TOP STORIES
Draft Intel
Rob Staton’s April 7 Mock Has a Blueprint: Cashius Howell at 32, Daylen Everette at 64
The most trusted Seahawks-specific draft analyst just showed his hand. Rob Staton’s updated two-round mock, published today, sends Texas A&M edge rusher Cashius Howell to Seattle at 32 and Georgia cornerback Daylen Everette at 64. Edge first. Corner second. No running back in the first two rounds.
The logic is clean. Howell is a relentless pass rusher with a 19.8% win percentage who can get around the edge with the kind of quickness Seattle lost when Boye Mafe left for Cincinnati. His arm length isn’t ideal, but Staton notes Macdonald coaxed production out of Kyle Van Noy in Baltimore with a similar profile. The cornerback options at 64, Staton argues, are better than the edge options at that range. So you solve the harder problem first.
Staton also dropped a stat that should end any debate about what Schneider does at the top of the draft: dating back to 2010, Schneider has drafted an offensive or defensive lineman with his first or second pick 19 out of 32 times. That’s 59.4%. The trenches aren’t just a priority. They’re the identity.
59.4%
Rate at which Schneider has drafted an O-lineman or D-lineman with his first or second pick since 2010.
The wild card? Staton still thinks Seattle will have serious interest in Notre Dame running back Jadarian Price and UW’s Jonah Coleman, but he sees those as Day 2 or Day 3 targets. The first two picks are about fixing the defense. That feels right for a team whose championship was built on a front that allowed 3.7 yards per carry.
SOURCES →
Roster
Seattle Kept More of Its Super Bowl Team Together Than It Did After 2013. The Numbers Prove It.
Keep Reading ↓
77%
Total snap percentage retained by the Seahawks after their 2013 Super Bowl win. This year’s number is even higher.
This time, four players walked: Kenneth Walker III, Coby Bryant, Boye Mafe, and Riq Woolen. Significant losses, but manageable for a roster this deep. Schneider’s message at the combine said it all: “Let’s run it back.” And he meant it.
The offseason program opens April 20, thirteen days from now. Last year’s near-perfect voluntary attendance was credited as a major factor in the Super Bowl run. That standard is now the floor, not the ceiling. When those doors open, the roster walking through them will look remarkably familiar.
SOURCES →
AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
The Seahawks are planning a second meeting with New Mexico edge rusher Keyshawn James-Newby, a sixth-round projection who posted 9 sacks and 15 TFLs last season. Two meetings for a late-round guy means somebody at the VMAC likes what they see. SI on Seahawks
Arkansas running back Mike Washington Jr. will visit the VMAC for a top-30 visit later this month. He rushed for 1,070 yards and 8 TDs at Arkansas and is rising toward Day 2 range. The running back visit list is growing. SI on Seahawks
Field Gulls floated Ohio State DT Kayden McDonald as a sneaky Seahawks pick at 32. At 326 lbs, he’s a nose tackle who controlled the line on a national championship defense. Leonard Williams is in a contract year. The future is always now. Field Gulls
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
RAMS
The Rams open their 2026 season in Melbourne against the 49ers. That’s a 16-hour flight to play on Thursday night on the other side of the planet while their star receiver sits in a Malibu rehab facility with a civil lawsuit hearing on April 14. Meanwhile, Schneider has his best receiver locked up through 2031, his Super Bowl trophy polished, and nine home games on the calendar. Some offseasons just hit different.
NINERS
The Trent Williams contract standoff enters month four. The 49ers declined his $10 million option bonus, inflating his cap hit to roughly $47 million with zero guaranteed dollars. Sources told Jason La Canfora the two sides “aren’t anywhere close to a deal yet.” Kyle Shanahan’s contribution to the negotiation: “I actually stay pretty much out of that.” Helpful, Kyle. Really helpful.
CARDINALS
Arizona holds the third pick and genuinely cannot decide what to do with it. David Bailey leads the betting market at +230, Francis Mauigoa is at +270, and at least one mock has them reaching for Alabama’s Ty Simpson, a quarterback who completed 57% of his passes in his final four games. The Cardinals released Kyler Murray, hired a first-time NFL head coach, and are now openly debating between an offensive lineman and a one-year college starter at QB. This franchise is a choose-your-own-adventure book where every page ends in a losing season.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
John Schneider has held the 32nd overall pick only one other time in his tenure as Seahawks GM. In 2014, he traded that pick to the Minnesota Vikings, who used it to select quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. What did Schneider receive in return from the Vikings for that trade?
Tap to Reveal the Answer
Schneider received a second-round pick and a fourth-round pick from the Vikings. He then used the second-rounder (along with a fifth-round pick) to acquire three more picks on Day 2, including wide receiver Paul Richardson at No. 45 overall.
Got a Question for The Rooster?
Draft panic? Contract math that doesn’t add up? Theories about what Schneider is really thinking? Send your questions and I’ll answer the best ones in a future issue. Nothing is off limits except asking for my real name.
Sixteen days to Pittsburgh. The mock drafts are getting louder. The cones are out. The visitors keep coming. Go Hawks. — The Rooster