Mike Macdonald's NFL draft comments could mean more bad news for offensive line

In a perfect world, every team would always take the best player available in the draft. In reality, it's rare for teams to build up their rosters so well that they can truly afford to take a BPA approach at every single pick. Heading into the 2025 NFL draft, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Detroit Lions look like just about the only teams that can truly take whoever they want without regard to positional needs.

Truth is pretty much every team has to balance their needs with the talent on the board, but the Seattle Seahawks apparently say they're going to go best player available. Here's what head coach Mike Macdonald said about it at the league meetings, per Mike Dugar at The Athletic.

"If you get caught chasing positions (thinking) 'hey, we've only got a couple players here' or on the same token 'We're good at this position, let's not take this guy.' I've been burned a few times in my career and I've learned my lesson... we don't want to operate like that."

Feb 27, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald speaks during the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

In theory this is a great way to go about the draft as a general strategy. Then again, reality tends to intervene with even the best-laid plans. The hard fact is that this team probably has the worst offensive line in the NFL right now - and if they don't go out of their way to improve that unit it's likely going to still be one of the game's worst by the time Week 1 rolls around.

If we have learned anything over the last three seasons it's that this team is not going to go any further than a humiliating loss in the Wild Card round until and unless they radically upgrade their personnel along the offensive line.

Geno Smith was and is one of the league's best quarterbacks at evading pressure and making plays, but there was so much of it last year that he was unable to come anywhere near his full potential. That's despite having had one of the NFL's best wide receiver rooms and a couple of lethally-talented running backs on his side.

Sam Darnold is not as good against pressure as Geno - though he did make some big strides forward in this department in his breakout 2024 season with Minnesota. His offensive line was far from elite with the Vikings, but it was also significantly better at pass protection than Seattle's group was last year.

The Seahawks should take the time to draft a third wide receiver, a pass-catching tight end and some depth at cornerback - but if they fail to use the surplus capital they got from the DK Metcalf and Geno Smith trades to really, really invest in their offensive line nothing else they do in the draft or have done this offseason is going to move the needle much.

A full commitment to Best Player Available is what you do when you don't have any back-breaking weaknesses. The Seahawks offensive line is that - and it'll continue to weight this team down until they get maniacal about improving it. That might mean reaching for a guard or two is a better strategy than taking the best player on the board.

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