SBNation Reacts Results: Fans expect Seahawks to select Jalen Carter

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NFL. Each week we ask questions of the most plugged-in Seattle Seahawks fans and fans across the country.

The 2023 NFL Draft is finally here, and the Seattle Seahawks are set to make a pair of selections on Day 1. Or at least they currently hold a pair of Day 1 selections, and while it’s been some time since John Schneider worked his trade down magic on the first day of the draft, he’s probably got those skills somewhere up his sleeve.

With that in mind, fans at least do not expect the Seahawks to trade down from the fifth overall pick.

A pick at five would be the highest selection Seattle has made during the Pete Carroll and John Schneider era, while trading down would allow the team to potentially add a haul of additional draft capital. However, while fans expect the Hawks to stand pat and make a pick with the fifth overall selection, the sentiment is not the same about the second pick the Seahawks hold Thursday.

As for who exactly the team will add with their first selection, the majority of fans expect the Seahawks to go defense, whether that be through the selection of Jalen Carter, Will Anderson or Tyree Wilson. However, the player who has the most support among fans to have his name called is Carter.

Carter, of course, fills an obvious need on the interior of the defensive line, a position where the Seahawks are currently very light on bodies. Another position at which Seattle is very light on bodies is running back, where they currently have only DeeJay Dallas and Ken Walker on the roster. Thus, it seems there will be a running back selected at some point, and the question becomes at what point that may be.

Selecting a running back in the third would be the second time Pete and John used a third round pick on the position, with the first having been the selection of C.J. Prosise in 2016. In their thirteen drafts together the duo has used either ten or eleven picks on running backs, depending on how one wishes to categorize Kiero Small, who of course was a fullback. The picks by round have been:

• 1: Rashaad Penny
• 2: Christine Michael, Ken Walker
• 3: C.J. Prosise
• 4: Robert Turbin, DeeJay Dallas
• 5: Alex Collins
• 6: Spencer Ware, Travis Homer
• 7: Kiero Small, Zac Brooks, Chris Carson

In any case, the draft starts Thursday, and can begin to help settle debates about who may or may not be an impact player and who may or may not be on the board for the Seahawks. And once the dust clears, the debates about what the team should have or could have done better can commence.

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