Daniel Jeremiah NFL mock draft has Seahawks taking national champion at No. 18

Daniel Jeremiah NFL mock draft has Seahawks taking national champion at No. 18
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Yes, another player to beef up the defensive interior.

The mock drafts are in full force now that the college football season is over and we’re just a month out from the NFL combine. Get used to mock draft talk around here, because this is yet another important one for the Seattle Seahawks.

Conventional thinking suggests that Seattle needs to improve its offensive line. Longtime NFL draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah is going the other way and picking another defensive player for the Seahawks. This would be three straight seasons of Seattle using its first pick on defense, something that has never happened under John Schneider.

Here’s his brief explanation for picking Michigan defensive tackle Kenneth Grant:

Mike Macdonald looks back to his old stomping grounds at Michigan to select Grant, who would be part of a great interior trio with Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II. Keep in mind that Jarran Reed and Johnathan Hankins are headed for free agency.

Now to rewind just a bit, here’s some transparency on how Jeremiah makes his mock drafts:

I tend to base my mock drafts on what I’m hearing around the league, whereas my Top 50 prospect rankings reflect what I’m seeing during my own evaluations. Keep an eye out for those rankings in the days ahead, but for now, here is my first look at how the top 32 selections could play out when the draft gets underway on April 24 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

We’re still in January and the Shrine and Senior Bowls haven’t even happened yet. There will be stock risers, stock fallers, medical red flags, bad interviews, good interviews, etc. that will affect the draft in due time. That isn’t to ignore what teams do in free agency that reshape their draft needs.

Grant was All-American third-team in his final season at Michigan, as well as a two-time All-Big Ten second-team selection over the past two years. While Grant was never coached by Mike Macdonald, who left the year before Grant’s freshman season, he did win a national championship in 2023.

We’ll get Grant’s official height and weight listed in due time but he’s unofficially 6’3 and just about 340 pounds, which would make him the heaviest player on the Seahawks defense. Johnathan Hankins is listed at 335 lbs but he’s also a free agent and unlikely to return to Seattle.

Over three seasons, Grant recorded 6.5 sacks, 10 passes defensed, an interception, and three passes defensed. He’s not as heralded as his teammate, Mason Graham, but he’s considered one of the top defensive tackles in the draft.

Here’s a brief scouting report summary from Bleacher Report’s Matt Holder:

Kenneth Grant is a massive defensive tackle who can be a gap-filler against the run.

He has pop in his hands to win at the point of attack and gain control of the block. That, combined with a sturdy base, makes him very difficult to move one-on-one and decent against double teams. He...