The NFL Wire editors participated in a one-round 2022 mock draft on our slack channel earlier this week. We went into this mock with a clear idea: either take Liberty QB Malik Willis at No. 9 overall or pick the best cornerback prospect still on the board if he’s not there. Our shot at Willis went out the window at No. 6 when Panthers Wire editor and coping Lakers fan Anthony Rizzuti picked him at that spot. Cincinnati’s Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner was also taken early by Jets Wire’s Gary Phillips at No. 4.
Keeping to our strategy, that left two choices: either take LSU’s Derek Stingley Jr. or Washington’s Trent McDuffie.
Both are excellent prospects who are expected to become Week 1 starters at the next level. In the end, we went with McDuffie over Stingley based on his familiarity with Seattle’s new defensive scheme.
When the recently-resigned Sidney Jones spoke with the beat writers he said defensive coaches told him they’ll be running a lot of tight-match, cover 3 type stuff. That’s exactly what Jones played at Washington, the same as McDuffie.
McDuffie also comes with the added benefit of his experience at safety, which offers the Seahawks extra depth at another position. This might seem like overkill with Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs already under contract on the backend, but great teams tend to build on their strengths in the draft and this secondary has a chance to be one of the league’s best now that Justin Coleman has returned to fill the void in the slot. Adding a prospect like McDuffie would help them get there.
In a three-round mock draft scenario we would target QB, EDGE and OT in the second and third rounds, assuming the depth at those positions in this class will allow them to land a relatively-good prospect Day 2.
