Seahawks NFL Draft 2022 guide: Picks, predictions and key needs

The Seattle Seahawks have the ninth pick in the NFL Draft when Round 1 begins on April 28 in Las Vegas. The Seahawks own eight total picks in the seven-round draft.

Full draft order

See how every pick in the seven-round NFL Draft is scheduled.

Predicting the Seahawks’ picks

• Seahawks energized for draft, 10 years after class that changed everything
• Dane Brugler’s Top 300 Big Board
• Dane Brugler’s seven-round mock draft
• Five edge defender options for the Seahawks
• Four offensive tackles with first-round potential for the Seahawks
• Seahawks’ draft cornerback options, starting with Derek Stingley Jr.
• Latest Seahawks mock draft from Michael-Shawn Dugar
• Five players the Seahawks could draft at No. 9
• Five running backs the Seahawks could consider on Day 2 or 3
• The Athletic’s NFL beat writer mock draft
• “The Beast”: Dane Brugler’s 2022 NFL Draft guide

NFL Draft details

• Round 1: April 28, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN/ABC, NFL Network)
• Rounds 2-3: April 29, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN/ABC, NFL Network)
• Rounds 4-7: April 30, Noon ET (ESPN/ABC, NFL Network)

About the Seahawks

• Head coach: Pete Carroll (13th season)
• General manager: John Schneider
• Last year’s record: 7-10

Seahawks’ key position needs

Quarterback: Seattle has two quarterbacks on the roster: Drew Lock, acquired in the trade that sent Russell Wilson to the Broncos, and Jacob Eason. A second-round pick in 2019, Lock has demonstrated he’s capable of being a serviceable backup and not much more unless the circumstances around him are perfect. He’s also on an expiring contract. Eason is a Seattle-area native and a 2020 fourth-round pick of the Colts. He spent much of last season as Seattle’s third-string quarterback and he doesn’t project to be any more than that moving forward.

Offensive tackle: Seattle’s starting left tackle if the season began this weekend would be Stone Forsythe, a 2021 sixth-round pick who hasn’t played a regular-season snap at the position. The right tackle would be Jake Curhan, an undrafted lineman out of Cal who had a decent five-game stretch as a starter to close the 2021 season. Seattle would be doing itself a disservice by not adding top-tier prospects at both positions to compete with Forsythe and Curhan.

Cornerback: DJ Reed signed with the Jets in free agency, leaving Sidney Jones and Tre Brown as the projected starters at outside cornerback. Jones is coming off a career year but he’s on a one-year deal. Brown, a fourth-round pick in 2021, may be a stud in the making but he played in just five regular-season games and is coming off a season-ending knee injury. A team looking to have an elite defense in 2022 needs to invest in the cornerback position.

Center: Seattle has three centers under contract: Austin Blythe, who played just 12 snaps with the Chiefs in 2021; Kyle Fuller, who was benched by Seattle midway through the 2021 season; and Dakoda Shepley, a 27-year-old who hasn’t played an NFL regular-season snap on offense. They’re all on one-year contracts.

Seahawks’ last five top picks

2021: WR Dee Eskridge, pick No. 56 — A Week 1 concussion essentially derailed Eskridge’s rookie season, limiting him to just 10 games, 10 catches, 64 receiving yards and one touchdown. Eskridge was essentially a gadget player as a rookie. The Seahawks expect him to be much more in 2022 and beyond.

2020: LB Jordyn Brooks, pick No. 27 — A full-time starter in 2021, Brooks led the Seahawks with 183 tackles and finished second among all defensive players behind Atlanta’s Foyesade Oluokun (192). Last year, I wrote Brooks was on pace to be the team’s best top pick since Frank Clark in 2015, and that sentiment continues to be true. However, that’s still a low bar.

2019: DE L.J. Collier, pick No. 29 — A starter in 2020, Collier was a healthy scratch in seven games in 2021 and played just 17.2 percent of Seattle’s defensive snaps, according to TruMedia. He has just three career sacks, all registered in 2020. Collier is unlikely to be a starter in 2022, the final year of his rookie deal.

2018: RB Rashaad Penny, pick No. 27 — Was largely a nonfactor in Seattle’s offense until the final month of his rookie contract in 2021. From Weeks 14 to 18, Penny led the league with 671 yards and six touchdowns, an average of 134.2 rushing yards per game and 7.29 yards per carry. The next closest running back was Colts rushing champion Jonathan Taylor, who had 463 yards and a pair of touchdowns in that span. Penny re-signed with Seattle on a one-year, $5.75 million deal.

2017: DT Malik McDowell, pick No. 35 — Suffered a head injury riding an ATV in July 2017 and never played a snap for the Seahawks. He returned to the NFL as a member of the Browns in 2021, played 15 games (14 starts) and registered three sacks and seven tackles for loss.

(Top photo of Derek Stingley Jr.:  Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)