Recently the Hawks hosted several small-school WR prospects to the VMAC but I wanted to point out a few more that could be on the Hawks radar as we get so close to the draft. Wes Bunting - a great source for draft related articles - recently put together a good piece that ranks the top five small school prospects and not surprisingly, several of them have been linked to the Seahawks.
The top OL prospects he mentions are Villanova's Benjamin Ijalana and Lehigh's Will Rackley. Rackley is a guy we've talked about here and has most likely made himself a lot of money with workouts lately as he's likely been shooting up boards all over the NFL. Ijalana is a guard, but Bunting believes he may have the ability to play LT in the NFL. If he doesn't, he'll excel at guard at the next level. He is another likely 2nd-3rd round pick but has also been creeping into the first round discussion lately. Undoubtedly both of these players on are the Seahawks' radars - Seattle would love to pick up a good guard to pair next to Okung on the left side of the line (and the right side hasn't exactly been claimed yet either).
There are strong rumors that Robert Gallery will be coming to Seattle once free agency starts. First off, I wouldn't count on it, especially considering how much money he was asking for in Oakland. If he does come though, people should realize that although he's good, he's also injury prone and not getting any younger. Either way, we won't know if he solves our guard problems until after the draft as the CBA seems to be lightyears away from happening.
Most fans, I think, would agree that the interior offensive line needs to be addressed in the draft - the only argument that exists is over where the Hawks go get them. Many people think we could target a guy like Mike Pouncey or Rodney Hudson in the first. I doubt this will happen. There's a multitude of guys in the 2nd and 4th-5th round discussion that the Hawks could be looking at that seem far more likely. These two small schoolers could be near the top of the list with the Hawks' #57 pick.
Some people believe we should wait until the late rounds to get 'value' guys that Cable can mold into top-level linemen. My thinking is that the mid-rounds, even as high as the 2nd round, are the best places to get interior linemen. I wouldn't count on Cable performing miracles. He's a great coach and has proven results in the places he's been, yes, but that doesn't mean he can take a marginal player and make him great. We don't necessarily want to reach for a guy, but bringing in some talent is important and the guard position shouldn't be pushed to the back of the queue. The importance of speed rushing defensive tackles has been increasing in the last few years to battle the quick pass offenses that are prevalent in the NFL today - guards and centers are now at the top of a lot of teams' lists of needs and the Seahawks are no different.