There have been rumors and questions about it for months, and there's no way of really knowing what will happen until day one, but there's a chance you could be seeing the Seahawks trade down from #25 for more picks. Albert Breer of the NFL Network recently reported that he's "keeps hearing" from "everyone" that a ton of trades will be made by teams looking to acquire a QB at the end of round one.
Here's how it might work out: You have many teams that are in need of a quarterback in the first 16 picks. These teams may be reticent to use their first pick on a QB after Gabbert or Newton because they don't want to overpay for that player and may have their eye on another guy or position with their first pick - providing them more value. With this in mind, the beginning of the 2nd round is where the QB derby may start in earnest, and teams might try and take a quarterback like Andy Dalton, Colin Kaepernick, or even Ryan Mallett and Jake Locker.
Teams that fear that the organizations in front of them in the 2nd round may take their prized future quarterback might start trading back up into the 1st round to grab their guy and this is where the Hawks might try and make a move.
Here's how Doug Farrar put it in his live chat the other night for SportsPressNW:
There's a growing school of thought that says we'll see a frantic move to trade down at the bottom of the first round to pick up later draft picks and the quarterbacks at the same time. Locker might go earlier by a team that turns game all of a sudden (Tennessee, Wahsington, Jacksonville), and I could see Kaepernick sneaking up and past some of the bigger names. Either way, there will be a huge run on quarterbacks beginning right around where the Seahawks are currently picking.
Of course, it all depends on who falls to #25 - if they love a guy there they'll probably stay and pick - much like we saw in 2010 when they were most likely going to trade down from #14 for more picks but then Earl Thomas fell into their lap.
But if the premiere defensive tackles, ends, or cornerbacks are gone at that point and they're not sold on any of the remaining QBs, they could trade down with a team, - maybe for another 2nd and a 2012 1st rounder - and use that future 1st round pick to trade for Kevin Kolb or Carson Palmer (or whoever it is they have their eye on). They may just sit pat for a year on the whole QB situation. Picking up another 2nd rounder would be valuable because they wouldn't be dropping very much in draft position anyway - maybe 10-15 spots, and could still then select a very good player - maybe even get the guy they wanted all along.
The Hawks may just stay at #25 - maybe teams won't want to give up enough to move back into the first - it's not easy to trade down all the time and you need a willing partner to do so. But John Schneider's teams have a history of trading down in the draft so I won't be surprised if the Hawks don't make a selection on the first day of the draft. What do you guys think?