Seattle Seahawks select L.J. Collier: Grade, reaction for 2019 NFL Draft

The Seattle Seahawks traded back several times in Round 1 of the 2019 NFL Draft and selected L.J. Collier at 29th overall.

Well, that settles it; L.J. Collier is Frank Clark‘s replacement. The Seattle Seahawks wasted no time replacing their best pass rusher from last year, who they recently traded to the Kansas City Chiefs, in the 2019 NFL Draft. There will be high expectations for Collier as he will be tasked with taking some pressure off of Jarran Reed in the middle by applying his own pressure from the outside.

Collier had a four-year college career at TCU, but he really only broke out as a redshirt senior this past season. The 6-2, 283-pound defensive end recorded 42 combined tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, six sacks and four passes defensed with the Horned Frogs in 2018.

While drafting a player at Collier’s position makes sense, there should be some concerns regarding how effective he will be at the pro level.

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NFL.com gave Collier a prospect grade of 5.85 out of ten, which places him in the “Chance to become NFL starter” category and Lance Zierlein projected Collier as a second-round pick, along with many other analysts. That’s not to say that the analysts know better than the actual scouts and team, but Seattle took Rashaad Penny in the first round last year, even though the running back was projected to go in later rounds.

It’s also worth pointing out that the Seahawks had the 21st pick before trading it to the Green Bay Packers. I recognize that Seattle wanted to acquire more assets and that this strategy has worked for the team in the past, but Montez Sweat and Jerry Tillery, two much more established prospects that Collier, were still available if the team kept the 21st pick.

It’s also worth noting that the Seahawks took Collier, a one-year starter, over Jaylon Ferguson, the FBS leader in career sacks.

Fans should also remember that the Seahawks drafted two defensive ends just last year. Rasheem Green was taken in the third round, and Jacob Martin, who is now deployed as an outside linebacker/defensive end hybrid, went in the sixth round.

The team also signed defensive ends Cassius Marsh and Nate Orchard in free agency. Basically, after addressing the position several times in the last year, the Seahawks still needed to add a new defensive end, which is disappointing, to say the least.

I give the team an A- on the day because they traded back from 21 and picked up two extra fourth-rounders from Green Bay and by trading out of 30 they got second, fourth, and fifth round picks from the Giants. That leaves the Seahawks with one second, one third, four fourth and two fifth-round picks in this draft.

However, I’m giving the Collier selection a C+ because the team had options to land better players at 21 and even with the pick they used on Collier. They also plan on playing him at a position that they’ve oversaturated in the last year with potential fits who haven’t worked out. I think the Seahawks have proven in recent years that they’re better at finding talented players in the later rounds of the draft. Hopefully a big day two will be more encouraging.

Final Grade: C+