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Draft Week
Cliff Avril Is Heading to Pittsburgh to Announce Seattle’s Day 2 Picks
The NFL announced Thursday that Seahawks legend Cliff Avril will announce Seattle’s Round 2 and Round 3 selections at next week’s draft in Pittsburgh. It’s a small story on paper. It’s a perfect one in practice.
Avril played five seasons in Seattle, recorded 34.5 sacks and 14 forced fumbles, and earned a Pro Bowl nod after an 11.5-sack season in 2016. His career ended four games into 2017 with a neck injury. Before that, he had a tackle for loss, two QB hits, two passes defended, and a safety in Super Bowl XLVIII. He didn’t just help build the first dynasty. He helped define what it felt like.
34.5
Career sacks for Cliff Avril in his five Seahawks seasons (2013–2017).
Now he’ll stand on a stage in Pittsburgh and read the names of the players Schneider hopes will keep the second one going. The Seahawks hold picks 64 and 96 on Day 2, and those selections may end up being the ones that matter most. Seattle has only four total picks, the fewest in the league, and the board is almost locked. Schneider said at the league meeting that one final medical review remains.
The draft begins April 23. Avril gets the microphone on April 24. Somewhere between now and then, the Seahawks will decide whether pick 32 stays put or gets moved. But whatever happens on Day 2, it’ll be announced by someone who knows exactly what winning here costs.
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Analysis
Daniel Jeremiah Said the Quiet Part Loud About Jadarian Price
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That’s not a mock draft. That’s a dare. Price averaged 6.0 yards per rush at Notre Dame with 24 runs of 10 yards or more on just 113 carries. The Spokesman-Review’s mock keeps him at 32. Mel Kiper flipped from cornerback to Price at 32 this week. Peter Schrager had him there after the league meetings. The consensus is hardening.
6.0
Yards per rush for Jadarian Price at Notre Dame, with 3.9 yards after contact per PFF.
The problem is math. Seattle lost starters at running back, edge rusher, and cornerback this offseason. Staying at 32 and taking one player doesn’t solve three problems. Dane Brugler called this spot “a prime candidate to be dealt.” ESPN’s Field Yates identified the Seahawks as the team most likely to trade out of the first round. And Schneider hasn’t actually traded back from round one since 2019.
If Price is there at 32 and the edge class is as deep as advertised, staying put might make sense. But Schneider has never been the guy who does the obvious thing when the phone rings.
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When the guy who does this for a living looks at your roster and says ‘How do they not take him?’ — that’s not analysis. That’s a dare.
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AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
Arizona CB Treydan Stukes is the eighth defensive back to visit the VMAC this draft cycle. He ran a 4.33 forty at the combine and posted a near-perfect 9.95 Relative Athletic Score. Schneider is building a secondary out of track meets. SI on Seahawks
Rob Rang’s Seahawks.com defense-only mock takes Cashius Howell at 32, then a corner, then a safety, then a DB in the sixth. Four picks, four defenders. The Rang Guarantee: if you can’t hit, you can’t sit. Seahawks.com
Field Gulls notes that signing Dante Fowler after April 28 wouldn’t count against compensatory pick calculations, meaning Seattle could max out at four comp picks next year. Patience has a price tag. This time it’s free. Field Gulls
The Seahawks Insiders podcast dropped a draft preview episode with VP of player acquisition Matt Berry and scouting director Aaron Hineline. Berry said rookies on this roster will have to compete with established stars, a lesson Schneider learned the hard way during the Legion of Boom years. Seahawks.com
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
RAMS
The Rams unveiled their uniform refresh on Thursday, and it’s basically a confession letter. They removed the gradient numbers, killed the chest tag, and simplified the logo. Their CMO called it “a modern refinement,” which is what you say when the 2020 rebrand was a mistake but legal won’t let you use the word “mistake.” Six years of looking like a rejected energy drink can, and now they want credit for fixing it. Two more alternate uniforms are coming this summer, presumably designed by someone who actually watched football before 2020. Meanwhile, Nacua’s extension is still unsigned and Stafford turns 39 in February. But sure, the jerseys are fixed.
NINERS
The 49ers traded a third-round pick for Cowboys DT Osa Odighizuwa and signed 32-year-old Mike Evans to a three-year, $60.4 million deal after he played just eight games last season. ESPN noted San Francisco “splashed big on a 32-year-old wideout coming off an injury-plagued season,” which is a polite way of describing the front office strategy of paying full price for half a player. They also brought back Dre Greenlaw, who has appeared in 10 games since tearing his Achilles in the Super Bowl two years ago. John Lynch’s offseason strategy: pay premium money and hope the medical staff performs miracles. The Seahawks beat this team 41-6 in the divisional round. With this roster, the rematch might be worse.
CARDINALS
GM Monti Ossenfort held his pre-draft presser and delivered the line of the offseason: “We have the Super Bowl champs, the team that was playing to go to the Super Bowl and a team in the final eight. It’s a meat grinder of a division.” He’s right. And his team went 3-14. Arizona still hasn’t addressed right tackle in free agency, the No. 3 pick decision reportedly comes down to owner Michael Bidwill, and their quarterback room is Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew. The good news for Ossenfort is he identified the problem correctly. The bad news is he’s describing his own team getting ground up.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
Shaun Alexander holds the Seattle Seahawks franchise record for career rushing touchdowns with 100, a number that dwarfs every other Seahawks running back in team history. In his legendary 2005 MVP season, Alexander set the NFL single-season record for rushing touchdowns with 27 (later tied). He scored those touchdowns behind a Hall of Fame offensive line anchored by Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson. How many career rushing touchdowns does the second-place player on the Seahawks’ all-time list — Marshawn Lynch — have?
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Marshawn Lynch scored 58 career rushing touchdowns with the Seahawks, 42 fewer than Alexander’s franchise-record 100. Lynch’s total includes 12 playoff rushing touchdowns, but even adding those to his regular-season production doesn’t close the gap. Alexander’s record may never be broken.
Got a Question for The Rooster?
Draft week is here. If you’ve got a question about pick 32, the edge rusher hunt, or why Schneider keeps calling teams that don’t want to trade with him, send it in. The best ones get answered in the newsletter with the sarcasm you deserve.
Six days to Pittsburgh. Three days to the VMAC. The board is locked. The phones are ringing. Avril's packing his bags. This is the calm before the calm before the storm. Go Hawks. — The Rooster