A Seahawks alternate reality: Drafting the players Mel Kiper would’ve taken

It would’ve been nice to have Tre’Davious White on the Seahawks. I sure as hell wouldn’t have wanted T.J. Green, though.

On Monday, a comment from Bigmarinerfan in the Mel Kiper/Field Yates mock draft article caught my attention.

These mock drafts are generally pointless (but harmless and sometimes fun!) exercises. What would it look like in an alternate world where the Seattle Seahawks went with Kiper’s picks 100 percent of the way? There is a clear butterfly effect at play when changing these picks over, but suspend that portion of reality for a bit and play along.

To keep in line with the above comment, we’re sticking to the last 10 drafts and only to first-round picks and/or the top pick of the second round. I’ll present my opinion as to which pick was better.

2014 (No. 32)

Kiper’s pick: Stephon Tuitt, DT, Notre Dame (Actually picked: Pittsburgh Steelers, No. 46)

Seahawks pick: Paul Richardson, WR, Colorado (Traded down to No. 45)

Better pick: Tuitt. Unfortunately, Richardson was injury-prone in college and stayed that way in the pros. Tuitt never made a Pro Bowl but he had a career-high 11 sacks in 2020 before personal tragedy and injury led to an early retirement.

2015 (No. 63)

Kiper’s pick: Ronald Darby, CB, Florida State (Actually picked: Buffalo Bills, No. 50)

Seahawks pick: Frank Clark, DE, Michigan

Better pick: Clark. Darby has been a mostly fine, if not unspectacular cornerback. Clark not only was productive in his first run with Seattle, he landed the Seahawks an extra first-round pick in a trade.

2016 (No. 26)

Kiper’s pick: T.J. Green, S, Clemson (Actually picked: Indianapolis Colts, No. 57)

Seahawks’ pick: Germain Ifedi, OT, Texas A&M

Better pick: Ifedi. This is by default, because Green was bad out of the gate and never improved. For all of Ifedi’s faults, the Seahawks had a starting right tackle for three years, whereas Green only had 12 career starts as a journeyman safety.

2017 (No. 26)

Kiper’s pick: Tre’Davious White, CB, LSU (Actually picked: Buffalo Bills, No. 27)

Seahawks’ pick: Malik McDowell, DL, Michigan State (Traded down to No. 35)

Better pick: White. Before the injuries, White was considered one of the best corners in the NFL. He’ll try and revive his career with the Los Angeles Rams. McDowell… yeah.

2018 (No. 18)

Kiper’s pick: Marcus Davenport, OLB, UTSA (Actually picked: New Orleans Saints, No. 14)

Seahawks’ pick: Rashaad Penny, RB, San Diego State (Traded down to No. 27)

Better pick: Davenport. The process for taking Penny aside, Rashaad’s career has been injury-riddled and he didn’t even emerge as a starter until the back-end of 2021. Davenport coincidentally had one strong nine-sack 2021 campaign, but barely played in his one year with the Minnesota Vikings. PFF graded Davenport very highly in New Orleans, and Marcus has been consistent with hurries and pressures to make up for the lack of sacks.

2019 (No. 21 and No. 30)

Kiper’s picks: Montez Sweat, DE, Mississippi State (Actually picked: Washington Commanders, No. 26); Justin Layne, CB, Michigan State (Actually picked: Pittsburgh Steelers, No. 83)

Seahawks picks: L.J. Collier, DE, TCU (Traded down from No. 21 to No. 29) ; Marquise Blair, S, Utah (Traded down from No. 30 to No. 47)

Better picks: Sweat and Blair. Note that my “butterfly effect” comment from earlier meant that the Seahawks not trading down from No. 30 most likely means they don’t draft DK Metcalf. As erratic and injury-riddled as Blair was, Layne gave the Steelers only 145 defensive snaps and 0 starts. Kiper did admit Layne was a reach, and he wasn’t lying. No need to discuss Sweat vs. Collier. One of the few draft picks that was ridiculous at the time and worse in practice.

2020 (No. 27)

Kiper’s pick: Tee Higgins, WR, Clemson (Actually picked: Cincinnati Bengals, No. 33)

Seahawks’ pick: Jordyn Brooks, LB, Texas Tech

Better pick: Hmm… Higgins? Keep in mind that Kiper made this pick after the Seahawks had already drafted Metcalf and Tyler Lockett had his rookie contract extended. That would’ve been something. Higgins is 5th in his draft class in receptions, behind CeeDee Lamb, Justin Jefferson, Michael Pittman Jr, and Brandon Aiyuk. How much of Higgins’ success tied to Ja’Marr Chase being the number one receiver? I think that’s a valid question. Brooks’ best season was 2022 right before his ACL tear, but weighing positional importance I think I would’ve rather had Higgins. This isn’t to discredit Brooks, although it is a personal bias toward valuing wide receivers.

2021 (No. 56)

Kiper’s pick: Joseph Ossai, OLB, Texas (Actually picked: Cincinnati Bengals, No. 69)

Seahawks’ pick: Dee Eskridge, WR, Western Michigan

Better pick: Ossai. It’s certainly not by much. Ossai missed his entire rookie season with a knee injury, but in 2021 he found a role as a rotational pass rusher, recording 3.5 sacks and scoring a touchdown on a fumble return. Unfortunately, his claim to infamy is committing the roughness penalty on Patrick Mahomes that helped send the Chiefs to the 2022 Super Bowl. He had his role reduced in 2023 and is well behind Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard in the depth chart. Dee Eskridge had that cool jet sweep that one time and a nice kick return that other time. Add in the injuries and he’s been one of the least productive receivers drafted in Rounds 1-2 in the history of the NFL.

2022 (No. 9)

Kiper’s pick: Derek Stingley Jr, CB, LSU (Actually picked: Houston Texans, No. 3)

Seahawks’ pick: Charles Cross, OT, Mississippi State

Better pick: TBD. If we compared the two players at their respective positions, Stingley should have the edge after his spectacular second season. DSJ was out of Seattle’s reach anyway, but I’m still satisfied with the Cross selection and dread the alternate reality where Seattle ignored the left tackle position. Cross had an injury-shortened second year, so he’ll really have to step it up in year three to give the Seahawks something to think about as far as picking up his fifth-year option.

2023 (No. 5 and No. 20)

Kiper’s picks: Jalen Carter, DT, Georgia (Actually picked: Philadelphia Eagles, No. 9); Myles Murphy, DE, Clemson (Actually picked: Cincinnati Bengals, No. 28)

Seahawks’ picks: Devon Witherspoon, CB, Illinois; Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Ohio State

Better picks: TBD. I prefer Witherspoon and JSN over the Carter/Murphy combo, but it’s too early to definitively call. At the moment, it should be Witherspoon and JSN in terms of productivity. Carter had a strong rookie season, whereas Murphy was so-so in Cincinnati.

Recap

The Kiper Drafts

Stephon Tuitt
Ronald Darby
T.J. Green
Tre’Davious White
Marcus Davenport
Montez Sweat
Tee Higgins
Joseph Ossai
Derek Stingley Jr
Jalen Carter
Myles Murphy

The Schneider/Carroll Drafts

Paul Richardson
Frank Clark
Germain Ifedi
Malik McDowell
Rashaad Penny
L.J. Collier
Marquise Blair
Jordyn Brooks
Dee Eskridge
Charles Cross
Devon Witherspoon
Jaxon Smith-Njigba

The only players Kiper mocked who were out of Seattle’s reach were Stingley, Darby, and Davenport.

I do not think this is tremendously lopsided in this hypothetical world, but the last two drafts are doing some heavy lifting for the Seahawks. The ones where I wish Seattle would’ve gone with Kiper are Sweat over Collier, Tuitt over Richardson, White over McDowell, and Higgins over Brooks. Everyone else is either a wash or I side with what Schneider did.

You may have a different opinion! Respond in the poll below and sound off in the comments.