TNT 2025 NFL mock draft, round 1: Seahawks change approach, a trade at top
The Seahawks have rarely done it in the 15 years the man in charge of their drafting has been picking.
They’ve only taken an offensive lineman in the first round four times since 2010.
In five of those 15 NFL drafts since he became Seattle’s general manager, John Schneider hasn’t even had a first-round pick. He’s traded out of the opening round five times, to get players (Percy Harvin in 2013, Jimmy Graham two years later, Jamal Adams in 2021) and more picks (2014, ‘17, ‘19).
This year, the Seahawks have the 18th pick in the draft. It begins next week with round one Thursday, April 24.
Seattle has 10 picks in this year’s draft, five among the first 92 selections. That’s thanks to Schneider trading quarterback Geno Smith to the Raiders (for a late third-round choice) and wide receiver DK Metcalf to the Steelers (for a second-round pick) last month.
So Seattle has the capital at the top of this draft to do it again, for Schneider to trade down in or even out of round one to get 11 or 12 total choices next weekend.
But these 2025 Seahawks also have an acute need to do what for Schneider as GM has been unusual. They’ve gone offensive line in round one only in 2010 with tackle Russell Okung in 2010, in 2011 with tackle turned guard James Carpenter, in 2016 with tackle Germain Ifedi and three years ago with current starting left tackle Charles Cross.
“Definitely, we need to (address it). Everybody sees it,” Schneider said in a hallway of team headquarters last month.
“I get it with the offensive line, the offensive-line stuff. Talking about the fans, I mean, I get that.
“I have empathy for that, big time.”
Do you believe the Seahawks GM?
We do.
Schneider, coach Mike Macdonald and new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak met this week at team headquarters in Renton on a pre-draft visit with Tetairoa McMillan. He’s the 6-foot-4, deep-ball wide receiver from the University of Arizona widely expected to be a first-round pick next week.
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe reportedly met with the Seahawks in Renton on Tuesday.
Yet in The News Tribune’s annual first-round NFL mock draft, Schneider, Macdonald and Kubiak do what for Seattle is unusual.
The Seahawks draft an offensive lineman — one they believe can play guard — in the first round.
TNT’s 2025 NFL mock draft, round 1
1. Tennessee: QB Cam Ward, Miami: The Titans desperately need a quarterback who can play for years. The best in this draft is the model of NIL- and transfer-era college football: He played for three schools. The former Incarnate Ward transfer lit up skies for Washington State in 2022 and ‘23 before he transferred again to star for the Hurricanes last year.
2. Cleveland: CB/WR Travis Hunter, Colorado: This year’s quarterback class is weak. But as always, its market is overheated in round one. When Browns owner Jimmy Haslam recently admitted his team’s colossal Deshaun Watson mistake and the need to move past it, it signaled Cleveland will take a quarterback here.
But not here. Pre-draft signals are often deceptions.
The Browns get the Heisman Trophy winner who has said he will quit football if an NFL team won’t let him play on both defense and offense. The Browns have so many needs, they will oblige.
Rob Rang, the Tacoma-based NFL draft guru for Fox Sports, calls Hunter this class’ best player — and “one of the most unique players I’ve evaluated in 25 years in the business.”
3. New York Giants: Edge rusher Abdul Carter, Penn State: Signing Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston on top of returning Tommy DeVito suggests they aren’t drafting a quarterback here. New York gets the most disruptive edge rusher in this draft, a Micah Parsons protege, at a position vital to NFL success.
4. New Orleans (predicted trade with New England): QB Shedeur Sanders, Colorado
With Drake Maye, the Patriots are a losing team that doesn’t need a quarterback. So they trade down to nine, with a team that has a QB mess in out-for-the-year-or-not Derek Carr. Sanders has poise, pedigree and deep-ball touch.
Again, he’s not this draft’s fourth-best player. It’s the overvaluing at the sport’s most important position.
5. Jacksonville: TE Tyler Warren, Penn State: Quarterback Trevor Lawrence needs help. New coach Liam Coen, the Buccaneers’ former offensive coordinator, gets his QB the best tight end target in this draft.
6. Las Vegas: RB Ashton Jeanty, Boise State: Now that Pete Carroll has his quarterback in Smith from a reunion post-Seahawks, he gets the dynamic back for the running game he demands.
7. New York Jets: DT Mason Graham, Michigan: The Jets’ new coach, former Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, begins his rebuild on his side of the ball. New York gets this draft’s best interior defensive tackle to try to rebuild its front.
8. Carolina: OLB Jalon Walker, Georgia: The Panthers had the league’s last-ranked defense in 2024. They get this draft’s best play-making linebacker and the Butkus Award winner.
9. New England (in predicted trade from New Orleans): T Will Campbell, LSU: New coach Mike Vrabel gets the physicality he wants, in the SEC’s best left tackle.
10. Chicago Bears: TE Colston Loveland, Michigan: It’s 1, 1A for many between Warren and Loveland as the best of a good tight end class. The Bears need to help QB Caleb Williams in so many ways. This is a good one.
11. San Francisco: LT Armand Membou, Missouri: The 49ers’ offensive line got old, injured and troubled in a hurry. Many think the mauling Membou is the best tackle in this draft.
12. Dallas: WR Matthew Golden, Texas: Jerry Jones loves the Longhorn with blazing, 4.29 speed. New coach (and former Seahawks OC) Brian Schottenheimer loves the deep pass. The Cowboys get a guy to run under Dak Prescott’s long throws.
13. Miami: CB Jahdae Barron, Texas: The Dolphins top needs include the secondary, safety and cornerback. Michigan’s Will Johnson could also go here.
14. Indianapolis: WR Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona: The Colts offense in need of weapons gets the 6-4, 219-pound home-run All-American the Seahawks had visit team headquarters recently.
15: Atlanta: Edge Mike Green, Marshall: The Falcons have been at the bottom of the NFL for years in pass rush. They get this sack machine and star of the Senior Bowl.
16. Arizona: CB Will Johnson, Michigan: The Seahawks hosted him on the final day of top-30 pre-draft visits, Wednesday. Questions about pre-draft testing and injury concerns are why the Seahawks wanted to talk to him this week. They are also why one of the nation’s best cornerbacks the last couple seasons is still available to the Cardinals. Their defensive-minded head coach Jonathan Gannon is a former defensive backs coach.
17. Cincinnati: LB Jihaad Campbell, Alabama: Another best-available pick. The Bengals can’t believe perhaps the best linebacker in college last season is still here. If they, too, pass on him, Macdonald and the Seahawks may take him. Or Johnson.
Campbell had a recent shoulder injury, and a knee issue at Alabama. That’s why he’s available past the midpoint of round one.
18. SEAHAWKS: LT Kelvin Banks, Jr. Texas: A rarity — Schneider’s philosophy of choosing the best talent on his board in round one merges with the team’s biggest need. It’s because the GM has given new senior offensive assistant Rick Dennison, a former Super Bowl-winning coordinator and line coach in Denver, and Seattle’s new NFL veteran line coach John Benton the new evaluation and drafting approach this team needs.
The 6-5, 315-pound Banks was a stud left tackle for years at Texas. The 2024 Lombardi and Outland Trophy award winner allowed just four(!) sacks in 1,544 pass blocks over three Longhorns seasons. That was at left tackle. The Seahawks think he can start at left guard immediately. He also will be back at tackle if they don’t re-sign Charles Cross past his rookie contract ending after 2025, or if right tackle Abe Lucas can’t stay healthy again.
Banks is like Carpenter was 14 years ago, a college tackle from a big-time program Schneider drafts to be a guard in Seattle. Banks becomes the fifth offensive lineman Seattle’s drafted in the first round in 16 years with Schneider as GM. And he continues Schneider’s pattern of first-round picks from Power-5 schools. Last year it was Banks’ teammate Byron Murphy, at 16th overall.
The only non-Power 5 player the GM’s made a Seahawks first-rounder remains Rashaad Penny from San Diego State in 2018.
They still haven’t drafted a true interior offensive lineman before round three with Schneider as GM.
19. Tampa Bay: Edge Mykal Williams, Georgia: Some around the league think the zooming edge rusher will be gone in the top dozen picks. Tampa Bay’s defense-first head coach Todd Bowles can’t believe he can take Williams without trading up.
20. Denver: RB Omarion Hampton, North Carolina: A great fit for coach Sean Payton’s system, and a back he’s lacked in Denver for years.
21. Pittsburgh: QB Jaxson Dart, Mississippi: The will-he-won’t-he of the Steelers’ negotiations to sign 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers doesn’t change the fact that Pittsburgh needs a quarterback of the future to throw to DK Metcalf. The Steelers just traded their second-round pick to the Seahawks then gave Metcalf a $150 million, five-year contract. It makes no sense to not invest in a longer-term passer for him. Then again, little of what the Steelers have done at quarterback since the middle of last season has made much sense.
Dart’s competitiveness and arm make him attractive, but there are concerns over how simple Lane Kiffin’s offense was for Dart at Ole Miss.
22. Los Angeles Chargers: DT Walter Nolen, Mississippi: Coach Jim Harbaugh wants to win every game at the line of scrimmage. Nolen’s quickness for being 296 pounds makes Harbaugh think he could live in opposing backfields.
23. Green Bay: WR Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State: The Packers get a needed new target for Jordan Love, the hugely productive and dependable star from Steilacoom High School.
24. Minnesota: S Nick Emmanwori, South Carolina: Some believe the Seahawks may take the athletic, all-over-the-field playmaker. The Vikings will gladly take this elite help for their needy secondary.
25. Houston: T Josh Simmons, Ohio State: The Texans have been liquidating offensive linemen recently, including trading Laremy Tunsil. So they have to have a plan for someone blocking, right? Simmons tore his patellar tendon in the middle of last season at Ohio State. That’s the issue Lucas has had with the Seahawks. It took a full 12 months for him to feel healthy from knee surgery, into this January. That’s why Seattle doesn’t draft Simmons at 18.
26. Los Angeles Rams: T Josh Conerly Jr., Oregon: L.A. gets QB Matthew Stafford a standout pass protection who can play on either side.
27. Baltimore: DT Derrick Harmon, Oregon: He’d be gone by now if teams didn’t have questions about him gaining nine pounds in 2 1/2 weeks from the combine to his Oregon pro day last month. Ravens coach John Harbaugh has the ability to motivate, and loves top talent on his lines.
28. Detroit: Edge Shemar Stewart, Texas A&M: Many see the ultra-talented, ultra-size-with-speed Stewart as raw, a wild card of a pick for round one. The Lions pairing Stewart with Aidan Hutchinson nearing his return from injury will be a major problem for opposing offenses trying to have quarterbacks dropping back to throw against them.
29. Washington: Edge Donovan Ezeiruaku, Boston College: Coach Dan Quinn gets the youth and speed he needs for his aging defense. The Commanders let top sack man Dante Fowler Jr. leave in free agency last month. Some, including Pro Football Focus, are pegging Ezeiruaku to the Seahawks at 18. He had 16 1/2 sacks for B.C. last season.
30. Buffalo: DT Kenneth Grant, Michigan: The Bills are intent on rebuilding their defensive front. They are thrilled one of the best D-linemen in this class got to the 30th pick.
31. Kansas City: Edge James Pearce Jr., Tennessee: The Chiefs want to get more play-making and pass rush from their defense. Pearce was all-SEC in each of the last two seasons. At 6-5 and 245, he is the only edge rusher to run the 40 in under 4.5 seconds at this year’s combine.
32. Philadelphia: G Tyler Booker, Alabama: The Super Bowl champions have few, but two, pressing needs: pass rusher and guard. The Eagles would love Ezeiruaku, Pearce or Stewart. They take the first true interior offensive linemen selected in this draft, one who tempts the Seahawks.
This story was originally published April 17, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
