Seahawks predicted to land athletic Oregon lineman who could fill biggest roster hole

The Seattle Seahawks desperately need offensive line help, and they hit that hole first in this mock draft.

Tim Weaver | Feb 2, 2025

EUGENE, OREGON - AUGUST 31: Josh Conerly Jr. #76 of the Oregon Ducks lines up on the line of scrimmage during the first half against the Idaho Vandals at Autzen Stadium on August 31, 2024 in Eugene, Oregon. / (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Image Of Sport/Getty Images)

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Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks have been competitive every season since the beginning of the Pete Carroll era 15 years ago. While they haven't always been a championship contender, they've always been no more than a win or two away from the playoffs. That's a pretty remarkable achievement for any franchise, and it's especially impressive considering the longstanding Achilles' heel they've had to deal with the entire time.

That is of course the Seahawks offensive line, which is about as bad now as it has ever been - and that's really saying something. At season's end Pro Football Focus wound up ranking Seattle's front five the second-worst in the NFL.

The main reason the unit has been such a liability for so long is simple - the Seahawks front office has done a poor job of drafting and developing linemen. Russell Okung and Charles Cross did fine, but they were both top-10 overall picks. So did Duane Brown, who they got in a trade. Aside from those three the results over the years have been pretty desolate, to say the least.

Breaking out of this barely-better-than-average-team funk and becoming a contender again will require this trend to finally come to an end. Unless they plan to go against their history and spend big on the offensive line in free agency all they can do is keep trying.

On that score, in a new mock draft from Jacob Infante at Pro Football Network the Seahawks take another stab at addressing this need by taking Oregon offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr. with the 18th overall pick.

Nov 18, 2023; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Oregon Ducks offensive lineman Josh Conerly Jr. (76) against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Mountain America Stadium. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

PFN on Seahawks-Josh Conerly Jr.

"As the only team with double-digit wins to not make the playoffs this year, the Seahawks need a boost to get them out of that “good, but not great” category. That process would certainly benefit from additions to the offensive line. Oregon has produced some tremendous offensive linemen over the years, and Josh Conerly Jr. might be the most athletic of the bunch on tape. He has the lateral quickness and footwork in pass protection to neutralize speed rushers and the pad level to maximize what he has to work with from a play strength perspective."

Drafting linemen is of course easier said than done, but you could do worse than to start out looking for the best athletes at each position and working from there.

Conerly (6-foot-4, 315 pounds) has that box checked, and he improved each year at Oregon - at least going by his Pro Football Focus grades. For the 2024 season he posted an 83.5 grade in pass blocking and a 72.5 in run blocking. His 78.1 overall grade ranked him 50th in the nation among OTs.

The Seahawks of course already have their franchise left tackle in Cross, who took a big step forward this season as a pass blocker. While he played his entire college career on the blindside, Conerly would project to slide inside in Seattle, where he would replace veteran Laken Tomlinson at left guard. That was the team's most problematic position up front this year, though the rotating carousel at right guard ran a pretty good race.

The Seahawks appear to have stumbled on something in Sataoa Laumea there, though. That makes left guard arguably the biggest need - and while it's generally not a great idea to draft guards in Round 1 this particular hole is so deep that the Seahawks have little choice but to throw their best punch at trying to fix this spot.

PFN on Seahawks-Josh Conerly Jr.

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