What Are The Seattle Seahawks’ Team Needs In The 2020 NFL Draft?

The 2020 NFL Draft starts on Thursday, April 23. As a lead up to the draft, we’ll be giving a team-by-team breakdown for positional needs. For each team, we’ll give an overview of each team’s current depth chart and how big of a need each position in the upcoming draft. Find all teams and the rest of our draft content in our NFL Draft Hub.

Be sure to follow our new Twitter account @SharpFBAnalysis for additional content like this, plus in-season NFL analytics, betting insights, fantasy football analysis, and game picks & props.

Seattle Seahawks 2020 Draft Picks Overview

Round 1 (27)
Round 2 (59)
Round 2 (64)
Round 3 (101)
Round 4 (133)
Round 4 (144)
Round 6 (214)

Seattle Seahawks Offense

by Rich Hribar

2019 Seattle Seahawks Offensive Ranks

*denotes new addition

Quarterback

Russell Wilson

Turning 32-years-old this November, Wilson remains as good as ever. In 2019, he averaged 8.0 yards per pass attempt (eighth), ranked fourth in completion percentage (66.1%) over expected rate (+4.8%), and threw 31 touchdown passes to five interceptions. Wilson is the only quarterback to throw at least 30 touchdown passes in each of the least three seasons, while no other passer even has two such seasons. Signing a four-year extension a year ago, Wilson isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

What Seattle doesn’t have in place is a backup. With only one draft pick beyond the fourth round, the team could wait until post-draft to pursue a mid-range veteran since they don’t have a lot of end-of-the-draft capital entering the draft. 

Running back

Chris Carson
Rashaad Penny
Travis Homer
Adam Choice

Chris Carson has posted 1,314 and 1,496 yards from scrimmage in each of the past two seasons, but enters 2020 in the final year of his contract. Carson closed 2019 with a major hip injury and enters 2020 with injuries and missed time in each of his first three seasons.

2018 first-round pick Rashaad Penny has taken a backseat to Carson in each of his first two seasons, but has averaged 5.3 and 6.2 yards per touch those years as a compliment. Entering the third season of his rookie contract, Penny suffered a torn ACL in Week 14, putting his availability and effectiveness early in the season in question.

Last year’s sixth-round pick (204th overall) Travis Homer got on the field for significant snaps over the final four games of the season, but managed just 191 total yards on 41 touches over that span. Given their offensive identity — ranking second and third in rushing attempts per game in each of the past two seasons — paired with Penny’s early-season status in question and Carson’s contract expiring, Seattle should be adding a back during the draft. 

Wide receiver

Tyler Lockett
D.K. Metcalf
Phillip Dorsett*
David Moore
John Ursua
Penny Hart
Cody Thompson

The top of the Seattle wide receiver room is set. Tyler Lockett set career-highs in targets (110), receptions (82), and receiving yards (1,057) in 2019. Turning 28-years-old at the start of the season, Lockett is under contract through 2021.

The team found a perfect fit in their offense in the second round last year in D.K. Metcalf with the 64th overall selection. Metcalf posted a 58-900-7 line as a rookie and led the league in end zone targets (18) during the regular season.

After Lockett and Metcalf, however, there’s not a whole lot. Especially when Seattle used 11 personnel on 74% of their passing plays in 2019, which was the seventh-highest rate in the league. David Moore was third amongst the team wideouts last year with just 17 receptions. The team added Phillip Dorsett on a one-year deal, but still could use to add more to the depth of the position. 

Tight End

Greg Olsen*
Will Dissly
Jacob Hollister
Justin Johnson

Seattle got modest production from their tight ends a year, as the group combined for 77 receptions, 733 yards, and seven touchdowns. Will Dissly has flashed scoring ability over his first two seasons in the league -catching six touchdowns in 10 games played- but has missed significant time with two major injuries in each season. After a torn patellar in his rookie season, Dissly tore his Achilles in Week 6 last season. Jacob Hollister filled in adequately when Dissly was lost, but averaged just 8.5 yards per catch. 

The team brought him back on a one-year contract. The team also added 35-year-old Greg Olsen to the group on a one-year deal, who has missed 18 games over the past three seasons. With those top three options, Seattle doesn’t have to force the issue at the position for 2020, but the team has questions at the position beyond the 2020 season. 

Offensive Line

LT: Duane Brown/Jamarco Jones
LG: Ethan Pocic/Phil Haynes/Chance Warmack/Jordan Simmons
C: B.J. Finney*/Jordan Ross/Justin Britt
RG: D.J. Fluker/Kyle Fuller/
RT: Brandon Shell*/Cedric Ogbuehi*/ Chad Wheeler

The Seattle offensive line has been an ongoing issue for years and 2019 was no different. The team ranked 28th in ESPN’s pass block win rate while Russell Wilson was under pressure for 41% of his dropbacks, the third-highest rate in the league. 

The line is a veritable “who’s who?” of former high-end draft picks that haven’t panned out at their first (or even) stops in Fluker, Warmack, and Ogbuehi, all of whom are only under contract for the upcoming season. The team added Brandon Shell on a two-year deal from the Jets while Duane Brown will turn 35-years-old this August with two years left on his contract. The team also added B.J. Finney this offseason with Justin Britt returning from a mid-season ACL tear in 2019.

Seattle has perpetually needed offensive lineman and hasn’t hit on recent picks allocated to the position, but the team should still pursue that are once again, particularly an offensive tackle that can press to start on the right side in year one and potentially take over for Brown. 

Seattle Seahawks Defense

by Dan Pizzuta

2019 Seattle Seahawks Defensive Ranks

interior defensive line

Poona Ford
Jarran Reed
Nazair Jones
Demarcus Christmas
Shakir Soto
Bryan Mone

The Seahawks lost their best interior pass rusher when Quinton Jefferson left to join the Bills in free agency. He was fifth among defensive tackles in ESPN’s Pass Rush Win Rate. Poona Ford was a disruptor against the run with five tackles for loss and Jarran Reed was fine against the line with little pass rush upside. In theory, Seattle could add an interior pass rusher and sacrifice a little run defense but given the philosophy of the coaching staff, they could be fine with the current outlook.

EDGE

Bruce Irvin*
LJ Collier
Benson Mayowa*
Rasheem Green

Seattle brought back Bruce Irvin but that’s not enough to make up for the loss of Jadeveon Clowney, who is still a free agent. Benson Mayowa might actually be the better signing after he had a higher pressure rate than anyone on the Seahawks last year, Clowney included. The big question mark is Collier, who couldn’t get on the field during his rookie season after being a first-round pick. Rasheem Green brings some good depth but Seattle could use another impact player on the edge.

Off-ball Linebacker

Bobby Wagner
KJ Wright
Shaquem Griffin
Cody Barton
Ben Burr-Kirven
Pita Taumoepenu
Emmanuel Ellerbee

Bobby Wagner and KJ Wright make up the best off-ball duo in the league. They’re consistently on the field, too, since the Seahawks were in base defense a league-leading 67% of the time per SIS (the next highest team was at 37%). There’s an opening for that third linebacker should the Seahawks stay with their base-heavy approach in 2020.

Barton showed room for improvement during his limited snaps and Burr-Kirven barely got on the field for defense (four snaps) but was a solid special teams contributor. Shaquem Griffin played some off-ball linebacker through his first two years but has made a bigger impact when he was allowed to rush the passer, which was mostly his role in college. He could potentially be more of an answer for the edge depth than as the No. 3 linebacker.

Cornerback

Shaquil Griffin
Tre Flowers
Quinton Dunbar*
Uga Amadi
Nieko Thorpe
Brian Allen

Shaquil Griffin had a bounceback year as the team’s No. 1 corner after a disappointing 2018. Tre Flowers was also fine on the outside — the pair ranked 35th and 36thin Adjusted Yards allowed per coverage snap among 92 corners with 300 or more coverage snaps in 2019. The trade for Quinton Dunbar was a steal. Dunbar was 15th in AYa/CS among that same group of corners. He has the ability to play both outside and in the slot, which can add another element to the Seattle secondary.

Safety

Quandre Diggs
Bradley McDougald
Marquise Blair
Delano Hill
Ryan Neal

If the Seahawks got the steal of the offseason (or at least one of) with the trade for Quinton Dunbar, they had the steal of the regular season with the trade for Quandre Diggs. The Seattle defense turned around with the acquisition of Diggs, going from 20th in Pass Defense DVOA in Weeks 1-9 to ninth in Weeks 11-17, per Football Outsiders. Now not all of that magically came from Diggs, but the Seahawks had lacked competence at safety before his arrival.

Bradley McDougald played well as the starting box safety but he’ll turn 30 years old this season and is on the last year of his three-year contract. Should Seattle go with some three-safety looks, Marquise Blair earned some more playing time with flashed during limited snaps in 2019.

Articles