2011 NFL Mock Draft: The Seattle Seahawks Select...

With the twenty-fifth pick of the 2011 CSC Community Mock Draft, the Seattle Seahawks (represented by natde1016) select...

Colin Kaepernick, QB, University of Nevada

It's quite difficult to predict what the Seahawks are going to do in this draft. They could really use help all over the field, but I believe that their most pressing need is a franchise quarterback. Matt Hasselbeck is 35 and can't stay healthy, while Charlie Whitehurst clearly isn't what the Seahawks brass expected him to be when they traded a 3rd round pick to the Chargers for him before the season. The Seahawks may decide to pursue Vince Young or even try to trade for Kevin Kolb or Carson Palmer. They could even select a non-QB with their 1st round pick, and trade up in the 2nd round to take one. But, because this is a mock draft, none of those were options, so I'm predicting they'll go quarterback.

At this point, even though Blaine Gabbert and Cam Newton are off the board, there are still quite a few QBs left. I had my pick of TCU's Andy Dalton, Florida State's Christian Ponder, Arkansas'Ryan Mallet, University of Washington's Jake Locker, and Kaepernick.

Last year, after he announced he would remain at Washington for his senior season, many draft experts predicted that Locker would be the first overall pick of the 2011 draft. Unfortunately he regressed, completing only 55.4% of his passes, and raising serious questions about whether or not he would be able to succeed in the NFL. Although he went on to complete 40 of 42 passes at his pro-day, ESPN's Todd McShay said that "...on a 10 scale, the degree of difficulty was probably a 3 or 4". Charles Casserly of NFL Network agreed, saying that the pro day was "Mostly short throws, over the middle", and went on to say that "if you're a senior in high school, you'd better have an A+ in this workout".  

Ryan Mallet is also a very difficult prospect to judge. He has an incredibly strong arm, good accuracy, and spent a decent amount of his college career under center.  However, there have been rumors circulating regarding his drug use and possible addiction, as well as some questions about his leadership. So far, Mallet has refused to address any of those issues publicly, so one can only speculate as to how true those rumors may be, and how far they might cause him to fall in the draft.

Dalton, Ponder, and Kaepernick are all generally considered second round or fringe first round prospects. From what I've seen and read, I think that Kaepernick is the Seahawk's best bet at this point. Although he wasn't particularly well known until recently, Kaepernick enjoyed a very successful college career. He is the only QB in the history of Division I college football to pass for over 10,000 yards and rush for over 4,000 yards. He is one of only three quarterbacks in FBS history to throw for 20 TDs and run for 20 TDs in one season (The other two were Tim Tebow and Cam Newton). He was pretty accurate during his career, and showed surprisingly good durability given the amount of running he did. He also has the arm strength to make almost any throw with ease.

"At the 2010 Manning Quarterback camp, Mayock recalled seeing Eli and Peyton so awed they were "giggling" about the 23-year-old's howitzer. Said Mayock after watching one of Kaepernick's Thursday throws, 'Did you see the RPMs there? Man, I'd love to work with that kid.'"

-ProFootballTalk.com

To be perfectly honest, I don't feel very confident about this pick. There are still plenty of quarterbacks left on the board, and about a hundred different ways the Seahawks could go about addressing their myriad roster holes. But I think that Kaepernick will turn out to be a very good, if not great, NFL quarterback. He is a dynamic player who can attack a defense through the air or on the ground. While there are some concerns about how he will adapt to an NFL style offense, with a little time to learn behind a veteran like Matt Hasselbeck, he should be fine. He doesn't have the any of the issues that could arise with Mallet or Locker, and is a better all-around athlete than Dalton and Ponder, with a much higher ceiling than either of them.