It’s no secret that the Seattle Seahawks entered the 2024 offseason with quite a lot of wants, and so they haven’t been capable of handle all of those via free company. One specific space of concern is the emptiness left by inside offensive lineman Damien Lewis, who’s now with the Carolina Panthers. Whereas the Seahawks added Anthony Bradford and Olu Oluwatimi within the 2023 draft and signed Nick Harris, they might not be accomplished including competitors.
Offensive line basically appears to be the consensus draft goal for the Seahawks, however presumably the most well-liked particular person identify that’s getting related to the group early on is that of Troy Fautanu. Fautanu was a standout at sort out for the Washington Huskies, although he’s anticipated to have the ability to slot in at guard as a professional. He has two full years of beginning expertise from 2022-2023, and he noticed important taking part in time in 2022. Suffice to say he has seen some motion.
This “Seattle Connection” isn’t precisely new, as he has been getting mocked to the Seahawks for a while now; the connection to offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb is actually noteworthy. Past this familiarity, although, Fautanu is solely a highly-regarded participant with beginning expertise at a college that simply competed for a nationwide championship. Along with that, he will get described with phrases like “nasty,” and “hard-nosed.” I feel we are able to all agree that including some hard-nosed nastiness is a constructive for any offensive line.
Beneath are a few of the excerpts of what the consultants assert.
One of many “winners” of the pre-draft cycle, Fautanu reunites with former College of Washington offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, who now holds the identical title with the Seahawks. Although set at sort out, Seattle’s inside line is insufficient, and Fautanu matches at guard. Wrote Bugler: “He flashes violence together with his fingers and makes defenders really feel it when he connects.”
– Ben Standig, the Athletic
That is one other group whose free agent strikes haven’t stuffed the necessity I recognized in my earlier mock draft. Former beginning guard Damien Lewis acquired a giant deal from Carolina, whereas the opposite guard spot goes to be an open competitors. Seattle has so as to add O-line reinforcements with this decide.
Fautanu, my top-ranked guard, performed largely because the left sort out in school, beginning 28 video games. However he performed 114 snaps at guard too. And whereas he has the scale to be a sort out within the NFL (6-foot-4, 317 kilos), I see the potential for him to be an All-Professional guard. He’s hard-nosed and nasty when he latches on to defenders. The Seahawks offense will look lots totally different with new coordinator Ryan Grubb, however they’d do nicely so as to add Fautanu to construct up the inside of their line.
– Mel Kiper, ESPN
Fautanu reunites with Seahawks offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, who was his OC at UW. Fautanu can play sort out, however he would slide in at guard as a rookie with the ‘Hawks.
– Daniel Jeremiah, NFL.com
The Seahawks have excellent offensive tackles, however their inside offensive line might use assist. Fautanu can be a flawless match, as he’s the clear high IOL within the draft and simply performed for brand spanking new Seahawks OC Ryan Grubb at Washington.
Eric Galko, CBS NFL
To his credit score, his athleticism is certainly spectacular.
Whereas Troy Fautanu’s identify appears to be developing with probably the most frequency, he isn’t the one participant who’s gaining some traction as a potential slot in Seattle. One other identify to look at is Jackson Powers-Johnson, who has not too long ago seen his identify related with the Seahawks in mocks from Connor Rogers at NBC and Chris Trapasso at CBS, amongst others. Powers-Johnson is “constructed like a guard however strikes like the middle he’s,” based on Trapasso, so this versatility would definitely be a plus. In any case, the group wants so as to add some extra competitors on the offensive line; what stays to be seen is with what stage of urgency they’ll accomplish that.
