Russell Wilson wants more superstars. Would Seahawks go for a receiver in NFL draft?
Russell Wilson wants more superstars as weapons.
That’s what the Seahawks’ franchise quarterback said at the most recent Pro Bowl.
“I think we need a couple more,” Wilson said in an interview with ESPN in Orlando, Fla. “I think we need a couple more. ...we have a great offense, but I think we can always add more pieces.
“I think that’s going to be the part that’s going to be great with John Schneider and Pete Carroll, as well, in terms of this offseason’s free agency. Free agency is very, very key to getting those superstars on your team and try to get great players that can fill the space.”
That was in late January. Almost three months later, days before the NFL draft, Wilson still hasn’t received those additional “superstars.”
Free agency hasn’t brought them in. With Schneider and Carroll running the Seahawks, it usually doesn’t.
They again shopped in the secondary, bargain market, netting cheaper, shorter-term deals. They signed three offensive linemen to one- and two-year deals over two days last month: Brandon Shell to be the new right tackle, B.J. Finney to play guard or center, and Cedric Ogbuehi to back up at tackle.
Offensive linemen, especially ones on short-term deals, are not superstars.
They got Wilson one new wide receiver. But while speedy with intriguing potential to get Wilson’s accurate long passes, third receiver Phillip Dorsett signing a one-year, veteran-minimum deal from New England is not a superstar move, either.
Tight end Greg Olsen is one. The three-time Pro Bowl tight end signed with Seattle in January. But he’s 35. He’s also on a one-year contract, for $7 million.
So now it’s on to the draft, Thursday through Saturday. It’s full of superstars, college ones, as potential pass catchers for Wilson.
This year’s draft class of wide receivers is reputed to be close to historic. The 2004 draft has seven wide receivers taken in round one. This year’s might surpass that. Some believe as many 20 of the first 100 picks this week, one in every five selections, will be a wide receiver.
Two from one program, Alabama’s, may go in the top 10 Thursday: Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs.
TOP WIDE RECEIVERS IN 2020 NFL DRAFT
1. Jerry Jeudy, Alabama
2. CeeDee Lamb, Oklahoma
3. Tee Higgins, Clemson
4. Henry Ruggs III, Alabama
5. Justin Jefferson, LSU
The Seahawks won’t be getting any of those guys. Not picking at 27. Not with the near-zero chance Schneider will trade up in the first round. He just doesn’t spend the draft and player capital to do that. It’s likely the Seahawks will trade down in round one. Again. Seattle has traded its original first-round choice in eight consecutive drafts.
So what that Wilson lobbied for more superstars. The Seahawks don’t need to spend their first pick on a wide receiver.
They need to fix their pass rush. That remains broken, as Jadeveon Clowney remains unsigned.
Plus, the Seahawks are mighty fine with the move at receiver they made in last year’s draft—trading up into the end of the second round to select DK Metcalf. He was a freak and beast of a rookie in 2019. Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and Dorsett give Seattle one of its best wide-receiver units in years.
David Moore added to it on Sunday by signing his tender offer as a restricted free agent. That keeps the Seahawks’ seventh-round pick in 2017 on the team this year at $2.13 million.
But this draft class is so deep in wide receivers Schneider and Carroll are likely to be shopping for the future on days two and three, rounds two through seven. After all, Dorsett’s and Moore’s contract as the third and fourth wide-outs end after 2020.
Metcalf overwhelming defensive backs with his size and bulk last season reminded Carroll why he loves huge receivers. The coach said last year at the draft getting bigger at wide receiver post-Doug Baldwin was a top priority.
You can bet he and Schneider know about Antonio Gandy-Goldman.
He’s 6 feet 4, about as tall as Metcalf, and 223 pounds, six pounds lighter than the Seahawk. The only reason a wide receiver that big is under the radar is a lot of radars don’t track Liberty University.
After 71 catches for more than 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns in his final college season at his evangelical Christian college in Lynchburg, Va., Gandy-Goldman got some attention at the Senior Bowl in January. But he ran a 4.6-second 40-yard dash at the league’s scouting combine, leaving some believing he’d drop into the fourth round despite his tempting size.
Analysts are saying about Gandy-Goldman what they said this time last year about Metcalf: he lacks skill in running routes. Metcalf proved in his first NFL minicamp in May far more polished than even Carroll expected.
Gandy-Goldman is not Metcalf, far from it. But he’s 6-4, 222. And, like with Metcalf, there isn’t a defensive back the Seahawks will play this year or in many moons who is 6-4 and over 220 pounds.
Dezmon Patmon from across the Cascades at Washington State is another size receiver for later rounds. He’s 6-4, 225. Patmon caught 58 passes with eight touchdowns last season for coach Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense at WSU. Then he ran a 4.48 40 at the combine.
Another late-round possibility: Tyrie Cleveland from Florida. He has speed. And size. He’s 6-2. He ran a 4.46 40 at the combine. His stats (25 catches, one touchdown, only two starts) in his final season at Florida make him what many consider a third-day draft prospect.
This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 7:28 AM with the headline "Russell Wilson wants more superstars. Would Seahawks go for a receiver in NFL draft?."
