Seahawks mock draft analysis: Dane Brugler bolsters O-line, but should Seattle trade back? (2024)

This time last year, The Athletic’s Dane Brugler correctly predicted in his seven-round mock draft that the Seattle Seahawks would use the 20th overall pick on receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba. On Wednesday, Brugler released his 2024 mock draft of all 257 picks, so let’s break down his seven selections for Seattle and see how they would fit in new coach Mike Macdonald’s system.

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Brugler’s picks:

• No. 16: Troy Fautanu, OT/G, Washington
• No. 81: Jonah Elliss, Edge, Utah
• No. 102: Cedric Gray, LB, North Carolina
• No. 118: Dominique Hampton, SAF, Washington
• No. 179: Keith Randolph, DT, Illinois
• No. 192: Jordan Travis, QB, Florida State
• No. 235: AJ Barner, TE, Michigan

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Day 1

Fautanu has become a popular mock draft choice for Seattle considering the team’s need for an interior lineman — Fautanu played offensive tackle in college but is viewed as a guard by some teams — and his familiarity with offensive line coach Scott Huff and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb.

Seattle recently signed 32-year-old Laken Tomlinson to a one-year deal reportedly worth up to $4 million, and that acquisition means the need for a left guard is no longer urgent. Tomlinson isn’t the future of the position, but he’s more than capable of starting this season, and there’s no guarantee Fautanu would be better than Tomlinson as a rookie. However, Fautanu should be good enough to challenge Tomlinson in Year 1 before taking over in 2025.

That said, I wouldn’t blame Seattle general manager John Schneider for passing on Fautanu at 16 and targeting another guard while adding another top-100 pick. This is a strong offensive line class, and Seattle is low on draft capital so the team can afford to be patient and pull the trigger on a trade to get more bites at the apple.

Good players will still be available after a trade back based on how the board looks in Brugler’s mock. Seattle might even be able to trade with someone like the Pittsburgh Steelers, which used the 20th pick on Duke guard Graham Barton in this scenario and still land Fautanu. Other players of interest after a trade back could be UCLA edge rusher Laiatu Latu, Iowa defensive back Cooper DeJean, Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson, Penn State edge rusher Chop Robinson and Illinois defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton.

Day 2

Edge rusher isn’t perceived as an urgent need, but Seattle’s lack of depth at that spot has been obvious for the past two years. Bruce Irvin was the team’s second-best edge rusher in 2022, and no one in the outside linebacker room stepped up when Uchenna Nwosu went down last season.

Even with Nwosu and Boye Mafe healthy to start this season, there’s an argument for adding an explosive pass rusher like Elliss, who has an effective spin move and recorded 10 sacks last season. Darrell Taylor is on a one-year, prove-it deal, and 2023 second-round pick Derick Hall didn’t show much as a rookie. I’d expect Hall to make a Year 2 jump similar to what happened with Mafe in 2023, but that shouldn’t dissuade Seattle from picking up a pass rusher in the draft.

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Day 3

Not addressing inside linebacker or safety with one of the top two picks would almost force Seattle to draft someone at one of those positions with its first selection in the fourth round. That is why I can understand Brugler going with Gray at pick No. 102.

Of the remaining linebackers available, he’s probably the only one I’d expect to compete for a starting job in Year 1 (Texas’ Jaylan Ford is another interesting player, but he doesn’t get drafted until the seventh round in Brugler’s mock).

Gray tallied at least 100 tackles in the past three seasons and had five sacks and 11 total tackles for loss last season. There are questions about his play strength, but he moves well at 6-foot-1 and 234 pounds and makes plays in coverage.

“Gray might not be exceptional in any one area, but he is equal parts athletic and aggressive and is always in the vicinity of the football,” Brugler wrote in his draft guide. “He projects as a rotational NFL linebacker and special teamer who will compete for starting reps as a rookie.”

The way this mock is unfolding, picking a safety in the fourth round makes sense, too. Hampton bounced around a bit in Washington’s defensivebackfield before finding a home at strong safety, and you can see why that position ended up being his best fit. At 6-2 and 215 pounds, Hampton has great size for the position, and he’s a good tackler. He projects as a strong safety, but there’s reason to question whether he has the coverage skills to play multiple roles in Macdonald’s scheme.

He’s probably a project in that regard, which would be fine if he wasn’t going to be 24 years old as a rookie. You’d ideally like a prospect that age to have more potential to be immediately impactful as a first-year player. But if Seattle waits until this portion of the draft to take a safety, the options probably won’t be great. This is a scenario where Seattle may just take the best player available instead of drafting for need.

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The three picks in the final two rounds are largely underwhelming, but that’s to be expected with selections in the back of the draft.

Barner, a one-year starter, may have some upside as a pass catcher, and Randolph could potentially be a backup defensive tackle, but the most intriguing selection here is Travis. The QB feels like a bit of a forgotten prospect in this draft cycle because of the broken ankle he suffered in November, but he was having a great season before that injury. He completed 63.9 percent of his passes while averaging 8.5 yards per attempt and threw for 20 touchdowns against just two interceptions in 11 games. Travis also rushed for seven scores.

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Size and durability are legitimate concerns for Travis, who is 6-1 and 200 pounds. He’ll also be 24 as a rookie, which isn’t a huge negative, but it puts in perspective why Schneider was happy to get Sam Howell. He’s a few months younger than Travis and already has 18 career NFL regular-season starts. Mocking a young developmental quarterback to the Seahawks is understandable, but the team feels it already has one of those in Howell, so they’re not going to push a quarterback up the board just to get another arm in the building.

Because of his age, you’d also expect Travis to be a more polished prospect, but he still has a lot of developing to do and doesn’t have the elite athleticism or arm strength to overcome his lack of size. Travis wouldn’t be a bad pick in the sixth round, but Seattle may be better off drafting depth at another position like tackle, running back or center.

Some other names I’d consider in the sixth round based on how this mock went: Duke center Jacob Monk, Utah safety Sione Vaki, Southeast Missouri State receiver Ryan Flournoy and Washington running back Dillon Johnson.

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(Photo of Troy Fautanu: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)