Seahawks pre-draft position overview: Quarterback

As the NFL Draft nears — it will be held April 30-May 2 — it’s time to review where the Seahawks stand at each position and assess possible draft needs.

So over the next week-and-a-half we’ll look at each position group — quarterback, running back, receiver, tight end, offensive line, defensive line, linebacker, defensive backs, specialists — and review the current Seattle roster at that spot as well as what the team might want to do in the draft.

We’ll start with quarterback.

PLAYERS CURRENTLY ON ROSTER

Starter: Russell Wilson

Backups: B.J. Daniels, R.J. Archer.

OVERVIEW: As I write this, Tarvaris Jackson remains unsigned. The expectation has been that he will return and serve again as Wilson’s backup. But for now, Seattle has just three QBs on its roster.

There’s no competition for the top spot, leaving the intrigue for what the team does  behind Wilson.

Seattle has often had just two QBs on its 53-man roster in recent years, due in large part to Wilson’s durability. But with Daniels slated for a slash-type role as a returner and receiver as well as QB, the Seahawks would  likely keep three.

If Jackson re-signs, then it’s easy to assume the trio could be the same as a year ago with Jackson and Daniels behind Wilson (and this year, each potentially active on gameday if Daniels does indeed earn a role at other spots).

Archer, who has spent the last four years in the Arena Football League, is a longshot. But teams always want an extra arm ar0und for training camp. Archer does loom as somewhat intriguing due to his AFL success. But he turns 28 in August so he’s not really a young, developmental  type.

Seattle hasn’t kept more than four QBs on its roster through camp the last few years (recall that was one of the stated reasons for cutting Keith Price before mini-camp, that it would have been hard to get five QBs enough snaps to make it worth having that many around).

DRAFT NEED (on scale of 1-10): 2. Seattle has not drafted a quarterback since taking Wilson in 2012, and if Jackson re-signs by the draft — or if the team simply knows it will happen even if it hasn’t — then there doesn’t appear much need to draft one this year. But if something falls through with Jackson, then Seattle’s needs for a backup obviously increase.

But as anyone reading this knows, the team and Wilson are in the midst of talks on a contract extension that at the moment don’t appear to be going anywhere. So could that tempt the Seahawks to draft a quarterback if they see one available who they think could develop into something? And especially if Jackson hasn’t re-signed?

The bad news is that this is not considered a real good year for QBs in the draft after the top two of Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, neither of whom will be in play for the Seahawks.

But then, the Seahawks have their own way of judging these things and maybe they’ll see somewhere there in the middle rounds worth taking a shot on for developmental reasons, if nothing else.

While Seattle has not drafted a QB since 2012, the trade for Terrelle Pryor last year shows the team is not averse to spending some capital at that spot.

POSSIBLE DRAFT FITS: With 11 picks, Seattle will have some flexibility to to outside the box with some of its selections. And depending on Jackson’s status, a backup QB could be sold as a need.

Still, it’s hard to see Seattle taking a QB too high in the draft, especially since after the top two, there aren’t a lot of QBs considered worth taking in the first two days, as is.

But there are some intriguing late-round developmental-types, and two that might fit what has seemed Seattle’s template of late for QBs — athletic dual-threat types — are Alabama’s Blake Sims and Nevada’s Cody Fajardo.

Sims obviously also did a lot of winning at Alabama and played running back early in his career and ran a 4.57 40 (here is his NFL.com profile).

Fajardo left Nevada as one of only two players in FBS history to throw for 9,000 yards and rush for 3,000 yards during his college career, the other being another former Nevada star, Colin Kaepernick and has run a 4.63 40 (here’s his NFL.com profile).