Analysis: 4 Prospects Seahawks Could Pick at No. 9 in 2022 NFL Draft

The Seahawks’ trade of Russell Wilson has placed the team in unfamiliar territory. Not only is the team without an elite franchise quarterback for the first time since 2011; general manager John Schneider is back picking in the top 10 of the draft for the first time since his inaugural year at the helm. It’s been over a decade since the Seahawks drafted left tackle Russell Okung sixth overall way back in 2010.

Now holding pick No. 9 as a result of the Wilson trade, this selection represents exciting possibilities to distract from the present’s troubling quarterback uncertainty. After countless draft simulations, here are four intriguing possibilities for the Seahawks to consider with that top-10 pick:

Desmond Ridder, Quarterback, Cincinnati

The jostling for Liberty’s Malik Willis is growing more aggressive as we get closer and closer to the draft. Inevitably, the quarterbacks - even in a 2022 class lacking the polish of other years - are going to be pushed up given the importance of the position in the NFL. Willis’ arm talent and ability as a runner are trendy tools in the league, suiting the direction of quarterback play in recent years. He may well go as high as No. 2 overall next month.

The consensus of who follows Willis is vague. It should be more obvious: the most pro-ready quarterback in the draft is Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder. Unlike Willis, the 22-year old Ridder lacks arm strength. Some of his footballs hang in the air. Receivers are left having to wait for the ball at times or work back to it egregiously. This allows defenders to recover to catchpoint and openings go missing. Meanwhile, despite Ridder’s impressive 4.52-second 40-yard dash time, the passer lacks the improvisational ability that is fashionable in the NFL

Instead, Ridder is a pocket-style quarterback with well-navigated footwork. He can dissect coverages with a superb pre and post-snap awareness. The passer finds the hole in coverages and throws with a brazen anticipation of where the windows are. He throws concepts with rhythm, looking to hit space and/or away from defender leverage with expert understanding. His tape is full of full-field reads and quick reactions to changing defensive pictures post-snap. This process was particularly effective in the intermediate to deep middle area versus middle field open pass defenses - the kind of stuff that is taking over NFL defenses. He did this on NFL-style concepts.

Arm strength only has to be good enough and the tighter hash marks of the NFL will reduce the distances of Ridder’s targets. This is something that Joe Burrow showed coming out. That being said, NFL windows will also grow tighter than Cincinnati (solid showings versus Notre Dame and Alabama notwithstanding) and therefore require more zip. Ridder’s mechanics improved from 2020 to 2021 and the passer has been working this offseason with expert trainer Jordan Palmer, the man who helped Josh Allen - among others - pre-draft. Ridder’s pro day, attended by Seahawks personnel executive Jason Barnes, saw him wow onlookers with a stronger and longer-looking throw.

The truth when picking one of the 2022 quarterbacks at No. 9 overall - let alone No. 2 - is that it’s expensive. In an ideal world, Seattle would be able to wait out the early hype and pick up one of the tools-y passers this class is stocked with later in the process. The Seahawks may well choose this path. However, the scary unknown of no Wilson makes the temporary relief of a quarterback at No. 9 tempting.

Ahmad Sauce Gardner, Cornerback, Cincinnati

If you have the stones and confidence to wait out quarterback, you can tap into players who truly warrant an early selection. And heck, some teams will feel better about Kenny Pickett and Matt Corral than Ridder. Most importantly, with certain other franchises run by owners applying take-a-quarterback-early pressure on their front offices, it’s big that Seahawks trustee Jody Allen has given her blessing for Pete and John to do their stuff. This will not be the case league-wide.

Cincinnati’s Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner is a rare cornerback prospect numbers-wise and on tape. The 6-foot-3, 190 pounder measured in with 33.5-inch arms at the 2022 NFL Combine. Gardner’s long arms mean he would be somewhat of a Richard Sherman-style throwback for a Seattle defense that has since established an additional smaller corner mold after getting absorbed in drafting corners with arms measuring 32 inches or longer. The junior can move too, running a 4.41-second 40-yard dash.

Gardner did not allow a single touchdown catch in his college career. The corner was similarly stingy on a wider level, with Pro Football Focus charting Gardner as allowing just 6.6 yards per reception in the 2021 college football season. Understandably, Gardner carries a visible swagger, including wearing the No. 1 jersey in his final year with Cincinnati.

Most importantly, Gardner puts his length to use at the line of scrimmage. The 20-year old, who turns 21 in August, has the press man reps to complement his physical gifts. His best reps arrived via step kick press technique, the stuff Seattle coaches. He bullied receivers playing two-to-one-to-none with his arms, denying them space and fighting to stay square at the line of scrimmage.

In 2021, Gardner varied his technique more, utilizing an inch move at the line of scrimmage along with some other stuff. It would serve him well to get back to majoring and dominating in step-kick while only using the other stuff as rare change-ups.

Gardner can further refine his press technique. Patience always requires work. Meanwhile, he would benefit from additional transitional footwork. It would help him take more air out of outside releases while staying square. In college, he was so good at unlocking his hips with two arms on that it was rare to see the kick as 2 went to 1. The Seahawks would coach him an outside read step on occasion to better protect these situations.

Gardner plays on the edge of legal physicality, which will get flagged in the NFL more often than college football. However, it’s preferable for prospects to come with this mindset and style than the opposite of lacking nasty. It’s easier to tune down than turn up. Gardner also requires work as a tackler, with his willing acceleration seeing him overpursue and out-leverage himself into contact and the end result being grasping arms.

It’s just rare to have a corner come out of today’s college football as physical and comfortable in press as Gardner, from a tools and technique perspective. Furthermore, the former Bearcat is proficient at locating and playing the ball from the trail position downfield. He has recovery speed to go with his length also, even if his agility is about what you’d expect from a taller corner.

Concerns about the level of competition played were alleviated by impressive performances in bowl games, like the national championship semifinal against Alabama where Gardner did his thing against players like Jameson Williams. His step kick was his main technique once more and it was especially impressive versus wide inside releases.

Gardner is the prototypical Seattle corner, whatever their recent drafting. Gardner, with experience on the right and the left, would enable the Seahawks to get back to playing pressed up on the outside with cover 1 man and press/press bail Cover 3. Unsurprisingly, Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network reported that the Seahawks brought Gardner to the VMAC for an official top 30 visit.

Charles Cross, Offensive Tackle, Mississippi State

There are, however, a number of long corners in this draft. And Seattle has never been the type of team to take cornerback early, instead trusting - perhaps overly - their coaching and defensive scheme to get the job done. Offensive tackle, however, is a clear need with both 2021 starters - 37-year old Duane Brown and 30-year old Brandon Shell - still unsigned, and the Seahawks missing out on free agent Trent Brown despite an in-house visit.

Yes, the Seahawks have the youth of left tackle Stone Forsythe, a 2021 sixth-round pick, and right tackle Jake Curhan, a 2021 undrafted free agent who impressed down the stretch run-blocking, waiting. Nevertheless, No. 9 overall grants Seattle the opportunity to land an elite offensive tackle prospect in what is a deep looking class.

Many NFL Draft projections have Evan Neal and Ikem Ekonwu regarded as going before Seattle’s selection. If that happens, Mississippi State’s Charles Cross would be waiting. The 6-foot-4 Cross goes against the tall tackle mold that offensive line coach Andy Dickerson and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron favor.

However, Cross’ 34 ½-inch long arms give him plenty of reach and he is a comfortable player in space, even with Mike Leach’s air raid offense not giving him huge run blocking exposure. Cross’ pass protection is so consistent that it borders on boring. He is polished from stance to finish, with weight distribution, balance, strength, well-placed separate hands, quiet feet, and fluid movement throughout.

Cross is just 21 years old and his body is still developing. At 306 pounds, he has room to put more weight on his frame while he learns how to run block more regularly in the pros. He also showed nasty physicality on his small sample size. He ran a 4.95 seconds 40 (94th percentile among tackles) with a 1.73 second 10-yard split (83rd percentile). His 112-inch broad jump placed in the 91st percentile while his 4.61-seconds short shuttle was 75th.

Jordan Davis, Defensive Tackle, Georgia

A swing-for-the-fences option is Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis. The 22-year old tested at the NFL Combine as the second-most athletic pound-for-pound player that we have ever seen (behind legendary Lions receiver Calvin Johnson).

Jordan Davis is a DT prospect in the 2022 draft class. He scored a 10 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 1 out of 1378 DT from 1987 to 2022. https://t.co/kiFBcmb09H #RAS pic.twitter.com/ellqHSeM0t
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) March 25, 2022

Davis puts his anchor, pop, length, and strength to use taking on blocks in the run game. He is a real problem one-on-one and his best reps in the league may actually come from 3-technique or the big end role in Seattle, with Davis' explosiveness and agility making him a lethal penetrator. This is accentuated when stunting inside, something the Seahawks' pirate stunts allow their 3-tech to do.

Davis' block recognition was lacking at times. He is a double team problem and block controller, with some awesome mirror-step reps one-on-one where he is able to win back to his primary gap after playing heavy on his opponent, and this translates to Seattle big end play. However, Davis occasionally exposed his midriff versus doubles which saw him get pushed off his primary key. The Seahawks want their defensive tackles to stay-and-play square rather than turning to run down the line of scrimmage. Davis also failed to see through drop-the-knee opportunities, not getting down into it as an anchoring method.

Pass rush-wise, Davis had limited reps in college with the Georgia Bulldogs absolutely stacked with talent. Most of his opportunities arrived when he was playing as a clear nose tackle, meaning he was often double-teamed. For this reason, Davis' ability as a pass rusher feels largely untapped. His profile gives him frightening potential, especially when NFL teams get into their double 3-technique pass-rushing fronts and give Davis a one-on-one versus a guard.

Davis had college hash to college hash range in college and, if playing head-up nose tackle in Seattle's bear fronts, would be able to win into the backfield on outside zone away and run stuff down, almost becoming the run through player in the fit. We have already seen Al Woods and Poona Ford do stuff like this, but Davis would be able to take it to another level.

Davis at No. 9 may seem high given the areas he needs to improve on. What we are talking about here is a prospect who, if he puts in the work, can be a dominant interior player on all three downs. Don't overthink total disruption.

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