future I can grab some credentials for the Combine but until that day I will live vicariously through all of them.

Because the main reason players go to the Combine is to be tested and drilled on their physical prowess and positional skills, here's my breakdown of the different tests to expect. Most of what's written below is taken from the coverage we're putting together over at SB Nation Seattle, so make sure you head over there for really up to the minute updates these next few days.

The NFL Combine is made up of several tests for teams to further evaluate potential players and is meant to measure a number of different things - athleticism in general, top-end speed, explosiveness, agility, power, and strength. Intelligence, skills, hand-eye coordination, and maturity. Essentially, the skills needed to play at a high level in the NFL.

Fans like to place a lot of emphasis on the '40-time' a player records and that's typically the number that gets thrown around the most, but there are many tests to monitor as you watch the Combine this week. The typical tests administered at the Combine include: 40-yard dash, bench press (225 lb repetitions), vertical jump, broad jump, 20 yard shuttle, 3 cone drill, 60-yard shuttle, position-specific drills, interviews - each team is allotted 60 interviews in 15-minute intervals, physical measurements, injury evaluation, drug screen, the Cybex test and the Wonderlic Test. Let's run through them quickly.

The 40: Yes, this is the sexiest of them all. The 40-yard dash measures how quickly the athlete can run 40 yards, starting from a dead stop. This test is broken down into splits as well - 10 yards and 20 yards, to measure acceleration vs top-end speed. Fast split times indicate quick twitch acceleration and is valuable for any player in this league.

A good 40-time is going to be in the 4.4 to 4.5 second range for receivers, running backs, and defensive backs. 4.6-4.8 is what you could expect from a lot of the other positions - linebackers, defensive ends, tight ends, and some quarterbacks. Most linemen are going to run 4.9 or higher. If you see anyone run in the 4.3s or even the 4.2s, you're seeing something special.

Bench: This is mainly for the big guys - linemen and linebackers. It measures strength and stamina, mostly. Oregon State's Stephen Paea set the all-time Combine record last year with 49 reps at 225 pounds but anywhere in the 30s is pretty good. Guys with longer arms don't do as well because they're lifting the weight further, but in general I don't think teams look too much into the bench press test, unless a player just does horribly. That would indicate lack of dedication most likely - failure to hit the weights or prepare yourself.

Vertical Jump: This test tells teams how much lower body explosiveness a player has. You're not allowed to run and jump; you take off from a standing position, and a benchmark for the elite group in terms of vertical jump is 38" to 42". Anything more than that, you're looking at a freak of nature. Well, all these guys are kind of freaks in that sense, but 43", 44" or more is pretty rare. Virgil Green of Nevada hit 42.5" and Jonathan Baldwin of the Chiefs hit 42" on his vert last year to lead the way.

I'd say this test is probably more important for the receivers and defensive backs but really, lower body strength and explosiveness is pretty important for any player.

Broad Jump: Similar to the vertical, this test measures lower body strength and power. Explosiveness. The player jumps forward as far as they can from a standstill. 10 feet is the baseline for 'good', but if you get into the 10'6" range, you're looking impressive. Julio Jones blew everyone out of the water last year when he registered an 11'3" broadjump. The recent best was Cincinnati's Jerome Simpson in 2009, who jumped 11'4".

20 yard Shuttle (AKA "short shuttle"): Also referred to as the "5-10-5", it's a test of a player's lateral movement ability. The player basically starts in the middle of an area that's 10 yards long - he bursts out of a 3-point stance and runs five yards to the right, switches gears and go ten to the left, then again to the right to finish off. This drill is a lot more important than many people believe - some say it's more important than the 40-yard dash because it measures short-area quickness and agility, things any player on the NFL field requires. A good test in this area can get you noticed. Boise State's Austin Pettis set the bar last year with a 3.88 second short shuttle. Anything below 4-flat though, and you're getting looks.

3-Cone Drill: Similar to the 20-yard shuttle in importance. It measures change of direction, short-area burst, agility, and importantly, balance. Also known as the "L" drill. Players start out in a three point stance at the first cone, run forward five yards to the second, change direction back to where they started, change direction again and back to the second cone again. Instead of stopping there, they hang a right and around the third cone at the end of the "L". Coming back, the player again makes a 90 degree turn to their left then through the finish. Basically, it measures a players ability to keep their speed up through sharp turns and is especially important for receivers, corners, and defensive ends.

Benchmark for 'good' is 7 seconds. Benchmark for 'elite' - 6.5 seconds. Jeff Maehl turned some heads last year and ran a 6.42 for the best time at the Combine. He wasn't drafted, but caught on with Texas as an UDFA. Teams will be watching this time very closely, especially for those three positions mentioned above.

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It seems to me that the Combine is actually fairly important to this Seahawks' front office. They've shown a predilection for athletic freaks of nature in the later rounds so keep your eye on 'sleepers' that impress with very fast 40-times, but more particularly, quick 3-cone drills and elite short shuttle times. Throughout the season, you'll see the Hawks add guys that excelled in these categories and some of them will even stick with the team. Chris Maragos, Ricardo Lockette, Jameson Konz, these are a few examples. Obviously, they're talented football players, but I do believe that John Schneider and company believe, to an extent, that you can't teach speed and that faster, more athletic, and more physical teams are what win in the NFL.

Check out the Combine schedule after the jump.

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When the Seattle Seahawks pick 11th or 12th this season in the NFL draft, there will be a lot of talk about whether or not they should take a quarterback. John Schneider and Pete Carroll seem to have built a nice nest on offense, but in order for the eggs to hatch they will need to find a good mama bird to sit on the eggs and then to spit barf into Russell Okung's mouth.

Sometimes a metaphor can go too far.

They've invested heavily in the offensive line. Heavily in Sidney Rice. Used a 2nd round pick on Golden Tate, made the biggest play in undrafted free agency for Doug Baldwin and then gave a nice contract to Zach Miller. They're working hard to retain Marshawn Lynch as well.

Everything they've done screams, "Well, we just need to find the quarterback now." Will they do that in this upcoming draft and will they spend their first pick on a QB? Or will they go the free agency route? Will they trade up or trade down or stay right where they are?

I have the answers to your mid-term (you can buy them for $150 to supplement my writing income) but I don't have the answers to those questions about the Hawks and the quarterback situation. We will know a lot more by draft day.

However, I do have the answer to this question: What does history tell us about quarterbacks drafted in the middle of the first round?

I have those answers because they have already happened and Pro-Football-Reference is a really handy tool that's still completely free to use because it hasn't blown up quite like Baseball-Reference has. Seattle will be drafting 11th or 12th and their decision to draft a quarterback won't depend on whether or not they think he will be the next Jim Kelly, but based on how well he fits into the system and how much Schneider and Carroll like the kid.

That doesn't mean that history won't give us some interesting insight into what quarterbacks have been taken in this position.

I searched for every QB drafted between 10th and 20th from 1980-2009 and found 15 QBs. Christian Ponder and Blaine Gabbert were drafted 10th and 12th last season, but it's too early to make any kind of hard statements on their success. I picked 1980 because it was the start of a decade and gave me exactly 30 drafts. (No QB was taken 10-20 in 2010.)

Here is a quick look at all 15 quarterbacks, in chronological order:

1980 - Marc Wilson, 15th overall by the Oakland Raiders out of BYU. 6'6, 205 lbs.

Wilson, a Seattle native, was one of the first quarterbacks to enjoy extreme success in the system of legendary BYU coach LaVell Edwards. In the pass-heavy offense, he broke several records and paved the way for future BYU stars like Jim McMahon and Steve Young.

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It's NFL Combine week, boys and girls. When it comes to player scouting and evaluation, I lean on the experts to provide a rough list of players to watch - both in the early rounds and as sleepers - as a framework in which to analyse. With that in mind, I'm going to get a little further into Mike Mayock's positional rankings because it should give us a little outline on which players we can be keeping an eye on during the Combine and then in the early rounds of the Draft - likely one through four.

Later on - I'm also going to start listing off a few sleepers as well, as identified by Wes Bunting, Rob Rang, Tony Pauline, Russ Lande, Derek Stephens, Rob Staton, whoever. As we get deeper into the pre-Draft timeframe, I'll start identifying which players I personally like for the Seahawks and why, but for now I'm treating this as a whittle-down phase.

Further borrowing from the experts, because I'm not so delusional to believe I have all the answers, I want to bring up former NFL safety Matt Bowen's five criteria for evaluating the position as we go into the draft and watch film. Here are some things that I'm keeping in mind when sifting through the safety prospects. His criteria, my notes.

1) Playmaking ability - As it pertains to the Seahawks, this is probably the biggest key and could have been stolen from Pete Carroll's priority list. "Playmaking ability" is pretty abstract but something that can be quantifiable - players with a high number of pass breakups, deflections, interceptions, tackles, sacks, etc. Is the player constantly around the football and in the right place? The 'playmaking' ability Mark LeGree demonstrated at Appalachian State was probably a huge part of the reason the Seahawks chose him in the fifth round last season, and though it didn't yet translate to the NFL level, I'm certain that's what the Hawks were focused on. He had something like 22 interceptions in his college career and that's something that, I'm sure, caught their eye.

2) Range: This is an obvious skill necessary for a safety, but even more so when it comes to the Seahawks' defense. Pete Carroll asks his safeties to do a lot - both the strongside and free safety positions - and range often times means speed. It also means change-of-direction, fluidity, and anticipation. In the cover-1 the Seahawks run with Earl Thomas, he is asked to cover large swaths of real estate and make up space when he errs to the wrong side of the field.

3) Coverage skills: Duh. An ability to cover wide receivers from a number of different positions. Either 15-yards back as a deep safety or up in the slot on a shifty pass-catcher or running back.

4) Football IQ: I'd probably move this to #2 on the Seahawks' list for their safeties, purely because of the fact they require their safeties to be such 'playmakers'. The Football IQ goes hand-in-hand with range and playmaking ability, but anticipation and recognition can take a fast player - which, really, all players in the NFL are - and make him into an elite player. Combining anticipation and quick diagnosis with speed/range/playmaking ability, and you have a player like Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, or Earl Thomas. Football IQ also means a player rarely makes the same mistake twice, and can adapt on the fly very quickly. Earl improved a lot in year two, over his rookie year, and it's apparent he is high in his Football IQ.

5) Toughness: This just goes without saying. In the Seahawks' case, I'd say this is lower on the totem because likely they're looking for a guy to play a backup role at this point.

Before you continue - go back and check out the piece that Ben Harbaugh put together here at Field Gulls on potential free safety targets for the Seahawks. In it, Ben identifies several players that fit specifically with this team -

Leonard Johnson (5-10 198) a senior from Iowa State
Janzen Jackson (5-11 189) a junior from McNeese State
Coryell Judie (5-11 190) RS Senior from Texas A&M
Omar Bolden (5-10 195) a redshirt senior from Arizona State
Justin Bethel (5-11 196) a senior from Presbyterian

Now, here are Mayock's top-five as we head into the Combine. Because it seems very unlikely the Hawks pick a safety in the first couple rounds, I'm going to ignore Mark Barron. There's a greater chance that Harrison Smith or George Iloka could fall into the 3rd round or even later, so I'll start there.

Safety
1. Mark Barron, Alabama
2. Harrison Smith, Notre Dame
3. George Iloka, Boise State
4. Markelle Martin, Oklahoma State
5. Phillip Thomas, Syracuse

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For your prospect of the day on this wonderful Saturday morning, I wanted to bring up a guy that I've been a little bit intrigued with, Boise State's Shea McClellin. He's intriguing because he's that mix of defensive end and linebacker with some length and versatility, and the Seahawks have shown interest in players like this and more specifically with those two attributes. He doesn't have elite speed or athleticism, but rather shows instincts and again, an ability to play several positions that make him an intriguing mid-round guy to keep an eye on. Several experts I respect talked about him recently as well, so I thought I'd point you to that.

Rob Rang wrote about him a few weeks back. Per Rang:

Listed by the Broncos at 6-3, 255 pounds, McClellin was moved around a great deal but saw the majority of his snaps at defensive end, where he's currently rated by NFLDraftScout.com as a fourth-round value. McClellin accepted the invitation to the Senior Bowl, anticipating he would remain at the position but perhaps see some time at linebacker. Instead, he has worked almost exclusively at linebacker, taking virtually every snap Wednesday on the weak side and proving his versatility and draft grade are perhaps significantly underrated.

"I didn't think I'd be playing pure linebacker here. ... I thought I was going to be doing a little bit of both," McClellin said. "But, it is kind of my choice, too, doing a lot of work at linebacker. I have a lot of film at defensive end and outside linebacker. They put me at weakside and I thought it would be a good idea just to show my skills in that area."

In that same article, Mike Singletary weighed in:

"Let me just say this, if [McClellin] wants to play D-line, he can play D-line. If he wants to play linebacker, he can play linebacker. He is the kind of guy that can fit either way.

"He's a guy that right now is about 255 pounds. He can pick up and go to 275 and go back to D-line or he can stay where he's at. He's got a lot of good stuff ahead of him because he's also a worker. You find a guy like him with his versatility and intangibles -- he's also a smart kid -- and he's going to be just fine at the next level."

Rang continues by talking about McClellin's switch from mostly-DE at BSU to playing mostly linebacker at the Senior Bowl.

Proving much more comfortable than expected considering his lack of experience at the position, McClellin showed good diagnosis skills, quickly attacking gaps in the running game. He took on blocks aggressively, using his long, strong arms to quickly disengage as well as the flexibility and awareness to keep his feet free from the mass of humanity surrounding him near the line of scrimmage. Though not allowed to take ball carriers to the ground during practice, McClellin closed quickly and wrapped up securely before releasing them to finish their runs. As impressive as McClellin was defending the run, it was his surprising agility and awareness in coverage that caught some by surprise.

Look - I don't really know what the Seahawks are looking for in their linebackers. Pete Carroll stressed the need for speed at the position in his offseason presser but it's pretty well known they value instincts and coverage ability in their linebackers as well. They also stress the importance of scheme versatility and an ability to get after the passer but also run with tight ends and running backs, so McClellin just intrigues me. He's also the kind of guy I could see just kicking ass and taking names on special teams, and I know the Seahawks place a bit of importance on that as well.

Jene Bremel - a writer for FootballGuys.com and the Rookie Scouting Porfolio - recently wrote on McClellin:

Tweeners that can play either 4-3 DE or 3-4 OLB are common. But the term tweener implies a pass rushing prospect, not necessarily a player who can drop into coverage well enough to have potential value as a 4-3 SLB or 3-4 LOLB. Cam Johnson, Melvin Ingram, Courtney Upshaw and Vinny Curry are all tweeners in that traditional sense but aren't guys that will be asked to do something other than rush the passer for more than a token snap here or there. A solid pass rushing prospect, McClellin backed up glimpses of all-around linebacker play on tape by flashing the ability to turn and run with backs and tight ends during practice this week. Such versatility can push an otherwise one-dimensional pass rushing prospect from the 5th or 6th round into the 3rd.

Anyway - these attributes remind me vaguely of K.J. Wright and we saw the Seahawks take him in the fourth round, then eventually insert him into the starting lineup, successfully, in year one. Check out some more on McClellin after the jump, and I've also included some college football links to read as well.

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We talked about the tight end position in the last couple of weeks - Thomas first with his piece "Zach Miller, John Carlson and the Value of Chip-and-Release," then I addressed it as well later, with my roster analysis on the position. I think the main gist of both of our articles was that though maybe considered a 'luxury' signing, neither of us would be against bringing back the former Golden Domer, Carlson, on a new contract (or even as a frachised player). If that doesn't happen, the Seahawks have high-potential, but unproven assets in Anthony McCoy and Cameron Morrah that flash athleticism and versatility, but haven't proven much in game-action.

With the amount that the Seahawks use tight ends in their offense and going off of some Pete Carroll quotes this offseason about finding more 'touchdown makers' and how much he'd like to have Carlson back in order to pair him with Zach Miller, let's surmise that perhaps the Seahawks will be looking at tight end this year in the Draft. Churn, churn, churn. Maybe?

The inimitable Mike Mayock has pronounced his preliminary top-five at each position and today I'm going to focus on his most highly rated tight ends.

Tight End
1. Dwayne Allen - Clemson
2. Coby Fleener - Stanford
3. Orson Charles - Georgia
4. Ladarius Green - Louisiana-Lafayette
5. Michael Egnew - Missouri

For some reason I feel like the tight end class this year is pretty understated and no name outside of Dwayne Allen really stands out to me. Let's talk about them, shall we?

1. Dwayne Allen, Clemson. 6'4, 255

Matt Waldman, a football writer that I have a great deal of respect for, recently wrote an article entitled "Blocking Clinic: Clemson TE Dwayne Allen":

Yesterday, I watched Clemson tight end Dwayne Allen put on a blocking clinic. The fact that Allen has the physical skills and hands to become a productive move-tight end or hybrid player already places him atop most teams' positional boards. The fact that he demonstrated the skill to execute a full complement of blocks gives him star potential.

Waldman then goes on to describe, in intimate detail, exactly why he opened with those words, particularly 'star potential'. He finished up his excellent scouting report with this:

I could show you more, including a fourth-quarter play where Allen leads the way on a 23-yard gain by blocking the SS on the edge of a jet sweep to right end. The Clemson tight end closes the gap two yards past the line and drives the defender backwards literally 10 yards down field before turning the opponent's back to the sideline just as the RB runs past for another 13 yards to the Virginia Tech 17.

I could also show the red zone play on a QB draw where Allen is visibly upset with himself because he let the linebacker get away from him and make the tackle on the ball carrier that limits the run to a seven-yard gain - a run Allen opens to that side by sealing that defender inside. But I think I've shown you that Allen cares about blocking because he does the dirty work in a variety of ways.

This, to me, sounds like a Tom Cable type of player and I'm instantly very intrigued at the prospect. He's pretty unanimously ranked as the number one tight end in the class (at least, by Mayock, Mel Kiper, Todd McShay, and Rob Rang), so that puts him somewhere in the end of the first round or into the early 2nd round, most likely. The Seahawks are almost surely not going to use their first or second pick on a TE, but weirder things have happened so watch the following videos:

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Earl Thomas is 22 years old and is arguably the most valuable safety in the league. I say "most valuable" instead of "best" because his instincts, elite first step, and closing speed allow Seattle to play cover-1 more often and at a higher level than any other team in the league. This gives us a ton of schematic freedom and has especially helped emphasize Kam Chancellor's strengths.

Despite only two interceptions in 2011, it was clear how special ET is. His range is unmatched and he showed significantly more discipline than in 2010 when he was trying to jump every route under the sun (or clouds or dome). In the season ending presser, Pete Carroll even diverged from the question to comment on the strides ET took from year one to year two.

Earl Thomas is irreplaceable. If injury had befallen him last year then we would have seen a much different trend than the emerging defense we saw. Earl has proven remarkably durable thus far but his small stature and physicality mean injuries a disturbingly likely possibility. Our front office appeared well aware of the situation when they drafted Mark Legree out of Appalachian State in the sixth round of last year's draft.

As with any small school prospect, there's a larger degree of unknown entering training camp and Legree did not quite deliver. He wasn't bad but was beaten out by Jeron Johnson out of Boise State, who is ET's current back-up. Johnson is athletic and particularly well known for his jarring hits. However, his coverage skills are undeveloped and he really struggles with hip fluidity.

Johnson is at his best playing downhill. Even if his coverage skills improve, I would not be comfortable leaving him in cover-1 very often. Johnson could turn out as a career special teamer and might fit better at strong safety anyway. It is easy to see why Legree was the more attractive option entering the draft. The hope was that Legree could play some center field and free up Thomas for more creative uses. Oh well.

As irreplaceable as ET is, finding a suitable back-up is a must and we could also use that player in the deep middle to free up Earl for assignments closer to the LOS. I suspect we will again pick a free safety at some point in the draft. Thomas, Legree, and Johnson are all undersized, fast, physical, and instinctive. The players on this list will be of a similar ilk but with a greater emphasis on coverage since that is Johnson's weakness.

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