One of the most recognized names in the industry, Rob Rang is an NFL Draft analyst for FOX Sports. Rob has been covering the NFL Draft for more than 20 years, with work at FOX, Sports Illustrated, CBSSports.com, USA Today, Yahoo, NFL.com and NFLDraftScout.com, among others. He also works as a scout with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. Rang’s opinions and evaluations are his own and do not reflect those of the Seahawks. Follow him on Twitter @RobRang.
It really is remarkable that the Seattle Seahawks qualified for the playoffs a season ago considering how much the team struggled stopping the run.
The Seahawks surrendered 2,554 yards last season. Only two of the NFL’s 32 clubs allowed more – the Chicago Bears (2,894) and Houston Texans (2,674) – and with just three victories, apiece, last season, they were the worst teams in the league.
For a defensive-minded head coach like Pete Carroll, those statistics have to be just galling. It is why no one should be surprised if he and Seahawks general manager John Schneider focus much of their attention in this month’s NFL Draft in fortifying that side of the ball.
With Geno Smith and the offense surprising many as one of the league’s most efficient a year ago, some fans might argue, in fact, that every one of Seattle’s 10 current draft picks should be spent on defense.
So, that is the approach taken in this article, after we did a similar breakdown on offense here. And while recognizing that it is unlikely the Seahawks will actually invest all of their 2023 draft picks in this way, the exercise allows us to highlight some particularly intriguing fits available throughout all seven rounds.
First Round, No. 5 overall – Will Anderson, Jr., Edge, Alabama
The Seahawks “biggest” need on defense is interior defensive line, but if Anderson – the consensus best player on that side of the ball and arguably the cleanest prospect in this draft, overall – happens to still be on the board, Seattle cannot let him slip any further. On paper, selecting Anderson would create an immediate glut at the edge/outside linebacker position with the Seahawks already boasting quality starters in Uchenna Nwosu and Darrell Taylor and expecting a big jump in production from second-year pro Boye Mafe, with fellow 2022 draft pick Tyreke Smith and Alton Robinson hopefully able to contribute more this season after missing all of last year with injury.
In today’s pass-happy era, however, most teams feel that they cannot possibly…
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