Seahawks among leaders in draft capital heading into deep 2022 NFL Draft

With each passing day the 2022 NFL Draft creeps closer and closer, and following the trade of Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos, the Seattle Seahawks are set to be able to capitalize on what is expected to be a deep draft. With a top ten pick, a trio of Day 2 selections and four more Day 3 picks in their back pocket, the Hawks could add a significant number of players who might be difference makers in a draft that, unlike the 2021 draft, is expected to be very deep.

Specifically, during a weak 2021 NFL Draft that saw a much smaller number of college players file for draft eligibility Seattle added just three players in Dee Eskridge, Tre Brown and Stone Forsythe. Now, with eight picks in hand before the draft is even set to begin, fans shouldn’t be surprised if Pete Carroll and John Schneider trade back from the ninth overall spot in order to add more picks, particularly in the heart of the draft. Peter King of NBC Sports noted this in his weekly Football Morning in America article this week, with Brad Spielberger specifically citing the Seahawks as one of the teams holding the most draft capital in the middle rounds under both the Fitzgerald-Spielberger and Rich Hill charts.

With that in mind, all of a sudden the Seahawks could be in play for a prospect like David Ojabo, who was expected to be a top pick, but who is likely to fall due to a torn Achilles suffered on March 18. It wouldn’t be the first time the Seahawks had taken advantage of an edge rusher slipping into the second round for injury concerns, nor would it be the first time the Seattle brass had made a bet on a potential top-10 talent on the defensive line out of the state of Michigan who had dropped to Day 2 for reasons unrelated to football.

In any case, keeping the depth of the draft on Day 2 and Day 3 in mind, it would not be surprising at all if the Seahawks front office opts to trade back out of the ninth pick in order to add a significant number of picks in the second through fifth rounds. It’s no secret that that’s an area of the draft where the Hawks have loved to pick in recent seasons, and for the front office it might simply be a matter figuring out how to maximize the number of picks in that range rather than figuring out who is the biggest impact player available when they come on the clock at nine.