With the NFL Scouting Combine kicking off this week in Indianapolis, it’s time to take a look at the Seahawks’ roster and see where they might be looking to add talent. Like any good team, the Seahawks will tell you they don’t draft strictly by need, but the current roster does influence how general manager John Schneider and his scouting department put together a draft board. Not every need will be filled in the draft—free agency is coming up in March—but the draft remains the single most important piece of the puzzle when it comes to building a roster, which is why last month’s Senior Bowl, this week’s combine and all the other elements of draft preparation are so important for the Seahawks and every team in the league.
Throughout this week, we’ll look at where the Seahawks stand at each position prior to the draft and free agency.
Quarterback
Level of need: Low
Why: Unless the Seahawks don’t plan on giving Russell Wilson a contract extension this offseason (a highly unlikely scenario), they are set at the game’s most important position for a long time.
That does not, however, mean the Seahawks will ignore quarterback entirely in the offseason. Tarvaris Jackson is a very good backup, but he’s also a free agent, so while there likely isn’t a team out there that will give him a starting job, he could theoretically look to go to a team that’s a little less stable at the position to give him a chance at starting should a player ahead of him struggle or get injured. If Jackson did decide to leave, the Seahawks have B.J. Daniels, though they have talked about using him at other positions, so his future might be at another position. The Seahawks also recently signed R.J. Archer to a future contract, though he is likely a camp arm with a chance at being a long-term developmental project, not a viable candidate for the No. 2 job.
Even if Jackson does return, the Seahawks could bring someone else in to compete for the backup job, as they did with Terrelle Pryor last summer, but based on their history, that player is more likely to be added outside the draft, because in five drafts under John Schneider and Carroll, Wilson is the only quarterback they’ve drafted.
Top players available*:
1. Jameis Winston, Florida State
2. Marcus Mariota, Oregon
3. Bryce Petty, Baylor
4. Brett Hundley, UCLA
5. Garrett Grayson, Colorado State
*—According to the NFL Network’s Mike Mayock, who knows a lot more about this stuff than I do.
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