2022 Senior Bowl Preview, Part 1: 5-Techs/Big Ends Aplenty For Seahawks
The 2022 Senior Bowl takes place next week, and it’s certainly worth paying attention to in regards to the Seahawks. The college all-star event has seriously influenced the Seahawks’ drafting in past years. General manager John Schneider has picked 30 attendees in his 12 drafts in Seattle; the team's interest has become a meme-level trend.
| PLAYER | POSITION | YEAR | ROUND |
|---|---|---|---|
Anthony McCoy | TE | 2010 | 6 |
James Carpenter | G | 2011 | 1 |
John Moffitt | G | 2011 | 3 |
K.J. Wright | LB | 2011 | 4 |
Richard Sherman | CB | 2011 | 5 |
Bobby Wagner | LB | 2012 | 2 |
Russell Wilson | QB | 2012 | 3 |
Jaye Howard | DE | 2012 | 4 |
Jordan Hill | DT | 2013 | 3 |
Chris Harper | WR | 2013 | 4 |
Ty Powell | LB | 2013 | 7 |
Kevin Norwood | WR | 2014 | 4 |
Tyler Lockett | WR | 2015 | 3 |
Jarran Reed | DT | 2016 | 2 |
Nick Vannett | TE | 2016 | 3 |
Quinton Jefferson | DT | 2016 | 5 |
Ethan Pocic | C | 2017 | 2 |
Amara Darboh | WR | 2017 | 3 |
Justin Senior | T | 2017 | 6 |
Rashaad Penny | RB | 2018 | 1 |
Shaquem Griffin | LB | 2018 | 5 |
L.J. Collier | DE | 2019 | 1 |
Marquise Blair | S | 2019 | 2 |
Gary Jennings | WR | 2019 | 4 |
Jordyn Brooks | LB | 2020 | 1 |
Damien Lewis | G | 2020 | 3 |
Alton Robinson | DE | 2020 | 5 |
Stephen Sullivan | TE | 2020 | 7 |
Dee Eskridge | WR | 2021 | 2 |
Tre Brown | CB | 2021 | 4 |
Even before we receive the measurements out of the Mobile Convention Center—and even prior to the invaluable practice film arrives from Hancock Whitney Stadium—there are already three position groups with a clear Seattle feel.
Let's kick things off by focusing on the big end/5-tech players.
The Seahawks' pass rush suffered from a lack of consistency in 2021. Poor production was particularly noticeable from the 5-technique defensive end spot, where the additions of Kerry Hyder Jr. and Robert Nkemdiche struggled to get going. Rasheem Green—the other man at this spot—had a low pressure percentage despite his 6.5-sack total. He is also entering 2022 free agency. For more pain, read this.
There are myriad intriguing Senior Bowl options to play the bubble-side end spot in Pete Carroll's defense. While Al Woods is likely to return for early down usage, the Seahawks are in desperate need of a 5-tech who can offer more as a quarterback hunter and come useful on early downs. In their “cheetah” package last season, this player often played inside, aligning on the outside shoulder of the guard at 3-technique as Seattle deployed its best four pass rushers. While the Seahawks are unlikely to find a Michael Bennett in 2022, they are looking for that kind of inside-out player. For more on what the role entails, you should read this explanation.
Houston’s Logan Hall immediately pops. He was listed at 6-foot-7 and 275 pounds in The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman’s series looking at the most athletically-gifted college players of 2021, with figures of 375 pounds in the bench and 365 in the clean. Hall's experience playing on the interior will be a fluorescent green highlighter pen on Seattle's board.
“Logan Hall—the defensive linemen from Houston—of all the players I saw live this year, he had the most wow factor to me in terms of the body type,” Senior Bowl executive director (and one-time Seattle area scout) Jim Nagy told the DraftDudes podcast on January 6.
“He walked out the tunnel at Tulane. And I was out there—it was a Thursday night game—there was a lot of NFL scouts there, and we all just looked at each other like, ‘Holy cow!’ I mean this dude is impressive looking. You know we had his teammate in the game last year—Payton Turner who went in the first round to the Saints. And they’re not exactly the same player—actually, Logan’s a little looser of an athlete—but you’re talking about a 6-6, 275-, 280-pound man that you can move up and down the front and he’s gonna be disruptive.”
Up and down the front is exactly what Seattle requires from this position. Nagy is clearly a fan of Hall, repeating his talking points while mentioning versatility a few weeks later.
“Logan Hall’s one of my personal favorites,” Nagy told Rob Staton of SeahawksDraftBlog.
“You know of all the players I saw this year live in games, he was maybe the most physically impressive guy I saw. There’s a wow factor when you see Logan come out in his pads. Very similar to like last year, Payton Turner—his former teammate who came down. Payton had a great week, went in the late first round to the Saints. And they’re not identical players, but they’re big men that have the same type of versatility.”
Like Hall, San Diego’s Cameron Thomas will be looking to prove his tape and production versus non-Power 5 opponents is legit versus the higher level of Senior Bowl competition. Thomas lined up across the Aztecs’ defensive line. According to SportsInfoSolutions, his 66 pressures were the second-most in the country, while his 11.5 sacks tied for sixth-highest and his 14 knockdowns led all defenders.
Another 5-tech option is Kentucky’s Josh Paschal, who received an endorsement from my Seattle Overload co-host, Griffin Sturgeon.
There are plenty of other potential Seattle 5-techs we will see: Florida’s Zachary Carter, Texas A&M’s Michael Clemons, Minnesota’s Esezi Otomewo and Oklahoma’s Isaiah Thomas all appear to fit the mold. Heck, even Alabama’s Phidarian Mathis suddenly starts looking like more of a big end if he slims down in his runs and you start buying into his “contain on pass," looping rushes to the edge from an inside-shoulder-of-tackle alignment similar to that of Seattle’s big end in its bear fronts.
Disclaimer
Obviously, the earliness of a Senior Bowl preview is likely to end in tears. Some of these guys might become clear first-rounders—a period of the draft the Seahawks don’t have a pick in. As the tape is watched, the numbers arrive, the interviews happen and the boards settle: misery will inevitably occur. Please, though, get caught up in the excitement rather than the pessimism! I have a virtual Senior Bowl credential (going to miss overindulging on peanut butter and chocolate) and will cover the event as it happens for Seahawk Maven.
