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The draft has often been called the NFL equivalent of Christmas morning. Fans race to their favorite watering hole/television/prison rec room to find out who their team will take with their coveted first round pick. Some teams will have a lot of needs to address with that first pick. Others, like the Seahawks, won't have nearly as many needs to fill.
Consider, if you will, the fact that of last year's entire Seahawks draft class, only two players saw any kind of meaningful playing time (Luke Willson and Michael Bowie). The other nine players in that draft class were essentially red-shirted last season due to the sheer depth on the Seahawks' roster. Leaving aside the depth, this team is still young and stocked with talent in the starting roles.
Which leads us to the question: What do you get for the team that has everything?
As it turns out, quite a bit. The redshirts are untested and free agency so far has been very unkind to the defending Super Bowl champions.
Here's just a handful of players the Seahawks lost to free agency:
WR Golden Tate (Lions)
DE Chris Clemons (Jaguars)
DE Red Bryant (Jaguars)
CB Walter Thurmond (Giants)
RT Breno Giacomini (Jets)
So while the core of the team is still very much intact, the wide receivers corps and both offensive and defensive lines took some major hits to their depth. The Seahawks will address one of those with their pick right now.
With no further ado, the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks select...
Kelvin Benjamin (WR--Florida State).
The Seahawks' wide receiver corps was thin even before losing Golden Tate. Sidney Rice has proven to be injury prone, lord only knows how long Percy Harvin will last into the season, and Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse, while very good receivers, do not inspire a great deal of fear and awe in an opposing defense.
That said, the one thing this offense was missing, aside from Harvin's speed, was a big target in the end zone. Harvin, Baldwin, Kearse, and Ricardo Lockette are not exactly what you would call tall. Sidney Rice had filled this role when he was healthy. But when Rice went down for the season, the offense really struggled once they got into the red zone. Recently, however, the Seahawks re-signed Sidney Rice to reprise his role as Russell Wilson's big target.
This is good news because Benjamin is still a very raw receiver. With Rice back in the fold and Harvin healthy, pending training camp and preseason of course, Benjamin won't have to come in and be an All-Pro in his first season in the NFL. He'll have time to develop his skills, and we'll see what kind of receiver Benjamin develops into in 2015.
With Kelvin Benjamin joining the fray, it appears that the Seahawks' receiving corps, which had its struggles last season, could become yet another strength for the defending Super Bowl champions, taking the offense to a whole new level.
It's good to be the king.
The final pick of the 2014 BRB Mock Draft and the first pick of the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft will be made by your Houston Texans and Sugel Mendoza. It's due to Tim by 12 p.m. CDT today.
Recapping the first round...
1. Houston Texans--Sammy Watkins (WR--Clemson)
2. St. Louis Rams (from Washington)--Jadeveon Clowney (DE--South Carolina)
3. Jacksonville Jaguars--Johnny Manziel (QB--Texas A&M)
4. Cleveland Browns--Teddy Bridgewater (QB--Louisville)
5. Oakland Raiders--Khalil Mack (LB--Buffalo)
6. Atlanta Falcons--Anthony Barr (LB--UCLA)
7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers--Eric Ebron (TE--UNC)
8. Minnesota Vikings--Greg Robinson (OT--Auburn)
9. Buffalo Bills--Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (S--Alabama)
10. Detroit Lions--Mike Evans (WR--Texas A&M)
11. Tennessee Titans--Justin Gilbert (CB--Oklahoma State)
12. New York Giants--Aaron Donald (DT--Pittsburgh)
13. St. Louis Rams--Jake Matthews (OT--Texas A&M)
14. Chicago Bears--Timmy Jernigan (DT--Florida State)
15. Denver Broncos (TRADE WITH STEELERS) --C.J. Mosley (LB--Alabama)
16. Dallas Cowboys--Morgan Moses (OT--Virginia)
17. Baltimore Ravens--Marqise Lee (WR--USC)
18. New York Jets--Calvin Pryor (S--Louisville)
19. Miami Dolphins--Zack Martin (OG/OT--Notre Dame)
20. Arizona Cardinals--Austin Seferian-Jenkins (TE--Washington)
21. Green Bay Packers--Darqueze Dennard (CB--Michigan State)
22. Philadelphia Eagles--Odell Beckham, Jr. (WR--LSU)
23. Kansas City Chiefs--Brandin Cooks (WR--Oregon State)
24. Cincinnati Bengals--Blake Bortles (QB--UCF)
25. San Diego Chargers--Kyle Fuller (CB--Virginia Tech)
26. Cleveland Browns--Ryan Shazier (LB--Ohio State
27. New Orleans Saints--Louis Nix (DT--Notre Dame)
28. Carolina Panthers--Taylor Lewan (OT--Michigan)
29. New England Patriots--Jason Verrett (CB--TCU)
30. San Francisco 49ers--Kony Ealy (DE/LB--Missouri)
31. Pittsburgh Steelers (TRADE WITH BRONCOS)--Ra'Shede Hageman (DT--Minnesota)
32. Seattle Seahawks--Kelvin Benjamin (WR--Florida State)
33. Houston Texans--Sugel Mendoza