Field Gulls
It would’ve been nice to have Tre’Davious White on the Seahawks. I sure as hell wouldn’t have wanted T.J. Green, though.
On Monday, a comment from Bigmarinerfan in the Mel Kiper/Field Yates mock draft article caught my attention.
These mock drafts are generally pointless (but harmless and sometimes fun!) exercises. What would it look like in an alternate world where the Seattle Seahawks went with Kiper’s picks 100 percent of the way? There is a clear butterfly effect at play when changing these picks over, but suspend that portion of reality for a bit and play along.
To keep in line with the above comment, we’re sticking to the last 10 drafts and only to first-round picks and/or the top pick of the second round. I’ll present my opinion as to which pick was better.
Kiper’s pick: Stephon Tuitt, DT, Notre Dame (Actually picked: Pittsburgh Steelers, No. 46)
Seahawks pick: Paul Richardson, WR, Colorado (Traded down to No. 45)
Better pick: Tuitt. Unfortunately, Richardson was injury-prone in college and stayed that way in the pros. Tuitt never made a Pro Bowl but he had a career-high 11 sacks in 2020 before personal tragedy and injury led to an early retirement.
Kiper’s pick: Ronald Darby, CB, Florida State (Actually picked: Buffalo Bills, No. 50)
Seahawks pick: Frank Clark, DE, Michigan
Better pick: Clark. Darby has been a mostly fine, if not unspectacular cornerback. Clark not only was productive in his first run with Seattle, he landed the Seahawks an extra first-round pick in a trade.
Kiper’s pick: T.J. Green, S, Clemson (Actually picked: Indianapolis Colts, No. 57)
Seahawks’ pick: Germain Ifedi, OT, Texas A&M
Better pick: Ifedi. This is by default, because Green was bad out of the gate and never improved. For all of Ifedi’s faults, the Seahawks had a starting right tackle for three years, whereas Green only had 12 career starts as a journeyman safety.
Kiper’s pick: Tre’Davious White, CB, LSU (Actually picked: Buffalo Bills, No. 27)
Seahawks’ pick: Malik McDowell, DL, Michigan State (Traded down to No. 35)
Better pick: White. Before the injuries, White was considered one of the best corners in the NFL. He’ll try and revive his career with the Los Angeles Rams. McDowell... yeah.
Kiper’s pick: Marcus Davenport, OLB, UTSA (Actually picked: New Orleans Saints, No. 14)
Seahawks’ pick: Rashaad Penny, RB, San Diego State (Traded down to No. 27)
Better pick: Davenport. The process for taking Penny aside, Rashaad’s career has been injury-riddled and he didn’t even emerge as a starter until the back-end of 2021. Davenport coincidentally had one strong nine-sack 2021 campaign, but barely played in his one year with the Minnesota Vikings. PFF graded Davenport very highly in New Orleans, and Marcus has been consistent with hurries and pressures to make up for the lack of sacks.
Kiper’s picks: Montez Sweat,...
