2014 NFL Draft: Seahawk Doppelgangers

Welcome to the annual Field Gulls search for the doppelgangers! Just another variation of a scouting exercise; this one simply taking a look at existing Seahawk combine/pro day numbers from their draft year, and comparing them to their closest match at this year’s combine. Sometimes it reveals someone new to study, sometimes it reveals something you might already have right under your nose. Today we will begin with WR, TE, and RB.

To study the current Seahawks against the combine players, I copied a spreadsheet of all the combine measurements this year, created my own spreadsheet of Seahawk combine/pro day numbers (using the better of their results from both test days), and then copied and sorted the Seahawk numbers into the combine spreadsheet. And then I sorted by height. Generally, finding the best match is as simple as looking at the player one line above or one line below each Seahawk. Those will be the obvious size matches. And then I just sort of eye-balled to confirm they match in their tests as well (the tests we look at are 40, bench, vert, broad, short shuttle, and 3-cone). If the player just above/below don’t have similar test scores, I will look at players gradually bigger or smaller until the times are closer.

For the height measurement, we will use the combine shorthand that incorporates feet, inches, and eighths of an inch into a four-digit number. The first digit is feet, the second and third digits are inches, and the last digit is eighths. So "6015" represents 6’1 5/8". The other measure I will give on ALL players will be their 40-yard dash time. In certain cases I will highlight additional measures of interest.

WR

Doug Baldwin- 5096/189/4.48

Doug fell directly next to a player measuring 5096/189. It was Oregon State’s Brandin Cooks. Exact same size. Cooks has Doug beat on forty with a 4.33…Doug has Cooks bested on both broad and vertical jump… and they split the wins in SS and 3C. Doug actually has one of the top 3-cone scores on the entire Seahawk roster.

At this point, I’d like to remind people that Doug was an undrafted free agent. Brandin Cooks is now getting some 1^st round buzz. Let’s assume Cooks is a better player than ADB…is he enough better than Doug to warrant the increase in price??

Sidenote: Arceto Clark, from the Seahawk 90-man roster, is also almost the exact same size as Cooks/Baldwin, similar SS and 3C, only with 4.58 speed.

Golden Tate- 5102/199/4.42

Size-wise Golden is very similar to Northwestern QB-turned-WR Kain Colter (5100/198), but Colter did not compete in the combine, so we can’t compare by speed/explosivity. The next closest would be Fresno State’s Isaiah Burse at 5110/188 but Burse ran a slow forty and was underwhelming in the jumps. But Burse did throw down an impressive 3C score of 3.94 (compared to Tate’s 4.34).

Percy Harvin- 5111/192/4.39

I actually called this one months ago in my first mock draft of the year. At 5112/198/4.43………Odell Beckham Jr. is the player directly comparable to Percy. Vert: PH-37.5"/OBJ-38.5". Broad: PH-10’01"/OBJ-10’02". We don’t have Percy’s times in the SS and 3C, but we can also look at the 10-yard split of their 40’s: PH-1.47/OBJ-1.50. Percy was drafted at #22 overall. OBJ will not be a Seahawk. He’ll be gone by #25 overall.

Jermaine Kearse- 6007/209/4.43

Kearse is sandwiched between Davante Adams (6007/212/4.56) and Shaq Evans (6010/213/4.51). I actually give the doppelganger tag to Adams, due to his identical bench and nearly-identical SS. Although I’ve been advocating Davante Adams for some time, I can’t make the argument against Brandin Cooks over the UDFA Baldwin without also making an argument against Adams in the late 1^st-2^nd when a player like Kearse came to us via UDFA.

Ricardo Lockette- 6021/211/4.34

Lockette is the fastest guy on the current Seahawk roster, and his near-twin is Donte Moncrief (6023/221/4.40). Lockette gets the edge in 40, bench, SS, and 3C, while Moncrief (who many think had such an amazing combine) only gets the nod in broad and vert. And the difference in verts was 0.5". Moncrief also probably gets the edge in actual catching ability, but Moncrief will not give you anywhere close to what Lockette is giving us on special teams. I don’t think Moncrief will block well for you either.

Sidney Rice- 6034/200/4.51

Sid falls exactly between Jordan Matthews and Martavis Bryant on the height-sort, but Sidney was giving up over 10lbs to both of those guys when he came out of college. You can make an argument that Bryant is the guy here (nearly identical vert and 10yd-split), but Bryant has much better overall speed and 3C. Bryant, technically, has more upside.

Then, if we look at a player with technically less upside than Sid had, we can also consider L’Damian Washington at 6037/195/4.46. Still faster than Sid in straightline speed, but Washington falls shorter than Sid in both jumps, and the SS. Interestingly, Washington and Bryant both finished 2013 averaging over 17.5ypc, but they both also suffer from some problems with drops. Really tough to justify Bryant in the 2^nd when you can get Washington in the 5^th.

TE

Kellen Davis- 6064/262/4.59

Holy crap Kellen Davis was a monster coming out of college! A 4.59 forty?! That’s faster than Eric Ebron’s official time, and Davis has 12 extra pounds on E.E. The closest player on size alone is Troy Niklas at 6060/270, but Davis’ times put Niklas to shame.

Luke Willson- 6053/251/4.51

I guess I often forget how big Luke is. I think of that speed and just think of him being like 6’4"/240. Most of the TE’s in this year’s class that are Luke’s height are actually much thicker, but of course that also means they’re much slower. There is no legit doppelganger here unless we give AC Leonard a 3" height discount. He ran a 4.50 from 6023/252. But he’s also a huge character redflag guy.

Zach Miller- 6043/256/4.72

Believe it or not, the player that best mirrors the numbers Miller had coming out…is Anthony McCoy (6044/259/4.71). McCoy and Miller have really negligible differences in bench, vert, broad, and SS. Their only major difference was in 3C, which Miller has a couple tenths advantage. Interesting thing to consider if/when deciding to cut Miller.

But since, that isn’t really the point of this exercise…let’s find a 2014 prospect that looks like both of these guys. As suspected for a while, the doppelganger is Arthur Lynch. Lynch comes in at 6045/258…so slightly bigger than Miller, and then he ran a 4.82, which is slower than Miller. Lynch’s vert really disappointed, but his broad jump was better, and his bench was crazy (28 reps to Miller’s 16). Both had almost identical 3C. If you could tell me Lynch would be there in the 4^th round (either the Hawks native pick at 4.32 or another 4^th spot acquired in trade), I’d say you HAVE to make this pick. Lynch and Willson would be such a terrific point/counterpoint. But, sadly, I think Lynch is a 3^rd rounder.

Cooper Helfet- 6033/240/4.71

Travis Beckum- 6030/239/4.61

I’m putting Beckum and Helfet together for their obvious size similarities. But Beckum, on paper – and about three injuries ago- was a massively superior athlete. I mean 28 bench, 38.5"vert, and a 4.10 3cone?! Those numbers are only approached this year by Colt Lyerla. But even Lyerla fell short in the bench. If you take a look at a player of similar size to Beckum/Helfet but INFERIOR athleticism, the other player close is Wisconsin’s Jacob Pedersen.

I’m honestly curious if some of this year’s TE will approach their pro days differently than they did the combine: try to cut weight and add speed. Cause overall it was a large and slow group. And the Seahawks, as just depicted, are actually a pretty athletic TE group.

RB

Michael Robinson- 6013/227/4.57

Mike Rob falls in between George Atkinson and Jeremy Hill on the height-sort, but Atkinson weighs a bit less while Hill weighs a bit more. But if we move off the height-sort and look at the weight-sort, one player comes in at 6002/229 with an almost identical 4.58 forty. The similarities continue: vert-33"/33", broad-9’11"/9’10", SS-6.95/6.88. Player X?? Lorenzo Taliaferro. That name’s gonna keep coming up, I think.

Derrick Coleman- 5112/230/4.50

This one surprised me quite a bit. I’m matching DC up with Andre2k. Andre Williams of Boston College measured up 5113/230/4.56 with 38"vert, 10’9"broad, 7.27 SS. DC had 36.5"vert, 10’5"broad, 7.34 SS. Makes you wonder what Coleman would have done in Boston College’s ground attack.

Marshawn Lynch- 5111/215/4.46

Just based on the primary three measurables, this comp becomes WVU’s Charles Sims (5111/214/4.48). Sims holds close similarities in the jumps (within 2" on both), and within 7 hundredths in the SS.

Spencer Ware- 5101/228/4.62

The closest player here is Antonio Andews at 5101/225/4.82. I’m not going to compare Andrews’ and Ware’s peripheral numbers as I think Andrews totally bombed the combine. I will be watching his pro day though.

Robert Turbin- 5100/222/4.42

Are you ready for this? Turbo’s match came in at 5100/220/4.43. Their bench numbers were close (28-Turbo, 27-X), as well as their broad jumps (Turbo-10’02", X-10’05"). Any guesses? It’s Christine Michael. As crazy as it may seem to anyone who has watched Turbo on Sundays, and who remember CMike in preseason…on paper, they aren’t too terribly different. In terms of 2014 players…let’s ignore the 5’10" aspect and focus more on the 220lb with 4.4 speed part. In that case, you have to talk Tyler Gaffney of Stanford and Damien Williams of Oklahoma.

Neither of those guys has made a memorable impression on me this year, but the cool thing about this exercise is…now I’ll have to take a second look. A double-take on a doppelganger.