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The Seattle Seahawks draft picks focused mostly on offensive skill positions on day 3 of the NFL draft. With two tight ends, a running back, and a wide receiver the Seahawks looked to boslter areas of their game that suffered greatly in the 2019 season. The selections on the final day of the draft are quite telling as to where Pete Carroll and John Schneider think there are holes on the team.
Colby Parkinson TE Stanford
The 4th round selection out of Stanford is absolutely huge at 6’7 and 251 pounds. Part of the proud tradition of Stanford tight ends, Colby caught 48 passes for 589 yards and one touchdown in 2019.
Colby’s size should be a huge asset in the red zone and his route running is solid. It has been reported that Colby runs routes like a WR and has the hands and focus needed to play at the NFL level.
Parkinson however does not have blazing speed at 4.77 and is a little bit lean, getting taken down easily by safeties. He is also not a very good blocker as he hasn’t learned how to manage his deficiencies with leverage. As well, he shies from contact, which is odd with his size.
The Seahawks obviously do not feel good about the health of Will Dissly and the long-term outlook of Greg Olsen. Parkinson’s arrival pretty much creates a huge logjam at the TE. The Hawks have also been unable to teach pass catching TEs blocking techniques and one would hope that can change this year as the Jimmy Graham experiment was a failure.
DeeJay Dallas RB Miami (FL)
Dallas is a prototypical “look for contact” Seattle running back. Drafted in the 4th round, the 5’10, 220lb Hurricane was a teammate of current Seahawks Travis Homer and ran for 693 yards and 8 TDs in 2019.
Known as a leader on his team, Deejay earned 2 awards in his sophomore season for leadership and was elected captain in his Junior year. Deejay has the versatility to play both WR and RB and can carry the ball as well as he catches. He isn’t afraid to look for contact and play thru a tackle. Dallas has good balance and accelerates well to the hole.
Although he has 4.5 speed, he lacks breakaway ability and can get caught from behind. Dallas had huge problems with fumbles early in his career although he did better in his final season, it remains to seen if he is over his ball security issues.
Dallas appears to be a response to last year’s injury issues that plagued Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny. While not as big as Carson he seems to be the same mold of a 3 yards and a cloud-of-dust type RB. The fact that he runs hard as many other players on his team quit shows him to be a high character player, who could help team chemistry.
Alton Robinson DE Syracuse
With 2 sacks in the Senior Bowl the former Orangeman adds depth to a depleted pass rush group. Alton had 46 tackles, 9.5 for loss, 4.5 sacks, and three pass breakups in 12 starts as a senior.
Alton has the speed to flat out run past most offensive tackles he faces. With 4.6 speed, running QBs had a hard time getting away from him. He has tremendous anticipation for the snap and has a knack for angles that allow him to elude blocks.
Alton does not have the plethora of moves that would allow him to be drafted higher. He is a bit of a one-trick wonder using just speed. He will need to learn other methods to vary his attack if he is to get more snaps than just 3rd and long.
Freddie Swain WR Florida
In the 6th round the Seahawks drafted an expert in the slot in Freddie Swain. He started 6 of 12 games played as a senior, leading the Gators with seven TDs and working on special teams as a kick returner.
With 4.46 speed, Swain is a burner and has good footwork. He showed proficiency in making bad QBs look good and showed some prowess at punt returns.
At 6’, 195lbs he is pretty average in size. While good at a stutter step move, it appears to be the only move that he has which makes him predictable. Also, he isn’t very physical in his game, which could present a problem at the NFL level.
This is what it is, the Seahawks drafted a special-teamer who can also double as a 6th receiver. There is a place for that on this team as the team is essentially throwing backup receivers at the wall and see who will stick. Having a special team skill will be Freddie’s ticket to sticking around.
Stephen Sullivan TE LSU 6’5″ 242
The Hawks traded a 6th round pick next year to select Sullivan in the 7th round. During his four years at LSU, Sullivan caught 46 passes for 712 yards and three touchdowns mostly as a backup to Thaddeus Moss (Randy Moss’ son).
Sullivan had the 2nd fastest 40 time for TE with 4.66. He is a high character, team-first player who didn’t mind being the blocking TE. At 6’5 and 242lbs, he is a match-up problem in the seam.
He looks more like a WR than a TE. Additionally, while he is willing to block, he suffers from a lack of strength and can get overwhelmed.
Sullivan is a project. He needs a lot of work, but it appears the Hawks liked his combine numbers enough to lock him up. The hope is to perhaps stash him away on the practice squad as an insurance policy if/when Will Dissly or Greg Olsen get injured.
