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Seattle Seahawks draw impressive PFF draft grade for class loaded with B1G talent
By Paul Harvey
Published:
The Seattle Seahawks entered the 2023 NFL Draft looking to improve the roster. In the process, the Seahawks drafted 10 players across all 7 rounds of the draft including a pair of first-round picks.
Both of Seattle’s first-round picks — CB Devon Witherspoon (Illinois) and WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Ohio State) — hailed from the B1G. The Seahawks also targeted a pair of Michigan products — Edge Mike Morris and C Olusegun Oluwatimi — in the 5th round to give the organization 4 players from the conference in the class.
That performance earned the team an “A” grade from PFF as one of the best draft hauls this year. Here’s what PFF had to say about Seattle’s first-round selections out of the B1G:
The Seahawks surprise everyone and take Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon at No. 5. Witherspoon was the highest-graded cornerback in the Power Five last season. In press coverage for 107 snaps, he allowed just one yard in coverage on those plays.
The Seahawks finish Round 1 with two top-10 players on the PFF big board. With a 91.7 PFF grade in 2021, Smith-Njigba outproduced 2021 first-round draft picks Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson that year at Ohio State on a per-snap basis.
Witherspoon was projected to become a top-10 pick and his talent was too much for Seattle to look past at No. 5. While Smith-Njigba slid out of the top-15 picks, he was still the first WR off the board and set off a run of 4 straight WRs to be selected Thursday night.
Some of Smith-Njigba’s slide is understandable given a deep WR class in the draft and his injury-limited 2022 season. However, he was still the most-talented WR in the class and could prove to be a steal for Seattle at No. 20 overall.
Here is what PFF had to say about the pair of 5th-round picks out of Michigan:
Morris profiles as a powerful option on the edge who wins with strength and length. He never had an extensive role in the Michigan defense, given their talent along the defensive line, but put up 37 pressures and a career-high 86.6 PFF pass-rushing grade in 2022.
Oluwatimi is good value at this stage of the draft and fills an area of need at center for Seattle. He’s a high-IQ, strong prospect with four years of starting experience — most recently anchoring the Joe Moore Award-winning Michigan offensive line in 2022. Oluwatimi put up PFF grades of at least 80.0 in each of the past two seasons.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.