Latest NFL.com mock draft has Seahawks taking wide receiver at 20th overall

Our research indicates that the greater public loves mock drafts. Hell, we do them ourselves! And since the Seattle Seahawks have major draft capital this year is as good a time as any to get into posting about NFL analysts’ mock drafts.

There’s a fresh one out courtesy of NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks, who doesn’t envision the Seahawks going defense-defense with their two first-rounders. In fact, he believes both Jalen Carter and Will Anderson Jr will be off the board by the time Seattle is on the clock. Where does that leave the Seahawks? In Brooks’ opinion, Texas Tech’s Tyree Wilson is the call.

His reasoning:

Pete Carroll, whose defense ranked 26th overall this season, has been searching for a dynamic edge rusher to lead a defensive resurgence in the Pacific Northwest.

The 6’6”, 275-pound Wilson will be 23 years old by the time the 2023 NFL regular season starts, so being an older rookie makes him the perfect Seahawks pick (I kid, I kid). In his senior season at Texas Tech, Wilson compiled eight sacks and 50 total quarterback pressures. It should be noted his final season was cut short due to a foot injury, which required surgery. We’ll have our own analysis on him a little later this week or early February.

As for the 20th overall pick, Brooks sees the Seahawks going on offense. He’s got Ohio State star Jaxon Smith-Njigba heading to the Pacific Northwest.

General manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll use their second first-round pick to add another explosive weapon to the offense’s arsenal.

Alright, the picks analysis couldn’t be any shallower but I did want to cite this mock draft specifically to address the idea of taking a WR in Round 1.

Smith-Njigba is essentially a one-year player. As a freshman in 2020 he had just 10 catches for 49 yards and a touchdown, scarcely getting a look in a COVID-19 shortened season. He broke out in 2021 with a spectacular 95 catches for 1,606 yards and 9 touchdowns, playing alongside future first-round picks Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson. This season Smith-Njigba only appeared in three games and shut it down with a hamstring injury.

If not Smith-Njigba, I am wholeheartedly in favor of taking a wide receiver within the first two rounds (except at 5th). Seattle clearly needs depth at the position and while Marquise Goodwin was a good WR3 option, he may not be re-signed and he’s not a long-term solution anyway. Tyler Lockett is now on the other side of 30 and Seattle can’t just bank on having total reliance on him and DK Metcalf to shoulder the receiving load. In fairness to the front office, I think the Seahawks recognized this in 2021 and took Dee Eskridge, but those results are um... not playing out as hoped.

I’m of the belief that you can never have enough talent at wide receiver (see: Cincinnati Bengals, San Francisco 49ers), and the Seahawks can’t just bank on Eskridge figuring it out/staying healthy if they want to contend any time soon. Dareke Young has shown promise and earned late-season snaps, but that shouldn’t preclude Seattle from getting another receiver. Short of having a top-5 receiving TE, having a WR3 with potential to be at least a WR2 is something this team has been sorely lacking for years, and that needs to end sooner rather than later.