John Schneider hints Seahawks will be quiet on day 3 of the draft

There are some “gaps”

This is a bit old, but two weeks ago, Seattle Seahawks GM John Schneider went on 710 ESPN’s Brock and Salk and explained that he doesn’t like this class as much as last years.

“I don’t like it quite as much as I liked it last year,” Schneider said. “I think there’s different parts of it that I do like and that we want to pick in that range.”

“Last year I just felt like it was thick all the way through and we wanted to pick players all the way through,” Schneider continued. “This year seems like there’s some gaps in there – which for us not having a fourth or fifth may work out in our favor.”

He strongly hints — well, not even hints, he just says it — that he’s not a fan of the players who will probably go on day three. Even the fact that the Seahawks have three compensatory picks in round three, those were not really picks they added on purpose, so it’s possible that they’re looking to move one or two of those selections in one direction or another. Seattle’s pre-draft visits have strongly suggested that the Hawks like a few guys for round one and two and also have some significant interest in players who could go undrafted.

The biggest names of interest are UConn safety Obi Melifonwu (who they recently met with for the fourth time), Michigan State defensive tackle Malik McDowell (story on him here) and Alabama linebacker Tim Williams. Potential day two prospects that they have met with are Budda Baker, Isaac Asiata, Shalom Luani, Zach Banner, Cordrea Tankersley, Dalvin Tomlinson, Akhello Witherspoon, and Shaquill Griffin. For the most part, Seattle’s visits seem to suggest they like guys for the end of rounds six and seven, plus undrafted free agency.

It’s hard to believe that the Seahawks were aware of this when they dealt their fourth round pick to the New England Patriots so they could draft Quentin Jefferson, or when they were penalized a fifth round pick for practice violations. “Hey guys, we aren’t satisfied with the fifth round prospects in 2017, so go ahead and get extra chippy today!” But Schneider appears content to not have those picks based on the “gap” he sees on day three.

I would expect Seattle to potentially be more aggressive on day two than usual (though they have been reasonably aggressive in trading up for guys like Jarran Reed and Tyler Lockett recently) and then happily pursuing a number of priority undrafted free agents.