Washington Huskies tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins (88) is defended by BYU Cougars linebacker Uani
The Seattle Seahawks main task is to focus on taking care of the rival San Francisco 49ers this week and winning the Super Bowl to weeks later, and they are the favorites to accomplish the task due to their incredible depth and talent on both sides of the ball. And even though they are projected to have the last pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, the Seahawks can get even richer by making the right selection at pick 32, and they certainly have a great record of drafting well under Pete Carroll and John Schneider. It’s never too early to take a look at the draft, even when the team in question is the favorite to win it all.
In his latest 2014 NFL Mock Draft on NFLMocks.com (which you can read by clicking here), Erik Lambert has the Seattle Seahawks taking a local draft prospect in Washington Huskies star tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins with the 32nd pick in the draft.
It’s a selection that I am a huge fan of, even if Zach Miller is a solid TE who is a decent blocker and excellent red zone target. While tight end isn’t a need, the Seahawks don’t really have a true position of need and should instead fill out the final pick of the round by taking the best guy available. Seferian-Jenkins fits the bill, and he’s my No. 2 rated TE just barely behind Texas Tech’s Jace Amaro, who is selected three picks earlier in Lambert’s mock draft by the New England Patriots.
UNC’s Eric Ebron is the sexy pick at TE in this year’s draft class due to his incredible athleticism, versatility to line up in the slot, and pass-catching upside, but I view him as an overrated prospect who is worth a second-round pick and not a mid first-round pick. He also isn’t better than Amaro and Seferian-Jenkins, who are both clearly superior blockers. Amaro and Seferian-Jenkins are also excellent and athletic pass-catchers in their own rights, and ASJ has sadly become overrated by some.
Getting an athletic pass-catching TE to add yet another wrinkle to the Seahawks offense and another playmaker for Russell Wilson to work with would be huge, and twin-TE sets comprised of the Huskies TE and Miller would definitely be something Darrell Bevell and Carroll could work with to a great amount of success. Seferian-Jenkins is the best blocking tight end in the draft class, and he’s a guy you can fall in love with on tape if you take a look at what’s able to do on a snap-by-snap basis. He simply does it all, and not even Amaro is as good of an all-around prospect.
When you have no true need like the Seattle Seahawks do, it’s important to take a valuable player at a valuable position, and Austin Seferian-Jenkins is definitely a talented player who can greatly help the Seahawks offense both in terms of tangible production and schematic versatility; he would be an excellent pick for them.