Five Players Worth Keeping The 25th Pick For

Trading the Seahawks 25th pick in the 1st round for a 2nd and 3rd is the Seahawks most likely bet to improve their team. There are a few players, though, that would possibly make it worth foregoing that 3rd round pick in order to secure their services for future seasons. After all, the NFL is about dominant players, not depth of talent. Some may argue that a team like the Packers were able to win the Super Bowl due to their depth of talent. Look again. There is no championship, or even playoffs, without the best QB in the NFL in Aaron Rodgers. They probably don’t get there without the NFL sack leader either. When the best teams play one another, it’s the one who has the most irrepressible players that often wins, not the one with the most complete team.

True dominance is hard to project, but these five players could get pushed down the draft board due to a run on QBs or other needs that has teams drafting guys beyond their value.

1.) CB Jimmy Smith
Smith is a Top 15 talent, and possibly a Top 10 talent, that could fall to the Seahawks due to bunch of off-field issues like passing the dutchie on the left-hand side (or maybe he’s not passing it). I leave it to the Seahawks to decide if he’s Jerramy Stevens. Getting a young shutdown corner is always worth your draft choice.

2) DT Phil Taylor
Taylor is a load at 334 lbs. He was impressive at the Senior Bowl, and could be a great pairing with Brandon Mebane (after the Seahawks hopefully re-sign him) and Red Bryant. Colin Cole was terrific last season, but is not getting any younger, and there was absolutely no depth behind him. This is a guy who could change the defense immediately, and for years to come.

3) G/C Mike Pouncey
Pouncey was hovering in the 20s in early mock drafts before moving his way into the mid-teens, for whatever that’s worth. He wouldn’t need to be his brother to be worth picking at #25 for the Hawks. For a team that needs help at both guard and center, getting Pouncey would open up a variety of options in free agency. The image of a dominating center pulling around LT Russell Okung for 10 seasons makes me smile.

4) OT Gabe Carimi
Carimi is a mean SOB who could play either tackle position and also works as a guard. He played for a nasty Wisconsin Badger offensive line that embodied the type of mentality Tom Cable will be looking to recreate in Seattle. Carimi stood out during the Senior Bowl workouts among a list of other high-profile prospects. He could become the immediate starter at RT and give the Seahawks potentially dominant book-end tackles for a long time.

5) DT Corey Liuget
He’s Liuget. He’s too Lieget to quit. Need I say more? Yes, I made that joke. Deal with it. Liuget is a Mebane-style wrecking ball that could either reduce the team’s reliance on re-signing Mebane if they wanted to direct money elsewhere, or give them a great rotation candidate. He is stout against the run, and may be a potential fit for the 5-technique spot with Red Bryant.