For all of the Seattle Seahawk strengths as a football team, and they have many, wide receiver is not one of them. Promising rookie Paul Richardson tore his ACL in the playoffs. Seattle brass ousted Percy Harvin mid-season. The team may not need a game-breaking wide receiver - they made it to two Super Bowls, winning one without that type of player - but they might just want one to have for quarterback Russell Wilson's sake.
"You probably heard that no Kansas City wide receiver caught a touchdown last year, but Seattle's wideouts were next to last with only seven scores," Vince Verhei of Football Outsiders wrote. "Doug Baldwin, allegedly Seattle's top wideout, didn't make the top 30 in either DVOA (which measures value per target) or DYAR (total value), then gained only 147 yards in three playoff games. Jermaine Kearse was outside the top 60 in both DVOA and DYAR, and though he caught the game-winning touchdown in the NFC Championship Game, remember that Seattle fell behind in large part because Kearse dropped two passes that turned into interceptions."
Okay, so the need for more talent at the wide receiver position is there. The Seahawks, with so much money tied up into its defense and a mammoth extension coming for Wilson, are not going to be big spenders in free agency. That leaves the NFL draft.
Would Seattle ever be willing to selection wide receiver Dorial-Green Beckham with the 31st overall pick?
Green-Beckham does not typically fit Carroll's idea of a player. The wide receiver has had multiple off-field incidents and didn't play a single snap after transferring from Missouri to Oklahoma due to NCAA rules last season. But there is no denying that he is one of the most physically gifted wide receivers in this year's draft class. ESPN NFL Draft Insider Todd McShay has Green-Beckham being selected 18th overall in his Mock Draft 3.0. But fellow draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. has DGB falling out of the first round all together.
"He has a unique skill set at 6-5, 237 pounds with 4.49 speed and flashed some impressive play as a true sophomore for Missouri in 2013," McShay wrote. "However, he's very raw on tape and has had some significant off-field incidents that resulted in his dismissal from the Missouri football program, so this would be a high-risk/high-reward pick."
For a team that is perennially competing for a Super Bowl, high-risk moves are much more understandable. The Seahawks have mastered the power running game. Could Green-Beckham be the final offensive piece that puts this team back atop the NFL's elite?
