On Monday, ESPN NFL analyst and self-proclaimed Seahawks fan Mina Kimes joined Bob Condotta for a live chat about the 2023 draft. Here’s some of what she said during the conversation leading up to this weekend’s draft, beginning Thursday in Kansas City.
Who should the Seahawks take at pick No. 5?
The dream I think for Seattle would be that Will Anderson is there at 5. That would be my preference but of course it’s predicated on a lot of things breaking Seattle’s way in terms of more than two quarterbacks going before pick 5, but the Texans and Cardinals either trading out of that position or choosing either Tyree Wilson or Jalen Carter.
After that, you’re looking at either Richardson, Carter or Anthony Richardson, and that’s where things get pretty interesting for Seattle.
How many QBs will be taken before Seattle picks?
Man, if you had asked me this two weeks ago, I would have said at least three.
But over the last week, there’s been so much smoke about the Texans not taking a quarterback, which frankly blows my mind.
So I was actually on NFL Live with my colleague Adam Schefter when he brought this up, and he actually made a bet with Dan Orlovsky that he thought only two quarterbacks would go in the top four.
That would also mean, since we all assumed that the Colts at four are going to take a quarterback, that Arizona doesn’t trade down and what you’d have to parse out is, is that because either Arizona and Houston or both are so attached to the defensive prospects there, or is it that there’s not a lot of appetite among teams to trade up? We’re not hearing too many rumors, although we did hear about two weeks ago that six teams reportedly called Arizona. But increasingly, it feels like Adam’s gonna be right about that, and that blows my mind with regards to Houston.
How do you feel about Seattle taking Jalen Carter?
Well, starting with the football side of things, my personal belief is that I I think
Jalen Carter is the most talented player in this draft …. I mean, the Georgia defense, of course, the best in college football for a couple of years now, and he was the best player on that defense for two years running. He just stands out so much for a litany of reasons. I think he’s got a rare combination of physical traits. The power, agility and balance is not something you see all in one player all in a in a 3-technique like him and then as a pass-rusher and this is what really sets him apart.
He’s so advanced because he has all those physical traits, but then he combines them with a pretty impressive set of pass-rush moves that you could argue are more impressive than the edge rushers in this class. He to me has the potential to be that sort of defensive tackle that can actually take over games. …. I think for Seattle to get a player like that on a defensive line that needs help at multiple spots would be pretty tremendous.
Now of course, there are a lot of questions about Jalen Carter off the field and I think (that’s) where it gets a little bit tricky. … I think there’s very different types of red flags. The news that broke at the combine, I was there. We were waiting to watch him, that he had to go back to Georgia because of his involvement in what was a deadly car race. That’s a very serious concern in terms of at minimum showing issues with judgment. So there’s that. But then there’s things like motor or will. And those I actually tend to feel less comfortable talking about as an observer because I really don’t know. So much of it is anonymous and we’ve seen time and time again with drafts in the past that a lot of that information can be pretty untrustworthy.
Which QB would be the best fit for the Seahawks at pick No. 5?
Boy, it’s tricky because it never even occurred to me until this week that CJ Stroud might even be an option. So, you know, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about Anthony Richardson. And I actually think it’s a really tough call between, you know, the player and Stroud who’s so accurate and polished and I think is pretty NFL ready versus a player with Anthony Richardson who has an incredibly high ceiling because of what he flashed at Florida in terms of his pocket presence and ability to evade sacks and make plays.
I think part of me would want Richardson because it aligns well with Seattle’s timeline. The fact that they have a quarterback this year in Geno Smith, who I think is a very good starter, and because his ceiling is probably higher, but that in itself would be a pretty significant risk because CJ Stroud’s floor is so much higher.
Who else could the Seahawks be going after with some of those other picks, including No. 20?
Yeah, the correct answer, knowing the Seahawks and their proclivities, is they’re probably going to trade down from their pick at No. 20. ESPN Analytics put out a draft day predictor. (The tool says Seattle is likely to take): Calijah Kancey, Zay Flowers, Myles Murphy, Jordan Adison, Dalton Kincaid, Deonte Banks, Darnell Wright, Quentin Johnston. All of those would be awesome for Seattle, I think.
The Seahawks have been looking for a third wide receiver and I think there’s a bunch of guys in this class. I mean Jaxon Smith-Njigba would be the dream but it doesn’t seem likely he’ll be there at 20. I would not mind at all if they took like Jordan Addison there. But I can also make the case for taking Kancey or Murphy just to take another shot at the defensive line because you know that is such an issue with this team.
How do you view this draft?
I think Seattle’s very lucky to be picking at 5 and not like in that 10 to 15 range is how I would put it because I think it’s a very top-heavy draft. And then I I really think once you get to the second half of the first round, there’s prospects I like, but a lot of the prospects I like tend to be at positions that might not have as much value, like tight end or running back. I’ll put one disclaimer, I love this cornerback class. I really would love to see Seattle take a cornerback at any place in the draft, frankly. But at a lot of positions, it’s not very deep. And while there’s prospects I like, they tend to come with question marks. I think wide receivers is a great example …. I think it’s the kind of draft where you get probably a few really, really, really good players and then a lot of guys, it’s going to depend on fit, usage and value depending on where they’re taken.
When did you become a Seahawks fan?
So the American side of my family (I’m half Korean) is all from Seattle. So, you know, my dad grew up in Seattle, went to Franklin High School. So our whole family — me and my brother and my mom — were all Seattle sports fans because of my dad. So, you know, Mariners, Sonics as a kid, Seahawks, Washington football. I grew up in a lot of different places. My dad was in the military, but we kind of just went with his sports fandom. So it’s always been Seattle for me.
What are you doing during the draft?
On Thursday and Friday, NFL Live is going to be in Kansas City. And frankly, from a Seattle perspective, I absolutely cannot wait because I think this whole thing at the top could go in a bunch of different directions. Nobody seems to know what the hell the Texans are doing, so it’s going to be an exciting Thursday for sure.
The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times.