In NFL.com's latest mock draft by Pat Kirwan, the Seattle Seahawks select UW QB Jake Locker with the explanation, "There's no guarantee the team can re-sign Matt Hasselbeck. I also don't think they are ready to turn over the offense to Charlie Whitehurst for the long haul." Kirwan isn't going out on a limb with this one, but it's interesting that he thinks Locker will fall to #25. I personally don't think he'll make it that far but draft day is pretty hard to predict so we'll go with it here.
Locker really is an intriguing prospect, one that I was very low on up until about 3 months ago for no real reason. I started coming around to the idea that he'll succeed in the NFL more recently after doing more research. His physical tools are extremely attractive and the more I read and study on him, the more convinced I am that with some time he'll be a stud at the next level. Overall, if he does make it to #25 and the Hawks take him, I'm not going to be disappointed. I'd see it as a positive step towards the future - hoping he doesn't start in year one but instead assuming the Hawks go with Whitehurst or invest in a veteran to bridge the gap.
There have been some really great articles on Jake Locker in the past few days that I wanted to link to for your reading enjoyment:
-Greg Gabriel of the National Football Post "breaks down" Locker's game in a good read.
-John McGrath of the Tacoma News Tribune compares Locker to Tim Lincecum, another local legend that Seattle passed on in fear of the "hometown hero" title backfiring. McGrath hopes the Hawks don't make that mistake.
-Kip Earlywine, who is just tearing it up over at Seahawks Draft Blog with a bevy of great posts, talks about Dave Razzano's Locker/Favre comparison and whether it is valid.
-Danny O'Neil explains why Locker truly is this year's wild card in a great piece.
-Dave Razzano's profile piece has some very interesting points about Locker.
-Jarrett Bell of USA Today talks about the Favre/Locker comparison as well.