First Round early QB predictions

[Danny Darko]

My gut tells me this is how the draft would play out if the season ended today:

Carolina-Luck
Cinci-Newton
SF-Mallet
Arizona-Kolb trade
Sea or Minn or Wash- Locker

I am hoping that Tavaris looks great while Favre does not play anymore and that Washington looks toward a more veteran solution.

I think Fisher is gone and Young will stay in Tenn and Arizona must get themselves a vet to keep Fitz happy now. Ideally- arizona somehow thinks Hass is their man, Kolb goes to Washington, and we are free to select Locker.

Question- how do you guys feel about Cam vs Locker?

I think Cam is a start now (but with lots of mistakes) guy whereas Locker might do well with a year to learn with a clipboard.

the whole thing is frustrated by Pete's refusal to play Charlie yet (and according to twitter for the rest of the season no matter what barring injury)

[TTown]

Personally, I just don't see Locker being a successful NFL QB after watching him for four years at Washington. I would not be keen on drafting him. I don't mean to step on the toes of any of the Husky faithful here... just a gut feeling (to be fair, as a Duck fan I was laughing at Cinci back in '99 when they took Akili Smith #3 overall).

If it comes down to it (and i think your mock predictions look pretty good), I'd much rather try to swing a deal for Kolb. The risk factor would be severely diminished, and he could step in right away. I think he's a talent who just got lost in the Michael Vick parade.

[Danny Darko]

I'm really not a huge fan of Locker and I don't really even know what to think of him having not paid attention to him until this year. i do believe we need more of a now QB and Kolb is a proven commodity, but again, I really would love to see 2 more weeks of Whitehurst to answer if we need a right now guy or can sit on a project.

I do understand that plenty of people think Locker will never be a good NFL QB.

[Sweezo]

If given the option of either [A] drafting Locker in the first round or [B] shipping a 2nd round pick to Philly for Kolb, my preference would be the later. Not that the market for Kolb would simply be a second round pick, mind you...but it seems reasonable.

[Bulltalk]

Well I bet Locker will be better than Joey Harrington.

[asdf1223]

IMO it wont be Mallet or Kolb. In Mallet's case he doesnt have the mobility to fit the system and Kolb doesnt have the arm strength. It would be Hass all over again, Round Peg Square hole.

Locker and Newton fit the system to the T. Pete isnt concerned about character either so Newton would be pretty good fit.

Also, a name to consider Vince Young. I honestly thought he played really well this season. He has a huge cap number in the last year of his deal. Jeff fisher hates him. There's a good chance he's available this off-season. Great mobility and arm strength. Limiting his reads will help. Not having a hard ass like Fisher could help him too. The biggest knock on Young is probably his durability.

[Danny Darko]

IMO it wont be Mallet or Kolb. In Mallet's case he doesnt have the mobility to fit the system and Kolb doesnt have the arm strength. It would be Hass all over again, Round Peg Square hole.

Locker and Newton fit the system to the T. Pete isnt concerned about character either so Newton would be pretty good fit.

Also, a name to consider Vince Young. I honestly thought he played really well this season. He has a huge cap number in the last year of his deal. Jeff fisher hates him. There's a good chance he's available this off-season. Great mobility and arm strength. Limiting his reads will help. Not having a hard ass like Fisher could help him too. The biggest knock on Young is probably his durability.

I agree, but I am predicting Fisher is gone in Tenn and Young stays with a new coach. I wouldn't mind gambling on Young with a Pete style coach if we could get him. He's experienced and just coming into some skills that needed to be developed on field. I just think the owner is on board with Vince and seen enough of the longest tenured coach in the league..

[Sweezo]

There's not enough Xanax in the world to make Vince Young an elite QB.

[TTown]

Well I bet Locker will be better than Joey Harrington.

Ha! I would hope so. To this day I couldn't believe the Lions took him #3, he didn't even go to NY for the draft because he figured he was a late first rounder at best.

[Sweezo]

One name to add to the list? Blaine Gabbert. His name has suddenly become en vogue amongst mock draft predictions for the Seahawks, and he's currently making throws all over the place against Iowa [although he just threw a tough pick that bounced off a WR].

[Bulltalk]

Well we're the 11th pick and moving up now. If we lose, it's looking like we could move up even a few more spots. That plays into this QB thing. I wonder at what point we'd have a shot at a trade up to get Luck? He doesn't want to play for Carolina.

[TTown]

So many franchises need QBs right now, if Carolina inexplicably decides to stick with Clausen and trade down, I think some franchise might offer them the moon a la the '99 Saints to move up and take the pick. I doubt we're that aggressive, although, like most, I'm completely enamored with Luck and think he'd be brilliant in Seattle.

I've been wondering about how the Pete Carroll factor is going to play in here. After watching him closely for 9 years at SC, and certainly this past year here, it's not hard to spot the fact that he has an incredible ego. A guy like Cam Newton is going to jump to the pro's with all-universe talent, but certainly with some risks attached. If PC is a Newton believer, I could really see him trying to throw his weight around in the front office so Seattle takes 'his' guy, a young QB that he believes he can help mold into a winner.

I've also been wondering, however far fetched this may be, about another Pete Carroll/USC connection. Matt Barkley is going to be draft eligible next season, and by all accounts, will be a top-tier pick. What happens if Seattle gets a top ten pick this April, and someone approaches us to trade up for it? I'm not so sure Seattle wouldn't take the multiple picks they would receive in return, continue to strengthen the roster, give Hass one last go-round, and take Barkley next year and let him walk into a ready-made division contender. Is there any scenario you can see where Seattle would pass up a QB?

[Bulltalk]

^^^Yeah, we're entering a tricky place here. Let's say, for argument's sake, we lose next weekend and end up with the 9th pick in the draft. Engineering a trade up for Luck would be costly. I'm pretty sure of that. The problem is that we have so many holes to fill that giving away a handful of high picks to obtain Luck (just musing here ) would be quite a gamble for coaching management.

On the other hand, are Mallet, Newton, or Locker worthy of a 9th pick in relation to the other talent available, say the 2nd/3rd best DLman in the draft? I could easily see, as I look at the mocks, that 3 QB's could be gone before the 9th pick, at least one of the top DLmen, at least one top DB, the top OLman, the top WR, etc... The DLmen are looking pretty strong in this draft. Maybe that's where we look for value...

Oh God...this off-season is going to be hairy. I HATE that we don't have a 3rd round pick this year. I am really coming around to the notion that our CB situation is looking grim. It's almost imperative that Thurmond turns out to be good now. We absolutely NEED a stud DE. I know some may disagree, but it seemed all but self evident of late. No QB pressure. It makes our CB's look worse than they already are.

But we also NEED to address the QB position, THE most important position on the field by far. It's going to take somewhat of a minor management miracle to adequately plug our holes this off-season. We better hope that Okung gets healthy and stays healthy for a long time, and that Unger returns healthy next year. We may have to put off the OL in terms of bigger FA money, or high and mid round picks.

We're kind of a mess, if you asked me.

[Sweezo]

We absolutely NEED a stud DE. I know some may disagree, but it seemed all but self evident of late. No QB pressure. It makes our CB's look worse than they already are.

Understood, but I don't know that a starting DE is a huge need. The team definitely needs a pass rush, but the question is simply where you get it.

The two primary DE's right now are Bryant and Clemons. Both have done very well in their roles [prior to Bryant getting hurt]. Clemons is a quick pass rush with double digit sacks, while Bryant's very stout against the run and suprisingly good at getting a push toward the QB.

I think there's a few things to think about doing to make the line more effective:

[1] Don't put Clemons/Brock/any LEO person in coverage. It's a gimmick that's easily picked apart.

[2] Put Curry at the DE spots exclusively. Curry's looked at his best when he is getting to the QB or getting in the backfield. As a LB he struggles in pass coverage and overpursuit.

[3] Adding a DT. Mebane's good at what he does, and Cole's good at stuffing the run but doesn't draw a double team much. If you could draft a stud DT early, using Cole as rotational depth, and putting less pressure on Mebane...I think the pass rush looks pretty good. Draft, free agency, whatever...

Now, maybe you can draft one of the stud DE's in this draft early and slide Bryant inside. But I like how Bryant played...I'd like to keep him where he is.

But we also NEED to address the QB position, THE most important position on the field by far. It's going to take somewhat of a minor management miracle to adequately plug our holes this off-season. We better hope that Okung gets healthy and stays healthy for a long time, and that Unger returns healthy next year. We may have to put off the OL in terms of bigger FA money, or high and mid round picks.

Yep. We've clearly waited too long to draft a QB. Going into next season with Hass and Charlie would be a disaster.

I've also been wondering, however far fetched this may be, about another Pete Carroll/USC connection. Matt Barkley is going to be draft eligible next season, and by all accounts, will be a top-tier pick. What happens if Seattle gets a top ten pick this April, and someone approaches us to trade up for it? I'm not so sure Seattle wouldn't take the multiple picks they would receive in return, continue to strengthen the roster, give Hass one last go-round, and take Barkley next year and let him walk into a ready-made division contender.

But keep in mind...many of us thought the same thing with Leinart and/or L. White. And that didn't go as planned.

Carroll may more willing to defer to others in the organization when it comes to building the offense.

[TTown]

Agreed, and perhaps I narrowed my point too far by putting it all on Barkley. I just figured he'd be (probably) the top QB pick next season. I more or less was just wondering if there's much of a chance Seattle passes on a QB altogether in the first two rounds, and deferred the all-important selection for the 2012 draft.

[Bulltalk]

Agreed, and perhaps I narrowed my point too far by putting it all on Barkley. I just figured he'd be (probably) the top QB pick next season. I more or less was just wondering if there's much of a chance Seattle passes on a QB altogether in the first two rounds, and deferred the all-important selection for the 2012 draft.

We've been deferring for two years now. We can't defer another year. Simply can't. This is getting to the "danger, danger, Will Robinson, aliens approaching" stage.

[Sweezo]

This also seems to be a class that will have a lot of QB options in it. If we pass this year, there's not assurance that the next draft will have anything available.

That said, depending on where we pick, I don't want the team to reach to draft a QB that doesn't seem like a good fit in the first round. If we're picking in the 20's and all the elite talents are going, then strengthen the line early and address the QB situation in the next round or via trade.