Mel Kiper would give the Seahawks an “A” for drafting Garett Bolles

In Mel Kiper’s latest three-round mock draft, he became the general manager and made selections based on which players he thinks are the best fit for each team. With the Seattle Seahawks’ first round pick, he selected offensive tackle Garett Bolles from Utah who is a “mauler and probably better on the right side of the offensive line.”

For the past couple of weeks, it seems like the consensus mock draft has placed Kevin King at that pick filling the outside cornerback position opposite of Richard Sherman. In this draft, however, Kevin King was actually selected by the Detroit Lions five picks earlier. From SBNation’s mock draft database, Bolles is the second most popular pick with Alabama’s Cam Robinson in third.

With the Seahawks taking an offensive lineman in the first frame, they fill the outside cornerback position in the second with Ahkello Witherspoon out of Colorado. This is actually the same player I pointed out in my “Team Needs” video as a good alternate based on his 6’3” size, underrated athleticism, and great hip fluidity.

In the third round, Kiper has Seattle taking defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi from Charlotte, and two players from Alabama with their compensatory picks. Those players are outside linebacker Tim Williams and a second defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson. While Ogunjobi fills a need of interior pass rush threat, Tomlinson is more of a run stuffer than a pass rusher. Tim Williams seems like a value pick as a situational pass rusher since some have him graded as a first round pick and this draft has him falling to the end of the third round.

In my updated consensus NFL Draft video, the average of 75 mock drafts has Seattle picking Kevin King from Washington:

Would you be happy with Kiper’s picks in this draft?

Personally, I like most of Mel’s picks with the only exception being Garett Bolles. He seems like he could be a quality offensive lineman in the NFL, but he is already 25 years old. By the time he reaches his second contract he could be 30 if the Seahawks exercised the fifth-year option. As Sheil Kapadia noted in his analysis of these picks, the age of prospects is a “big deal” in Seahawks' draft evaluations making it much more unlikely that they will take him. Even though there have been exceptions, Bruce Irvin was 24, turning 25 in his rookie season, this rule seems to be pretty consistent.

Another question we have to ask is: Does getting an “A” from Kiper matter? If you remember the 2012 NFL Draft, he gave the Seahawks a “C-” grade after drafting Irvin, Bobby Wagner, and Russell Wilson. Since then he has admitted his mistake and gave them an “A”.