The case for not drafting an OL
In the first round anyway

With the NFL Draft barely more than two weeks away, the speculation over who will draft who when is rampant. "Experts" are constantly changing their projections and unnamed sources are becoming overnight celebrities with their indications as to which team is interested in who.

Quarterback will always be the most talked about position at this time of the year, with any team with a top-10 selection linked to any and every quarterback that did anything in college. Luckily the Seattle Seahawks don't have anything close to a need at quarterback, and won't for at least another three years. Therefore their names won't be among the most mentioned around this time of the year for a few more years at least. Especially since they have been selecting toward the back end of the first round, if they have a first round selection at all that is.

When it comes to speculation as to who the Seahawks will - or should - pick, many are calling for an offensive lineman. Those voices have good reason to call for an o-line prospect, what with the sad state of the offensive line even before Russell Okung and J.R. Sweezy left in free agency.

However the Seahawks would be better served to pass on an offensive lineman should they decided to hold onto the 26th overall pick. One may as why? Well the answer is simple, there's just not much value in spending your first pick on an offensive lineman nowadays. 

Even Hawks offensive line coach Tom Cable said so, in the middle of the year highlighting the Seahawks philosophy when it comes to lineman on the offensive side of the ball. He said that the organization prefers to find good athletes even from the defensive line (a la J.R. Sweezy) and teach them how to be o-lineman. The reason being that offensive lineman coming out of college are barely more prepared than one they have to build from scratch. And if the team is going to have to do some major coaching in any case, they might as well find the best athletes possible.

Granted that isn't always the case, but it shows how much of a talent gap there is among o-line prospects, explicating the lack of value a team will get using that pick on the offensive line. 

Therefore the Hawks would be better served to spend the pick on the defensive line, where they also have depth issues. To their fortune, this draft has no depth issues along the defensive line, and the Hawks are expected to capitalize and use most of their picks to bolster their depth.

Although if there's one thing we know, it's that the Seahawks never do what's expected on draft day.

Photo: Flickr/Ben Rea

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