With the NFL Scouting Combine kicking off this week in Indianapolis, it’s time to take a look at the Seahawks’ roster and see where they might be looking to add talent. Like any good team, the Seahawks will tell you they don’t draft strictly by need, but the current roster does influence how general manager John Schneider and his scouting department put together a draft board. Not every need will be filled in the draft—free agency is coming up in March—but the draft remains the single most important piece of the puzzle when it comes to building a roster, which is why last month’s Senior Bowl, this week’s combine and all the other elements of draft preparation are so important for the Seahawks and every team in the league.
Throughout this week, we’ll look at where the Seahawks stand at each position prior to the draft and free agency.
Running back
Level of need: Moderate or very high
Why: Until the Seahawks know what Marshawn Lynch is thinking about his future, this position is a big question mark. If Lynch signs a new deal and returns in 2015 and possibly beyond, Seattle could go into next season with the same trio of Lynch, Robert Turbin and Christine Michael and be just fine. Even with Lynch back, Seattle would probably be wise to address running back at some point in the draft seeing as he is 29 years old, Turbin is heading into the final year of his deal and Michael has yet to prove much in his first two seasons.
If, however, Lynch decided to retire, or if his contract situation became so messy Seattle decided to trade or cut him (both of those things seem unlikely at this point), then this suddenly becomes a huge position of need for a team that relies on its running game more than any NFL team. Turbin has been a very good backup, but it’s fair to wonder if he could get the job done as a No. 1 back, and as explosive as Michael has looked in limited playing time, he has yet to earn the trust of his coaches enough to even regularly be active on gameday, let alone shown he is ready to start. This is a very deep draft at running back, led by Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon and Georgia’s Todd Gurley, and if Lynch isn’t back in 2015, Seattle might decide to target running back with its first pick. And even if Lynch returns, there are not guarantees that, at 29 and with a bad back, he’ll be as productive as he was in 2014.
The Seahawks’ starting fullback for much of this season, Will Tukuafu, is a free agent, but they will have Derrick Coleman from the foot injury that kept their opening-day starter out for much of the year. Certainly Seattle could add another fullback to compete with Coleman and/or provide camp depth, but likely wouldn’t do so before the seventh round of the draft, or more likely, in the form of an undrafted free agent.
Top players available*:
1. Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin
2. Todd Gurley, Georgia
3. Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska
4. Duke Johnson, Miami (Fla.)
5. Tevin Coleman, Indiana
*—According to the NFL Network’s Mike Mayock, who knows a lot more about this stuff than I do.
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